PERSON: Debora Patta
Position
Africa Correspondent
Biography
Debora Patta (born 1 September 1964) is a South African investigative broadcast journalist and television producer. She was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and has origins from Calabria, Italy.
Patta is the Africa correspondent for the American news program The CBS Evening News. She has been with CBS since 2013, following her departure from the long running investigative and current affairs show, 3rd Degree with Debora Patta.
After graduating from college, Patta worked as a political activist teaching literacy in Cape Town’s squatter camps until 1990, when she started working as a freelance reporter for the BBC.
Patta joined Radio 702 in Johannesburg as a reporter in 1990 and worked her way up to news editor in 1994 and special assignments editor in 1997.
The first news story she worked on that was aired on Radio 702 was about the return of ANC leader Oliver Tambo from exile in December 1990.
In 1997 and 1998, while working as news and special assignments editor for Radio 702 and its sister station Cape Talk, she investigated and reported on the 1986 plane crash in which Mozambican President Samora Machel was killed She received several threatening phone calls during the investigation. In June 1998 she participated in a post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission special hearing, providing expert opinion and assisting with questioning regarding the 1987 Helderberg plane crash and the Machel plane crash. She was later interviewed for a 2008 Mayday (Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) documentary on the Helderberg plane crash.
In October 2013, Patta returned to Radio 702 as a stand-in talk radio host.
Patta has worked for e.TV, the first privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa, since its inception in 1998. She started as a senior correspondent in Johannesburg and was subsequently appointed chief anchor of e.TV news.
From 2000 to 2013, she was the executive producer and anchor of the weekly current affairs television programme 3rd Degree, a show conceptualized by her which focused on hard-hitting interviews. The final episode of 3rd Degree aired on 14 May 2013.
She has reported on major international stories such as the September 11 attacks and the death of Princess Diana and has interviewed many notable individuals including Shimon Peres, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, Julius Malema, Eugène Terre’Blanche and Robert McBride.
She was appointed editor-in-chief of e.TV news in 2005. In 2009 she resigned her position as editor-in-chief, “to follow her passion for journalism” and focus on 3rd Degree.
She played a key role in the launch of South Africa’s first 24-hour news channel eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) by e.TV in 2008.
In 2012, a puppet version of Patta voiced by Nikki Jackman was cast as co-host of the satirical television news programme ZANEWS.
On 7 May 2013, e.TV and eNCA announced that Debora Patta had resigned “to pursue other interests as a freelancer for international news companies”.
Following her departure from e.TV, she began working as a foreign correspondent for CBS News.
>> Wikipedia
Patta is the Africa correspondent for the American news program The CBS Evening News. She has been with CBS since 2013, following her departure from the long running investigative and current affairs show, 3rd Degree with Debora Patta.
After graduating from college, Patta worked as a political activist teaching literacy in Cape Town’s squatter camps until 1990, when she started working as a freelance reporter for the BBC.
Patta joined Radio 702 in Johannesburg as a reporter in 1990 and worked her way up to news editor in 1994 and special assignments editor in 1997.
The first news story she worked on that was aired on Radio 702 was about the return of ANC leader Oliver Tambo from exile in December 1990.
In 1997 and 1998, while working as news and special assignments editor for Radio 702 and its sister station Cape Talk, she investigated and reported on the 1986 plane crash in which Mozambican President Samora Machel was killed She received several threatening phone calls during the investigation. In June 1998 she participated in a post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission special hearing, providing expert opinion and assisting with questioning regarding the 1987 Helderberg plane crash and the Machel plane crash. She was later interviewed for a 2008 Mayday (Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) documentary on the Helderberg plane crash.
In October 2013, Patta returned to Radio 702 as a stand-in talk radio host.
Patta has worked for e.TV, the first privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa, since its inception in 1998. She started as a senior correspondent in Johannesburg and was subsequently appointed chief anchor of e.TV news.
From 2000 to 2013, she was the executive producer and anchor of the weekly current affairs television programme 3rd Degree, a show conceptualized by her which focused on hard-hitting interviews. The final episode of 3rd Degree aired on 14 May 2013.
She has reported on major international stories such as the September 11 attacks and the death of Princess Diana and has interviewed many notable individuals including Shimon Peres, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Thabo Mbeki, Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, Julius Malema, Eugène Terre’Blanche and Robert McBride.
She was appointed editor-in-chief of e.TV news in 2005. In 2009 she resigned her position as editor-in-chief, “to follow her passion for journalism” and focus on 3rd Degree.
She played a key role in the launch of South Africa’s first 24-hour news channel eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) by e.TV in 2008.
In 2012, a puppet version of Patta voiced by Nikki Jackman was cast as co-host of the satirical television news programme ZANEWS.
On 7 May 2013, e.TV and eNCA announced that Debora Patta had resigned “to pursue other interests as a freelancer for international news companies”.
Following her departure from e.TV, she began working as a foreign correspondent for CBS News.
>> Wikipedia
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