# Niel Hammann > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Niel_Hammann > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Niel_Hammann.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niel_Hammann > Source revision: 1342218714 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Retired South African journalist}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox person |image=Niel Hammann and wife Marlene Cape Town.jpg |caption=Niel Hammann with his wife Marlene |birth_name=Dirk Daniël Hammann |birth_date={{birth date and age|1937|09|06|df=y}} |birth_place=[King William's Town](/source/King_William's_Town), [Eastern Cape](/source/Eastern_Cape), South Africa |occupation=Journalist and editor |known_for=Senior journalist (Editor-in-Chief) for Naspers magazines Huisgenoot and You in South Africa }} '''Dirk Daniël Hammann,''' known as '''Niel Hammann''' (born 6 September 1937), is a retired [South Africa](/source/South_Africa)n senior [journalist](/source/journalist). He was [editor-in-chief](/source/editor-in-chief) of the [Afrikaans](/source/Afrikaans) weekly family magazine ''[Huisgenoot](/source/Huisgenoot)'', as well as its English sister publication, [''You''](/source/You_(South_African_magazine)). == Career == Hammann was appointed assistant editor of Huisgenoot in September 1977. He became an editor for the magazine in 1978. ''Huisgenoot'' and ''You'' are published in [Cape Town](/source/Cape_Town) by [Media24](/source/Media24), an affiliate of [Naspers](/source/Naspers). By the late 1970s, weekly sales of ''Huisgenoot'' dropped to 129,000,{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} leading the publication's owners to consider shutting it down. Hammann revived the popularity of the magazine by turning the what was a conservative family magazine into more of a news magazine with human interest stories, and geared toward television audiences.{{Cite journal |last=Froneman |first=Johannes D. |last2=Swart |first2=Alexa |last3=Pretorius |first3=Cornia |date=December 2018 |title=Huisgenoot se veranderende voorbladagenda: Van Diana tot misdaad as ʼn vorm van vermaak |trans-title=Huisgenoot 's changing cover agenda: From Diana to crime as a form of entertainment |journal=Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe. |language=Afrikaans |volume=58 |issue=4–1 |pages=770–787 |doi=10.17159/2224-7912/2018/v58n4-1a10|doi-access=free }} He also opened syndication offices in [London](/source/London). The magazine's circulation grew to more than 500,000 in 1984 and reached a record high of 540,000 sales in one week in the 1990s. It was read by more than two million people every week, based on an average issue readership of more than four per copy sold. In 1987, Hammann launched the magazine ''You'' as an English-language version of ''Huisgenoot''. As with Huisgenoot, Hammann had ''You's'' content meet international standards, which he had previously studied as London editor for ''Naspers's'' magazines. Hammann retired in the late 1990s. == Personal life == Hammann has a wife, Marlene. == Awards == [Naspers](/source/Naspers) awarded him their highest accolade, while the South African Academy for Science and Arts (Afrikaans: Die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns) awarded him their medal for excellence in journalism. == References == {{Reflist|30em}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hammann, Niel}} Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Stellenbosch University alumni Category:South African newspaper editors Category:South African magazine editors Category:Mass media people from Cape Town Category:20th-century South African journalists Category:21st-century South African journalists --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Niel Hammann](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niel_Hammann) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niel_Hammann?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.