I regretted it but I did it for brave journalists around the world

Recently my friend and I did something we have never done before. We wanted to get out of our comfort zones. I am not a person who takes making a fool out of myself lightly so this was a big step for me. We went to another res and crashed their awards dinner. After having a few cups of punch and some cocktail sausages we started to get strange looks from other people. Eventually a very rude girl decided to tell us that we weren’t invited and she threatened to call their sub-warden. We left very quickly. I remember feeling very nervous before I went to the party but I went with the flow and let my wild friend convince me how much fun it would be. I must admit after a few drinks I left my worries behind and praised myself for being so carefree. However I left the party feeling exactly how I felt on arrival, like an idiot.

why I love to stalk blogs?

When I reed the blog, confesionsofjournstudents, it makes me truly believe that I am a student, a young student discovering the ways of the world without a care. The language used in the blog is colloqial and uses a great amount of slang. It is extremely conversational meaning it will appeal to young students. The bloggers described that the aim of the blog was is to share journalistic experience with other journalists but if they are trying to capture the attention of journalists they should be more careful of spelling mistakes as it implies that the blogger does not take writting seriously or the reader. They want to make people aware of the events going on in the world and they do this well by using many realistic, attention grabbing photographs. However if they wanted to be attention grabbing they should have made their blog more colourful and easier to read instead of having to constantly scroll down. The bloggers aim was to show people how to be good journalists and good citizens and I believe they strike a good balance between they two whether it be discussing photojournalism or political issues in our universities.

I believe this blog is significant because it stretches the boundaries of personal writting within the English language. The bloggers are very personal and revealing of who they are. It feels that it is a gift to be able to read their blogs and ultimately their thoughts

Do I want to know what you wrote this semester?

By Jessica Kriedemann
Blog: I know what you wrote last semester

With a name that plays off the name of one of my all time old favourite scary movies of 1997, I know what you did last summer; the title instantly caught my attention and gave me a chuckle.

Their blog title also swings into their theme and design, with a bold title and almost gloomy black page. I hope that that was intentional. I was disappointed to find very few pictures or any type of designed images on their site though, with only the compulsory pictures being put up. Due to this, their posts seemed to all run into each other and I often found myself a little bit bored with nothing to really catch my eye. With their introductory personal post, photos could have been added as well, get the reader to connect more with each blogger.

However, the best thing about this blog is that it made me laugh and I enjoyed it because it was not overally political. It related well to the average Rhodes’ Student lifestyle with topics varying from nights out on the town, our SRC and animal rights. Although the posts were very opinionated, well thought out and sometimes stimulating, I thought that the group brought less than what they initially said I would gain from reading it. After all, their challenging statement in their first post: “if you don't like what is being said here, download porn instead” made me sit up and lean into my screen.

No Parrots?

By Ayanda Mhlanga

The green building stood before me, ready to be conquered ‘Rat and Parrot’ it read and in a smaller font ‘Pub and Restaurant’ above the door; a building I had passed many times before. Numerous students had gone before, but I had always found it daunting and, well, green looking.

I’d always thought there was a lot of smoking and drinking that went on in there and that I would be identified as an outcast as soon as I walked through the door with a sea of stern looking faces staring at me, it was a pub after all, are people in pubs friendly?

I opened the door as naturally as I could, as if I walked into the Rat everyday, I hoped I pulled it off. I was greeted by a smiling waitress; I had not expected a smiling waitress, why was she smiling anyway? I saw one of my tutorial peers who directed me upstairs to the rest of the ‘tutlings’, and there they were, spread over two tables looking as comfortable as can be, all happy to be out of the AMM. I slotted myself in one of the benches and started chatting away… about Journalism of course. It turns out there was a lot of smoking going on, and plenty of drinking, but they did have coffee and juice too. I had something called ‘Paradise’, a fruit mix of sorts. I spotted neither parrots nor rats, aside from the Rhodes Students that is.

A objective look at un-objectivity

By Ayanda Mhlanga

Reviewed Blog: The Art of Unobjectivity

I stumbled upon this blog by mistake, while looking for another one, at first glance the seemingly clean presentation caught my eye, the look made me feel as if I could take it seriously and I quite liked the idea of being un-objective. The blog which is by 5 Journalism1 students, seemed set on being un-objective. The initial posts, which seem to be posted by a group of princesses who chose to remain faceless, left me quite confused as one could not really get who the blogs were relating to.

