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Peter Bruce (journalist)

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Peter Bruce
BornNovember 1952 (1952-11) (age 72)
Umtata, Cape Province
South Africa
Alma materRhodes University
EmployerTimes Media Group (1997–2017)
SpouseRobyn Chalmers
FatherHarold Clyde Bruce
Relatives

Peter Bruce (born November 1952) is a South African business journalist and political commentator. He is best known as the former editor of the Business Day between January 2001 and August 2012. He left that position to become publisher and editor-in-chief of the Business Day and its sister paper, the Financial Mail. He retired as an editor in 2017 but continues to write popular newspaper columns about South African politics and business.

Early life and career

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Bruce was born in November 1952 in Umtata in the Eastern Cape.[1] His father, Harold Clyde Bruce, was an Umtata-born carpenter who served in the British Royal Navy;[1] he also wrote Once in My Beloved Transkei, a memoir about his upbringing in the Transkei.[2] Bruce's elder sister was Wendy Woods, an activist who married the journalist Donald Woods in 1962.[3]

After attending Umtata High School,[1] Bruce studied journalism at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, where he was taught by Peter Temple.[4] His first newspaper job was at The Mercury in Durban.[5] He worked briefly for the Rand Daily Mail before joining the English Financial Times, where he was a journalist for the next 18 years;[6] he left South Africa in 1978 while evading conscription into the apartheid-era South African Defence Force.[7]

At the Financial Times, he was a staff correspondent in Germany (in Bonn), Spain (in Madrid), and Japan,[4] and he later settled in London, England as the editor of the newspaper's European news desk and then of its United Kingdom news desk.[8] In 1996 he returned to South Africa as editor of The Star's new weekday business supplement, Business Report.[9]

Editorial career at the Times Media Group

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Editor of Financial Mail: 1997–2001

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In November 1996, Nigel Bruce (no relation) resigned as editor of the Financial Mail, one of the two major business titles of the Times Media Group (TMG); Bruce, then less than a year into his tenure at Business Report, was viewed as a frontrunner to succeed him.[10] He was appointed to the job shortly afterwards, amid a deal which saw Pearson, the British publisher of the Financial Times, acquire a 50-per-cent stake in TMG's business titles.[9] The Mail & Guardian later said that over the next 15 years Pearson was "very supportive" of Bruce's career in those titles.[11]

Beginning work at the Financial Mail in January 1997,[12] Bruce was succeeded at the Business Report by his protégé James Lamont.[13] In May 1999 Bruce caused significant controversy by publishing an editorial in which he endorsed the opposition United Democratic Movement ahead of the June 1999 general election. TMG's chairperson, former politician Cyril Ramaphosa, criticised the endorsement at length in his own op-ed, also printed in the Financial Mail, and the exchange led to a public debate about editorial independence.[14] In the aftermath, the Mail & Guardian's Phillip van Niekerk decided to reverse his own paper's stance on editorial endorsements to come out in favour of the African National Congress.[15]

Editor of Business Day: 2001–2012

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In January 2001, Bruce left the Financial Mail to succeed Jim Jones as the editor of the Financial Mail's sister paper, TMG's Business Day; Caroline Southey succeeded him at the Financial Mail.[16] He edited the Business Day for the next 11 years.

As an editor Bruce identified as an opponent of a ubiquitous right of reply, arguing that many replies were "a total waste of precious editorial space".[17] Sarah Wild, who was a science writer at the paper, said that Bruce was known for his "'so what?' test", according to which stories weren't published unless their authors could answer Bruce when asked "So what?".[18]

In December 2004, the Business Day published the first edition of its new monthly luxury lifestyle supplement, Wanted, which was inspired by the Financial Times's How To Spend It.[5] Between 2006 and 2009, it was published alongside a Saturday supplement called The Weekender, which ultimately failed to meet its circulation targets.[19][20] Bruce also pursued the development of the newspaper's website,[21] which was managed in-house, with a dedicated online editor, from 2007 onwards.[22]

Editor-in-chief and editor-at-large: 2012–2017

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On 31 August 2012, Bruce announced that he would resign as editor of Business Day to become publisher of BDFM Publishers, the TMG–Pearson joint venture that published Business Day, the Financial Mail, and Summit TV.[23] He replaced Mzi Malunga, who had resigned as BDFM's managing director, and he said that he would have responsibility both for operations and for broad editorial strategy.[24][25] The Mail & Guardian later described Malunga's departure as the prelude to a "bloody purge" at TMG, which took place amid a restructuring of the company's media holdings;[26] over the next year TMG also acquired Pearson's shareholding in BDFM, becoming sole shareholder.[11][27]

In late February 2013, further reorganisation was announced: in addition to his position as BDFM publisher, Bruce returned to his former position as Business Day editor, and he was named as editor-in-chief of both BDFM titles.[28] However, he returned to the Business Day editorship for only a year: on 1 May 2014, he ceded the job to Songezo Zibi in order to focus on his responsibilities as editor-in-chief and especially on the growth of Summit TV (newly renamed Business Day TV).[29][30][31]

