Monday, 26 March 2012

Liberal society




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The South Africa we live in has come a long way when it comes to different ethnic groups, so to see an interracial couple naked in front of a DA poster shows that the message that was being portrayed was that in our future or our generation a person would not look twice at a interracial couple. Reason being our generation is so liberal that we have come to terms with one another, it does not scare us to see a black and a white person walking from class to class because there is nothing amusing about it.
Given the fact that the DA is given a racist name, the people blew the message of the poster out of proportion saying that it is only going to cause conflict to the people and they are just pulling a front to the audience by saying that we as South Africans can see each other as unit and not separate individuals. I think the message they wanted to portray was that lets be one, let not get the colour of our skins to be the reason of our separation, lets interact together because we are all equal South Africans.
The message on the poster stated that in our generation you would look twice, which was suppose to be interpreted on a literal sense because even when you walk around campus, skin colour does not define who you are and only the good personality can. In other words you don’t find it a need to judge a person because he or she is black or Indian you just find it in yourself to be interested at the other person because you simply think she/he looks interesting, unique because of the clothes she wears or the subjects she is interested.
It all boils down to how our generation sees the future; we see the future as bright, we see our country  full of colour and different but special in any way possible.

The Journey has only began




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My time at the university has been a journey that I join, a journey of a young and aspiring journalist. Being a journalist has opened my eyes, it has taught quite a number of lessons. It has taught me that being a journalist is not something you wake up in the morning to try and do, but rather you have to be prepared and be good at whatever you do. It has improved my communication skills because the one golden rule that you have to keep in mind is make contacts with every relationship you have with everybody you meet, for example when you interview an editor of something or the minister of finance create that credibility between each other so that next time when you need to contact someone to interview again he/she will be glad because you handled the previous interview and information with dignity.

As a person being an aspiring journalist has built my self-confidence, it has encouraged me to be versatile in everything I do, for instance try everything that has to do with media and then decide what has taken after your heart, what you perfect. I worry sometimes because I have not yet found my passion, is it writing, is it reporting, is it radio, where am I going to fit in eventually. Is there a bright future for me in journalism or am I going to be one of the other bunch who just dreamt of being the best. As much as I have conquered the theoretical side of journalism, who am I going to become after when I have to now do the practical side. 
The challenges I believe I am going to face is selling myself, selling my name to the outside world once I am done with school. To be accepted in the journalism industry requires references, require CV building, creating contacts, but I believe once you have started there is no one and nothing that can stop you to becoming the best in the profession

Sunday, 25 March 2012

Hype media


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New media are the cultural objects which use digital computer technology for distribution and exhibition, but in my opinion the definition thereof must be revised every few years.  New media has radically broken the connection between physical and social place, making the physical location less significant to us. Social movement media has a rich and storied history that has changed at a rapid rate since new media became widely used.
Media has been used extensively by social movements to educate, organise, and share cultural views. Although the social media has given aspiring journalist and the industry of journalism a platform to distribute our works and views and have the audience to communicate by participating on daily comments, social media has also brought doubt to my mind that security concerns over new media have increased due to the amount of cyberspace, people can easily hack into people personal information through social media, but never the less has it open a vast amount of space where people can share their news with others audiences.
It is an improved medium that can also be a source of job creation, in a sense that if you are good in writing daily blogs or whatever you’re interested in and receiving daily comments on the topics that you will unravel, then the software publication will pay you for every person that joins the daily conversations. So in other words, professional journalist and aspiring journalist with the appropriate technology can now produce their  online media and include images, text and sound clips of some of the videos  that perhaps relate to the topic at hand, because media is a social instrument of communication for example radio or newspaper.
From my opinion social media helped me be creative in any possible way by creating a large platform that is diverse and also versatile in a sense that under blogs alone there are different types of blogs, such as the genre blog that focus on particular subjects such as a political blog or an education blog. And the media type which comprise of videos, shorter posts and mixed media. In counterpoint Hugh Hewitt who exemplifies a mass media personality adding his reach by being an influential blogger and helped me get an idea of the platform and it’s inexpensive.

Doomday

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The proposed protection of state information in my opinion can only mean one thing, which is doomsday for aspiring and professional journalist, because it means that our function in the society is going to be jeopardised. The proposed protection means that the society will then not have access to scandalous information that happens within the state and amongst official bodies.
The protection of information can lead to a dysfunctional state because the state will get away with everything and anything, for instance it will disqualify the aim of section 32 which states that everyone has the right to access of information held by the state which is essential for everybody to have access to, and the right to access information held by any person. To have the protection of information proposed will lead to the possibility of preserving state secrets, and the protection of state security to combat crime and enforce the law effectively. That will boil down to the ineffectiveness of the rights, and most importantly of the democracy we so fought for.
Removing the right to information will remove the uniqueness that we possessed as South African; normally such a right is incorporated in the freedom of expression right and it’s not given independent status. In the South African constitution this right is a completely separate entity in this way it serves a reaction to the secrecy which was a feature of the apartheid regime. Freedom of information reflects the need for transparency in government procedures and government responsibility, but with the protection of the information bill all that will have is a fight gone to waste.
With the secrecy bill my future as a journalist is doomed because a journalist function is expose, and be an entity of reliance for the public, with the protection of information every information we get our hands on will have to go through the government for approval and if its information that will retaliate they will dismiss it with immediate effect.