Becoming a household name

Monique Adams Born in Onekwaya West and growing up in Ohainengena in the Ohangwena Region, Tuyeimo Haidula’s family moved to Ongwediva when she was seven to access better education opportunities.“I grew up in a family of educationalists as both my parents were teachers - my father is now retired,” she said.“My parents have always been supportive and gave me and my siblings the right to choose our desired careers,” Haidula, who is the third eldest of five siblings, said.While she had an interest in travel and tourism as well as drama, she pursued her first choice, journalism, via an honours degree in media studies at the University of Namibia.Graduating in 2014, she went on to complete a post graduate diploma in media management at Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatjie Institute for Media Leadership in 2017. Last year, she did an Open Source Investigative Journalism Seminar with BBC Africa Eye in Nairobi, Kenya.Impressive resume“I have a love for creative non-fiction. I focus on solutions-based, narrative journalism or stories that showcase how people are solving – or are attempting to solve – problems. “I am a little different to most journalists in that way,” she said.Haidula has a very impressive resume. She has covered business stories and development issues as well as feature articles and investigative journalism. With her successful completion of her undergraduate degree in 2014, she was employed by The Namibian, where she has been writing professionally since 2011. Closer to her dreamsWorking on her dream to become a university lecturer and documentary producer with a consulting company on the side, she is also a sucker for fashion.“In 2016, I resigned from my job to pursue my post graduate diploma – it was an intensive, one-year, honours degree-level programme and the only formal media management qualification in Africa and the developing world. “Since returning in 2018, I was promoted to head of bureau at The Namibian’s Oshakati office until my retrenchment in July,” she said.And shortly after, she was employed by Namibia Media Holdings’ (NMH) Namibian Sun.Rollercoaster rideHer transition to the north has been a rollercoaster ride because of the change in lifestyle, but she eventually found her feet, she said.Changing employers was also not easy, but added that the support from NMH has been amazing. “I have the most understanding editors who show that nothing beats teamwork.” Her advice to aspiring journalists is: “Take your craft seriously so you are able to deliver. And if you have a chance, get an education. It doesn’t mean I went to school because I was a bad journalist. I was doing okay, but I wanted to be better. And every day I am learning and improving”.

Becoming a household name

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Republikein 2025-05-05

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Becoming a household name

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Republikein 2025-05-05

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