Meanwhile, as publisher and editor-in-chief, Bruce presided over the Business Day's transition from a broadsheet format to a tabloid format,[32][33] over a significant round of retrenchments,[34][35] and over a change in advertising strategy necessitated by looser JSE rules for the mandatory publication of financial notices.[36] He also spearheaded organisational reforms to integrate the newsrooms of the Financial Mail and Business Day, particularly with an eye to creating digital content for the BDlive platform.[29] Barney Mthombothi reportedly resigned as Financial Mail editor due to dissatisfaction with Bruce's plans for the newsroom merger.[26]

After businessman Iqbal Survé's controversial acquisition of the Independent Group, Survé repeatedly accused Bruce of spearheading a conspiracy against him and the Independent Group's newspapers, suggesting that Bruce was publishing investigative reporting on the acquisition as a means of character assassination.[37][38] The Mail & Guardian said that this accusation was met with "mirth".[39]

Bruce was later named as editor-at-large at TMG (renamed Tiso Blackstar Group). He retired after his 65th birthday in November 2017, though he continued to write his columns in the Business Day, Financial Mail, and Sunday Times.[6]

Columns and podcast

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Bruce is well known for his columns, long published in TMG newspapers. In 2017 Gareth van Onselen said of the columns that Bruce was "a maverick and a speculator, and an invaluable one at that", while noting that any individual column "is either right on the money, or, occasionally, right off it".[6] In a similar vein, Jeremy Gordin expressed fondness for Bruce but said that he "can write the most awful codswallop"; he nicknamed Bruce's Business Day column, The Thick End of the Wedge, as The Thin End of the Old Duffer's Intellect.[40]

In November 2020, Bruce published an interview with politician Helen Zille as the first episode of his new podcast series, Podcasts from the Edge.[41] The podcast, a current affairs interview series, is produced by the TimesLIVE podcast company.[42]

White monopoly capital campaign

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For broader coverage of the Bell Pottinger campaign, see White monopoly capital.

In June 2017, a dossier on Bruce was published on a blog called WMCleaks, WMC being an abbreviation of so-called white monopoly capital. The document contained various surveillance photographs of Bruce going about his daily business, alongside an unproven allegation that Bruce was having an extramarital affair.[43][44] On 29 June, in a Business Day column, Bruce linked the dossier to ongoing Twitter harassment and suggested that both were an organised response to his critical reporting about the Gupta brothers, President Jacob Zuma's notorious allies.[45] This conclusion received support in an investigation by the Daily Maverick's Jean Le Roux and Marianne Thamm, who found links between Gupta employees and the dossier, as well as the website on which the dossier was hosted.[46]

Later on 29 June 2017, about 20 members of Black First Land First (BFLF) staged an aggressive picket outside Bruce's home in Parkview, Johannesburg;[47] protestors vandalised his garage door with the slogan "land or death" and held placards that accused him of being a propagandist to white monopoly capital.[48][49] Business Day editor Tim Cohen was physically accosted by protestors when he visited the house.[50] The protest was condemned as an intimidation campaign and attack on media freedom by the South African Human Rights Commission,[51] the African National Congress,[52][53] and the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF).[54] Later the same week, Bruce was among the journalists who joined a lawsuit lodged by SANEF against BFLF and its leader, Andile Mngxitama;[49] the suit succeeded in obtaining an urgent interdict against further harassment of journalists and editors.[55]

Over the next few months, amaBhungane and other media outfits reported on emails leaked in the so-called GuptaLeaks, which revealed a fake news campaign coordinated by the Gupta family and the public relations firm Bell Pottinger, with the participation of BFLF and others. Among other things, the emails showed that Bell Pottinger and the Guptas had worked together to devise a Twitterbot campaign in response to Bruce's critical columns about the Guptas.[56][57] It also transpired that the surveillance of Bruce had included illegal access to his private phone records.[58] In 2018, Bruce joined with Huffington Post editor Ferial Haffajee and News24 editor Adriaan Basson to sue Bell Pottinger's insurer for defamation and breach of privacy resulting from the fake news campaign.[59]

Awards

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In 2014 Bruce received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 Sanlam Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism.[60] His alma mater, Rhodes University, awarded him its JSM50 Distinguished Alumni Award in 2022.[4]

