Joe Pütz: Journalist extraordinaire
Joe Pütz was a journalist extraordinaire. He started his journalism career with the Allgemeine Zeitung in 1978 and left his mark as editor on nearly every newspaper in this country.
In addition to his stints at various newspapers, Joe was also the first controller of news when the South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation was transformed into the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation. This is where I first got to know Joe.
Many years later, in 2007, he joined the Namibian Sun as its first sub-editor. He served in this position under Tabby Moyo and the late Jan Poolman. He was a fountain of knowledge and a walking encyclopedia – a human version of Google.
Joe mentored and moulded hundreds of green horns that entered the journalism profession over a journalism career that spanned more than three decades. He had the experience and patience to explain to journalists why he changed their stories, but occasionally got sidetracked with lengthy philosophical discussions. This was no doubt due to the fact that philosophy was one of the majors of the BA degree which he completed at the University of Cape Town in 1972.
Most importantly, Joe had an in-depth knowledge of Namibia's political development and was able to provide context to stories. He co-authored the landmark Namibia Handbook and Political Who's Who with Heidi von Egidy and Perri Caplan way back in 1989 when information about prominent Swapo figures were extremely difficult to obtain. He was also the author of a dictionary of Südwest Deutsch some years before independence, as well as trade and investment guide which he wrote after independence.
Joe had an engaging personality and a fine sense of humour. But was always on the periphery of society and never part of the mainstream. I remember that when he became controller of news, he forfeited the benefit of a fancy car and came to work on a motorcycle instead!
In his later years, Joe faded from active journalism, but his immense contribution to journalism in this country needs to be recognised and will be sorely missed.
Willie Olivier
In addition to his stints at various newspapers, Joe was also the first controller of news when the South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation was transformed into the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation. This is where I first got to know Joe.
Many years later, in 2007, he joined the Namibian Sun as its first sub-editor. He served in this position under Tabby Moyo and the late Jan Poolman. He was a fountain of knowledge and a walking encyclopedia – a human version of Google.
Joe mentored and moulded hundreds of green horns that entered the journalism profession over a journalism career that spanned more than three decades. He had the experience and patience to explain to journalists why he changed their stories, but occasionally got sidetracked with lengthy philosophical discussions. This was no doubt due to the fact that philosophy was one of the majors of the BA degree which he completed at the University of Cape Town in 1972.
Most importantly, Joe had an in-depth knowledge of Namibia's political development and was able to provide context to stories. He co-authored the landmark Namibia Handbook and Political Who's Who with Heidi von Egidy and Perri Caplan way back in 1989 when information about prominent Swapo figures were extremely difficult to obtain. He was also the author of a dictionary of Südwest Deutsch some years before independence, as well as trade and investment guide which he wrote after independence.
Joe had an engaging personality and a fine sense of humour. But was always on the periphery of society and never part of the mainstream. I remember that when he became controller of news, he forfeited the benefit of a fancy car and came to work on a motorcycle instead!
In his later years, Joe faded from active journalism, but his immense contribution to journalism in this country needs to be recognised and will be sorely missed.
Willie Olivier
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