A holiday coinciding with the 1995 Rugby World Cup brought newspaper man Jeremy McCabe back to his home province of the Eastern Cape after several years in New Zealand, and would spark a return to his Weekend Post roots.
McCabe said it was a pleasure and an honour to have been a part of Weekend Post at all levels over the years, including as editor.
McCabe first became involved with Weekend Post when he was appointed news editor in about 1983 or 1984.
He remained in that position until 1986, when he was appointed Sunday Times bureau chief for the Eastern Cape, and later deputy news editor of the Sunday Times.
“In mid-1987, I emigrated to New Zealand, but returned to Port Elizabeth on holiday in 1995 to coincide with the Rugby World Cup,” McCabe said.
“During that amazing time of national unity under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela, then editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekend Post, Ric Wilson, persuaded me to stay on as assistant editor running Weekend Post.”
Two years later, McCabe was appointed as managing editor of the paper and later deputy editor of The Herald, a position he held until mid-2009, when he became acting editor-in-chief of The Herald, Weekend Post and six community newspapers.
“In 2010, I was appointed editor of Weekend Post where I remained until 2012, when I was tasked with further developing the company’s production hub, which I had been instrumental in starting in 2009.”
McCabe believes the reason for the success of Weekend Post in its heyday was that it provided something for everybody.
“It had excellent hard news reporting, good political and sport coverage, and the famous swap column and Property Post section.”
Editors he’d worked with included Neville Woudberg “and the one and only Ric Wilson”.
“The decline of the newspaper, in my view, began when management at head office started meddling and trying to introduce editorial and management formulas that did not resonate with readers in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
“Readership and circulation declined amid growing online competition.
“The ability to quickly keep up to date on news and sports events on your laptop or cellphone became a slow poison for papers like Weekend Post and the Saturday Dispatch.”
At a human level, McCabe said his enduring memory of Weekend Post was of the talented pool of journalists he’d worked with over the years “and who made my job such fun”.
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McCabe magic produced a winner week after week
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A holiday coinciding with the 1995 Rugby World Cup brought newspaper man Jeremy McCabe back to his home province of the Eastern Cape after several years in New Zealand, and would spark a return to his Weekend Post roots.
McCabe said it was a pleasure and an honour to have been a part of Weekend Post at all levels over the years, including as editor.
McCabe first became involved with Weekend Post when he was appointed news editor in about 1983 or 1984.
He remained in that position until 1986, when he was appointed Sunday Times bureau chief for the Eastern Cape, and later deputy news editor of the Sunday Times.
“In mid-1987, I emigrated to New Zealand, but returned to Port Elizabeth on holiday in 1995 to coincide with the Rugby World Cup,” McCabe said.
“During that amazing time of national unity under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela, then editor-in-chief of The Herald and Weekend Post, Ric Wilson, persuaded me to stay on as assistant editor running Weekend Post.”
Two years later, McCabe was appointed as managing editor of the paper and later deputy editor of The Herald, a position he held until mid-2009, when he became acting editor-in-chief of The Herald, Weekend Post and six community newspapers.
“In 2010, I was appointed editor of Weekend Post where I remained until 2012, when I was tasked with further developing the company’s production hub, which I had been instrumental in starting in 2009.”
McCabe believes the reason for the success of Weekend Post in its heyday was that it provided something for everybody.
“It had excellent hard news reporting, good political and sport coverage, and the famous swap column and Property Post section.”
Editors he’d worked with included Neville Woudberg “and the one and only Ric Wilson”.
“The decline of the newspaper, in my view, began when management at head office started meddling and trying to introduce editorial and management formulas that did not resonate with readers in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
“Readership and circulation declined amid growing online competition.
“The ability to quickly keep up to date on news and sports events on your laptop or cellphone became a slow poison for papers like Weekend Post and the Saturday Dispatch.”
At a human level, McCabe said his enduring memory of Weekend Post was of the talented pool of journalists he’d worked with over the years “and who made my job such fun”.
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