I am Sheetal (Schneider) Cross, a South African journalist with an extensive print media portfolio across all genres of news reporting for the Durban arm of Independent Newspapers, from 2005 to date. I am also Director and Media Consultant at Titanium Media South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Since 2015 I have written one of the oldest sports columns in the country, SPORTMatters, for the Sunday Tribune. The column was previously known as SPORTFolio and was 31 years old at the time of the handover. The platform gave me the opportunity to highlight the achievements of women in sport and to create awareness of unsung athletes. In some cases, the media exposure created sponsorship opportunities for underprivileged athletes who had excelled at their sport with little or no financial support.
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Media award nomination
In 2016, owing to my long-standing commitment to feature stories on women in sport, I was a finalist in the Women in Print Media category at the GSport Awards in Johannesburg. The televised ceremony, viewed by millions of South Africans, was created and hosted by Kass Naidoo through her organisation, Girl Sport.
TV presenter
In 2014 and 2015, I presented a show for Trace Sports Stars International, a televised series featured in 135 countries, excluding the USA. Episodes were shown in South Africa on DStv, but the show is no longer on air.
Namibia and New Zealand
In 2007, I lived and worked throughout Namibia as an assistant facilitator on a multi-million rand cultural diversity and communication programme, training employees of Namdeb (Namibia/De Beers), a diamond mining company.
From 2008 to 2009 I lived in various cities across the North Island of New Zealand as a freelance journalist. As media assistant to Dutch-born American author Dr Jeannette Vos, whose bestseller The Learning Revolution sold millions of copies worldwide, I gained international media experience, took part in book writing and research, and received training in all aspects of health.
Academics
In 2016 and 2018, I was invited to teach New Media III at the Durban University of Technology (DUT). I hold a Master’s degree in Journalism from the same institution, completed in 2021.
If you have a newsworthy story, email info@sheetalcross.com or use the Contact page. Information shared with me is handled in confidence, and sources remain anonymous unless they request otherwise, to the fullest extent permitted by law.