Personal life

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He lives in Stanford, Western Cape,[8] where he opened a restaurant with his wife Robyn Chalmers.[61]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Bruce, Peter (15 July 2018). "For my father, who never let go". Sunday Times. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Alec Hogg: Peter Bruce's father provides a reminder of how far SA has come". News24. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Friends and family pay tribute to Wendy Woods with wit and African music". The South African. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Celebrating a lifetime of making financial news easy for everyone to understand". Rhodes University JMS50. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  5. ^ a b "In the beginning: How 'Wanted' became the beacon of luxury it is today". Wanted. 5 November 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  6. ^ a b c van Onselen, Gareth (21 December 2017). "Peter Bruce looks back". Financial Mail. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  7. ^ Tsedu, Mathatha (8 April 2000). "Pityana: a lifelong struggle for justice". The Star. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Peter Bruce". Hermanus Fynarts Festival. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b "The media play musical chairs". The Mail & Guardian. 24 December 1996. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  10. ^ Soggott, Mungo (22 November 1996). "The race is on for Financial Mail post". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Pearson holds sway over BDFM editors". The Mail & Guardian. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  12. ^ Bruce, Peter (24 October 2019). "My first week as FM editor was a baptism of fire". Business Day. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Lamont's quantum leap". The Mail & Guardian. 17 January 1997. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  14. ^ Barrell, Howard (14 May 1999). "Ramaphosa enters the editorial fray". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  15. ^ "M&G backs the ANC". The Mail & Guardian. 21 May 1999. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  16. ^ "FM editor slams management". The Mail & Guardian. 9 March 2001. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  17. ^ Bruce, Peter (29 July 2019). "A new spotlight on media". Financial Mail. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  18. ^ Wild, Sarah (1 May 2014). "Science writing 101: Everything you need to know to get published". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  19. ^ Bloom, Kevin (20 March 2006). "Making a Plan". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Weekender to close". The Mail & Guardian. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  21. ^ McLeod, Duncan (17 September 2009). "SA editors mull the future of newspapers in a digital world". TechCentral. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Business Media". The Mail & Guardian. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Peter Bruce new BDFM publisher". News24. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Peter Bruce takes the helm at BDFM". Business Day. 31 August 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  25. ^ "Business Day editor steps down". IOL. 3 September 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  26. ^ a b "Times Media old guard butchered". The Mail & Guardian. 14 February 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Shakeup in SA's newspapers". News24. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Peter Bruce back in editor's seat at Business Day". Sunday Times. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  29. ^ a b "Peter Bruce gives up editor's chair at Business Day". Business Day. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  30. ^ Hogg, Alec (27 March 2014). "Business Day appoints new editor to replace Peter Bruce". BizNews. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Business Day editor steps down to focus on TV". BusinessTech. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  32. ^ Gill, Moodie (15 January 2013). "Business Day to go tabloid in April". Grubstreet. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Business Day to go tabloid". News24. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  34. ^ "Times Media to cut up to 25 jobs". IOL. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  35. ^ "Times Media to cut jobs". IOL. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  36. ^ "Newspapers hard-pressed by JSE rules". The Mail & Guardian. 12 April 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Newsmaker – Iqbal Survé: Zen and the art of media ownership". News24. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  38. ^ Survé, Iqbal (5 December 2013). "I am not a lackey of the ANC". The Star. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  39. ^ "Survé claims against M&G skewed". The Mail & Guardian. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  40. ^ Gordin, Jeremy (23 April 2013). "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the cleverest journo of them all?". PoliticsWeb. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  41. ^ "New podcast: Peter Bruce speaks to Helen Zille". Financial Mail. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  42. ^ "Podcasts from the Edge — Peter Bruce". Sunday Times. 18 February 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  43. ^ Van der Merwe, Marelise (29 June 2017). "The Other News Round-Up: The Day the Funny Died". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  44. ^ "SA journos have more pals than enemies". The Mail & Guardian. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  45. ^ Ngubane, Sbo (29 June 2017). "The Brave Columns That Led To The Attacks On Journalist Peter Bruce". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  46. ^ Le Roux, Jean; Thamm, Marianne (21 June 2017). "In the non-surprise of the year, WMCLEAKS.com smear campaign tracked to a Gupta associate". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  47. ^ "BLF pickets outside journalist Peter Bruce's home". The Citizen. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  48. ^ Goba, Neo (30 June 2017). "Mob attacks top journalists". Sunday Times. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  49. ^ a b "Sanef, journalists ask court for urgent interdict against 'harassing' BLF". News24. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  50. ^ Goba, Neo (29 June 2017). "Another respected SA editor targeted by BLF". Herald. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  51. ^ "Human Rights Commission slams BLF for intimidating journalists". Cape Times. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  52. ^ Madia, Tshidi (8 July 2017). "ANC calls on SAPS to act against BLF 'thugs'". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  53. ^ Madia, Tshidi (30 June 2017). "ANC Gauteng condemns protests outside journalist's home". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  54. ^ Etheridge, Jenna (29 June 2017). "Sanef condemns attempts to silence editor Peter Bruce". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  55. ^ "South Africa journalists obtain order against activists". International Press Institute. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  56. ^ "#GuptaLeaks: Direct evidence Gupta henchmen prepared fake race-baiting tweets". News24. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  57. ^ "#GuptaLeaks: Gupta spin machine commissioned BLF's Mngxitama". The Mail & Guardian. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  58. ^ Cowan, Kyle (8 November 2017). "Private investigator challenges court order stopping him from spying on Peter Bruce". Business Day. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  59. ^ Khoza, Amanda (21 May 2018). "SA editors launch defamation claim against now defunct Bell Pottinger over 'WMC' campaign". News24. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  60. ^ Majola, Pearl (24 June 2015). "Claire Bisseker, Bruce Whitfield are Sanlam's Top Financial Journalists for 2014". Sanlam. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
  61. ^ Chalmers, Robyn (17 June 2019). "How a love affair with cooking began, ironically, with the end of a love affair". Wanted. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
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