Cartoon Gill

Life as a salaried journalist did have its perks.

But then so does being freelance. I get to goof off with Gemma at the beach more...

and indulge in leisurely pursuits like mosaic.

Of course there's four cats who wish to invade my study and sit on my laptop...

but then I don't have the fag of managing people and I can smoke at my desk (this would be the sixth year I'm trying to quit).

Grub Street was a dodgy lane populated by needy hacks in 17^th and 18^th century London (close to today’s Barbican). The great Dr Johnson lived there for a while and in his dictionary he says the term was “originally the name of a street… much inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and temporary poems, whence any mean production is called grubstreet”.

Grub Street.co.za is the work of a South African journalist, Gill Moodie, fallen on hard times after being exited from the mainstream media. I do it between packing the dishwasher, bringing up a four-year-old with attitude and pondering the machinations of the corporate world. You can’t keep a good hack down and this website aims to cut through the crap of the South African media web landscape to tell you what you need to know amid the endless churn of wire copy – and who’s writing interesting stories and intelligent analysis.

And if no one’s doing it, then I will. It’s also a bit of fun and hopefully the start of new class of independent voices in South African news. I also hawk my pen around so if you’re looking for a writer (cash offers appreciated), let me know.

I’m  very keen to get other voices on to Grubstreet so if the spirit moves and you want to do a guest post or two for Grubstreet, just email me about your idea. Of course, I don’t pay except in kudos.  

You can contact me here

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