Reporting from the frontline

These stories will take you to the production centre of Marikana where the journalists watched, listened, and interviewed in order to weave the stories together. The way Marikana was told to the world is quite different to what happened to the journalists who covered it. Their stories show a completely different perspective.

So much has been said about Marikana since the tragedy of 16 August 2012 where 34 miners were shot dead by police. South Africans are divided, with many supporting the miners and others supporting the police. The news and the images of the massacre made headlines around the globe for weeks. What the world didn't take into account was who and what it took to bring that news from the small town of Rustenburg to the world. Reporting from the Frontline is about personal experiences describing incidents behind the scenes from the main action. While most journalists spent weeks covering the unfolding events at Marikana, many didn't have the opportunity to tell their own stories. A large group of journalists, producers, and television presenters gathered at the North West Platinum Mine when several deaths were reported and the violence broke out. While the nation and the world focused on what was happening on the ground, no one asked how the media dealt with this tragedy. As with any good movie, critics want to know what it took to create it. These stories will take you to the production center of Marikana where the journalists watched, listened, and interviewed in order to weave the stories together. The way Marikana was told to the world is quite different to what happened to the journalists who covered it. Their stories show a completely different perspective.