PREVIEW: Highly anticipated 'Die Nuusmakers' starts airing on kykNET from 27 May

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to writer and director Karen Jeynes.

Listen below:

'Die Nuusmakers' is kykNet's latest highly anticipated series set to hit screens on Tuesday, 27 May at 8 pm on DStv channel 144.

The show follows veteran news anchor Adri Joubert as she navigates a national crisis alongside a personal one, revealing the emotional and ethical challenges faced by those delivering the news.

Joubert reported someone for 'crimen injuria' (Latin for 'wrongful injury'), which is a common law offence that involves intentionally insulting or damaging someone's reputation or feelings. It's similar to defamation, but defamation deals with false statements, while crimen injuria focuses on the malicious intent to harm someone's dignity. 

Joubert has built a reputation for trustworthiness.

But when Joubert witnesses a tragic incident while reporting live, which involves someone close to her dying, it triggers deep investigations, which lead to questions such as:

• What happens when you become the news?
• How do you decide what is news?
• What do you feature and when?
• Who do we interview?
• How do you report on the news?
• How do you package the news?

Watch the trailer below:

Jeynes explains that the show aims to provide a 'transparent' look at some of the processes that go into curating news. 

"... this is an interesting look for South Africans at how this process [news] is made... people are more than ever inclined to call things 'fake news'... we wanted to have quite a transparent look at some of that process..."

- Karen Jeynes

Jeynes explains that the show also explores the tension of news as a business model while providing ethical news. 

"Can a newsroom survive?... one of the plot lines [is]... is this still a viable business? Is this something the investors and owners can make money from? Or are they just doing this because of some altruistic love for the news? So, our journalists are constantly weighing up not only what's valuable and ethical but also what will get the views and hook the audience in."

- Karen Jeynes

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.