If you're looking for just a journalist or just a reporter, get lost

What makes a good story? What makes an impression? What do you read that tends to stay with you? Simple. It has to be interesting. And what separates me from Clark kent, Peter Parker and every other average-Joe reporter doing their beat, doing their job, is I write about what interests me, what I'm truly passionate about. I write to inspire, to inform and sometimes because the media lacks meaning or meaningful information in a particular area. They may not be interpretting the news, they may not be on the look out for the signal between all the noise. I am. For me it's not just another meaningless message; it's not just a job.

I am employed by a media company, but I work as a freelancer. This gives me the freedom to pursue what I like and publish what I want without being constrained or biased towards one particular brand or corporate mindset. As a result I have been published in every major newspaper in South Africa, and most of the major magazines. Look out for the July 2009 edition of Men's Health for my interview (and video) with Gavin Hood.

I have a wide variety of interests, but I'm particularly interested in alternative energy and alternative energy products. Earlier this year I interviewed Gerhard Swart, who is behind the exciting Joule Electric Car development. Watch out for my article The Heart of the Joule in the upcoming edition of Biophile magazine.
I'm also interested in economics. I've written in the past for Financial Mail on Korea, a country wired for wealth.
I'm interested in sports, [ particularly cycling, swiming and triathlon] , and health and nutrition.
I believe our attitude towards swine flu is far too complacent. This view is based on the insights provided by experts I have interviewed, including Dr. John Oxford and Professor Robert Bragg.

I'm interested in nature, so if you have a getaway somewhere in the African outback you'd like to promote, I'm your man. Botswana and the Kalahari are favorite haunts for me. I am currently putting together a photographic exhibition on haunting South African landscapes.

I also enjoy international travel, and am still very keen to visit Finland, Iceland, Alaska and Mongolia. I was one of a handful of writers invited on a Press Tour to South Korea in April 2008, and this year was invited to visit Dubai.

I also interview and photograph personalities. These are people who are hard working, respectable people with stories worth telling. In some cases they may have just started on their journey, for example, the animator Dan Barker and swimmers Jean-Marie Neethling and Roxanne Meyer. Roxanne is a model I discovered while training at Virgin Active (she is the youngest ever qualifier for senior nationals, doing so at age 11). If I see potential I am happy to help leverage your exposure into the public domain. This may include shooting a portfolio of photos, setting up a Facebook profile and a blog, and setting out a whole strategy for your search for fame and fortune.

It's been said that those who advertise in Depression's survive. Those who fail to get the market's attention will disappear quickly.
Ifyou're serious about getting your story out there, and you feel you have a story worth caring about, contact me by leaving a comment, or send me an email.

Here's a sample of my work: Miles to go before we sleep [published in Sunday Times Travel

About Me

Hi, thanks for coming.

Every Monday I publish a column titled THE VIEW FROM MY BICYCLE which often also includes video of my thoughts relating to our conundrum. On Wednesday's I publish a counter intuitive piece, something a friend of mine refers to as 'contrarian views' called It's Cool by the Pool - right? Thus far I have been accurate in predicting the current crisis and also the run up of oil and metal prices. I also predicted the stock market crash of 2008, although it was staggered in such a way that few people even today realise that the market did in fact crash (a 30% decline is a crash!)

One of my mentors is James Kunstler. He provides weekly updates to his blog and a podcast (the Kunstlercast) which can be found here on Monday's and Thursday respectively. Well worth following. (see right hand column).

I also eagerly follow folks at TheOilDrum.com, NOIMPACTMAN and Wired.com.

I'm English-speaking, from a Dutch family of artists and artisans, builders, engineers and teachers. I work for a Media Company in Johannesburg, and as a freelance photojournalist. I've worked at The Jupiter Drawing Room CT, PWC, AXXA Sunlife, Hargreaves Lansdowne, AT&T, Mail on Sunday, been published in Sunday Times, Sunday Independent, Rapport, The Times, Cape Times, Sowetan, Financial Mail, Go!, Leisure Wheels, Ride, True Love, Shape, taught ESL in South Korea and Economics in South Africa, done an Ironman, climbed Kili and never published a book.

I've written a few, including HOLIDAY, HALF FULL MOON and have a few works in progress in the works (including The Butcher The Butcher, The Devil Smokes Chesterfield and Christopher Ulysses and the Castle of the Blue Grass).

I'm also a passionate photographer, have had a successful exhibition and am planning another for 2009. I love to shoot pristine natural environments (such as Botswana, Transkei and beach and mountain wildernesses.

I'm a keen cyclist and triathlete.
I don't believe men ever went to the moon, or that multivitamins work, or that heaven is in the afterlife. I believe the world changed fundamentally in 2008 due to Peak Oil, and that we face critical resource limits going into the future.

I believe in the beauty and power of Now. I love writing and cinema and will direct a screenplay soon. I believe that telling stories has a valuable role in building society, and making it into something better than it is.

To find out more, go here.

If you'd like to arrange a photoshoot, or commission a story, find my contact details in the banner box at the top of the page.

Email: nickvanderleek at gmail dot co dot za
Tel: 0729733929