Flow is pleased to welcome a new writer to its Cape Town office: the lovely Lynnette Johns, who joins fellow writestars Marin Gorrie and Leon Jamarie in developing online content for Flow’s Cape Town-based clients. Having worked for a variety of newspaper titles in the Independent Newspapers stable in Cape Town, Lynnette has a wealth of experience as a writer.
She knew as far back as Grade 3 that she wanted to be a reporter. And this naturally led her to study journalism at the Peninsula Technikon (now part of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology), after which she was drawn into the world of daily news.
In a strange twist of fate, not all the faces at Flow are new to her: “I actually worked with Willem at the Cape Times in 1994,” she says, referring to Flow subeditor Willem Steenkamp. “I was a terrible intern and depended on people like Willem to get me through choppy waters,” she laughs.
She worked at the Cape Times for a year before moving to the Plainsman, a weekly community newspaper in Mitchells Plain. In 1999 she joined the Cape Argus, leaving in 2004 to work as a spokesperson for the former Western Cape MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Tasneem Essop.
In 2007 she took up a post at the Weekend Argus, and returned to the Cape Argus in 2009.
A sensitive soul and a passionate writer, Lynnette speaks of writing news pieces that touched her readers emotionally, and of comforting some of the families she interviewed. Whenever she had to write an article on a tragedy (such as the gruesome deaths of children), Lynnette says she found herself crying as she typed.
‘Over the moon’
On working at Flow, she says: “I was over the moon when I was offered the job. Working at Flow has been amazing so far and my colleagues are fantastic.
“The environment is definitely different to the one in the newsrooms I worked in. It was a bit daunting when Roy [Barford, Flow Cape Town manager] took me through some of the technological aspects of my job, but he said he or my other colleagues would always be on hand to teach me.”
Lynnette describes herself as a people’s person who is “slightly random”, with a “wacky” sense of humour. Her interests include reading, writing, politics and experimenting in the kitchen. She enjoys spending time with her two children, Dillon (20) and Kimberly (16). She also enjoys watching TV and is currently writing a book, which she says can be classified as “chick lit”.
And, as much as Lynnette has been impressed by Flow, she, in turn, has made an impression on Flow. Says Roy: “When Lynnette walked into Flow Cape Town for her interview, I could feel the energy levels in the building rise dramatically – it was very obvious straight away that she’s enthusiastic about work, and that she really wanted to be a part of Flow.
“She is well respected in the media industry and has heaps of journalistic experience. She appears to love learning new skills and seems up for any challenge that comes her way. Lynnette will play a big part in content generation and social media management at Flow Cape Town.
“In addition to being an excellent writer, I think she’s going to be a very good mentor for younger writers. And she’s definitely going to be a lot of fun to work with – she has a fantastic sense of humour!” he quips.
And the compliments don’t stop there. Says fellow writer Leon Jamarie: “Lynnette is a refreshing addition to the Flow Cape Town family. I look forward to getting to know her better, as we bond over our shared nicotine addiction and learn from her years of experience as a news journo.”
Welcome to Flow, Lynnette!