Gabriël Botma

Gabriël Botma (19**-) is a theatre and film reviewer, the former arts editor of Die Burger in Cape Town, lecturer in journalism and head of the department at the University of Stellenbosch.

Also known as Gabriël J. Botma or Gawie Botma. His last name is sometimes misspelled Gabriël Bothma

Biography

Training

He studied at the University of Stellenbosch, completing a BA therfe in 198*, In 2006 he obtained the degree MPhil (cum laude) with a study of media transformation at Naspers en Die Burger since 1994. In 2011 he completed a doctorate on the topic Manufacturing cultural capital: Arts journalism at Die Burger (1990-1999).

Career

He started working as a journalist in various capacities in the 1980s, becoming a writer and reviewer for, and later arts editor of, Die Burger in Cape Town. In 199* he was appointed as a lecturer in the University of Stellenbosch's Journalism Department, and in 20** became chairman of that department.

Contribution to South African Theatre, Film, Media and Performance

A highly respected theatre, film and arts reviewer and critic, Botma has written a vast number of commentaries, reviews and newspaper articles on theatre and the performing arts in South Africa. In his capacity as Arts Editor at Die Burger he also did much to augment and maintain the reputation of the arts pages of that seminal South African paper.

Besides his journalistic writing, he has published a large number of academic articles and commentaries in journals such as Journalism and Mass Commucation Educator, Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, Communicatio, Critical Arts, LitNet. Botma is also the founder-editor and publisher of the internet journal Global Media Journal – African Edition.

He has served on a number of judging panels, most notably on the Fleur du Cap Theatre awards (1996–2004 and 2012-).

He is a member of numerous associations, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), the South African Communication Association (SACOMM), the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF), the International Communication Association (ICA), and the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC).