Third person bios | Ananse Media

I find writing about myself in the third person a bit awkward. But, Google likes this sort of stuff. And it’s also useful if you are looking for my bio and want to easily cut and paste it. Here’s a selection:

About Vanessa Clark, freelance ICT journalist & copywriter

Vanessa Clark started her digital media career in the last century, before the days of blogs, Facebook and Twitter, when she arrived in London wielding a journalism degree from Rhodes University and some basic HTML experience. This landed her an editorial role at Emap’s Totaltele.com news service – the first purely online business publication for the telecoms industry. Fun times, especially when people asked to be sent the print version by post.

Fast forward a few years and a career detour through PR, marketing and branding and Vanessa’s returned to journalism on a freelance basis, writing mostly about technology, but sometimes about marketing and sustainability. Her favourite subject matter is found where digital technology intersects with real people to make something awesome happen. This could be a better way for small companies to market themselves more effectively without breaking the bank, or it could be a better way for people to send money home using mobile technology. If it involves mobile innovation coming out of Africa, she is usually hooked. Because she has spent the bulk of her career in the tech industry, she is adept at translating geek speak into something interesting and accessible.

Vanessa has contributed to local and international internet communications technology (ICT) publications including: TechCrunch, Memeburn, Ventureburn, African Business Review, Bizcommunity.com and Afrinnovator. She does also write for print, including Brainstorm magazine, and believes it’s less about the medium and more about writing compelling, well-researched, accurate and easy-to-read stories, and then letting readers access these in whatever way works for them.

You can find Vanessa here: vanessa@ananse.co.za, ananse.co.za or @vanclark

Vanessa Clark, freelance ICT journalist and copywriter

Vanessa Clark has been writing about the internet and digital world since the last century. Her career has spanned journalism, PR and marketing; the UK and South Africa; and startups and big business. Today she’s a freelance technology journalist, based in Cape Town, South Africa. Vanessa is also working on a Master’s degree at the University of Cape Town, researching fake news.

She is currently obsessed with how innovation and digital disruption is changing all our lives. And is convinced that by cutting out the gobbledegook and telling the story of our new digital reality in people-speak, she can make sure technology is used for good, not evil.

You can find Vanessa here: vanessa@ananse.co.za, ananse.co.za or @vanclark