I found some of the early posts laborious to get through even though it was an easy format to read, maybe this could have been because of the lack of illustrations to keep me interested. The princesses proceeded to write in different fonts with different colours, which disrupted the uniformity. The writing picked up after the initial manifestos, and the uniformity returned.
The matter covered is very consistent though with interesting takes on being politically correct and of course the validity of objectivity, though a lot of the news topics were international which disappointed me slightly as I am not particularly interested in boy band members passing away, and love local relevant information, for an international audience though, this is good.

In this blog expect to find many floating URL’s few visuals or extra’s but some good writing on certain topics; the posts I looked forward to reading were Jessica Kate’s, whose writing was clear and interesting. How un-objective are they you may want to know, well I don’t know if I’m the right girl to come to for an objective opinion.

Fasting for the fun of it!

Not Ghandi: Finally caving in to the cravings
Pic: Jessica Kriedemann

By Jessica Kriedemann

In my Matric year, a group of my friends in a scripture union society decided to stop eating for as long as possible, in support of a fundraiser and to use their meal times for times of prayer and reflection. Because I am such a nut about my three meals a day, I couldn’t really understand why anyone would want to use hunger pains to prove a point or support a cause. Food just tastes too damn good.

Then later that year, we watched Ghandi. No kidding. Since then, I’ve wanted to try last as long as possible without the one thing that I look forward to everyday...food. I just didn’t know what I could do during the time I wasn’t eating, as I didn’t really have any cause to support and exercise probably wasnt the safest idea. Since exams are here, I decided to use meal times as study times. Writing out notes while your stomach is growling was pretty challenging.

Missing breakfast was probably the hardest as I always wake up craving my cereal and coffee, but lunch was easy and I drank lots of water to keep me filled up. I tried to keep myself as busy as possible and didn’t go to the dining hall to sit with my friends. I managed to write out notes for English and although I was hungry, I wasn’t dying or anything. That was until I went to my tut at the Rat and Parrot and had a cider. The one oh-so-refreshing Hunters Dry went to my head a little and on the walk home, I started to feel pretty weak. I got back to res and alerted my friend who said I’d turned the colour of her bleached white cardigan.

I lasted from 8am till 2.30am on my fast and surprisingly lost my actual hunger as the day continued, but I started to feel very weak that night. I grabbed a bowl of muesli, bran, yoghurt and honey in the early hours of the morning while wondering how Ghandi lasted so long. Surprisingly I had to almost force myself to eat the whole bowl, but I knew I needed to.

I learnt three things with this exercise: that I can resist any temptation if I’m determined, that hunger can strangely make you reflect on yourself in a critical way and that one should never ever, drink and fast.

The day I flew towards the sunrise.

Sunny Daze: Sunrise from the Settler's Monument, Grahamstown.
Picture: Sarita Pillay


By Sarita Pillay

Arms outstretched, with a blanket draped over my shoulders like a pair of wings, I flapped my way towards the sun over the distant hills.
I hadn’t done this before.

It must have been at about 4.45am, when, in a half-asleep state, we decided that we would trek to the monument to watch the sunrise. After a failed night on the town, the successful invasion of our friend’s digs, playing Nintendo Wii until our arms hurt and watching The Wedding Singer with one eye open, it seemed the logical way to end a night that had fast turned into a morning. Every Rhodent has heard about the sunrise from the monument, the perfect end to an all-nighter, and this was my chance to experience it.

We would have struck any person as any unusual bunch, two girls and three guys; one black, one white (but actually Croatian-Indian), one Taiwanese, one coloured and one Indian (but actually half Mexican). We reached the top of the hill on which the Monument is perched and bundled out of the car with our blankets. A few other die-hards had parked their cars already hippie-like music, the loud strums of a guitar and melancholic lyrics drifted through the otherwise still air. As soon as we stepped out of the car, it was as if a mixture of awe, thoughtfulness and exhaustion had come over all of us at once. Drifting off in our own directions, finding a spot we thought best to view the growing orange glow behind the hill and taking in the view of the town that had almost become home. Grahamstown was eerily still, from the leafy suburb of Oatlands to the narrow streets of Joza. Between thoughts and hippie-songs the sun emerged, gathering speed as the orange hue changed to an almost blinding bright yellowish white.
That moment of the sun emerging – that moment felt as if everything in the world had paused for a second of pure perfection.

Arms outstretched, with a blanket draped over my shoulders like a pair of wings, I flapped my way towards the peeping sun over the distant hills. My friends laughed. I laughed. I had watched the sunrise over the monument and, in my sleep deprived state, I had decided it wouldn’t hurt to try and fly.

Has ‘Write Side up’ got it wrong?

By Sarita Pillay

Blog: The Write Side Up
Rating: * * * ½

The title caught my eye immediately – it is intelligent and captivating but not overtly attention-seeking. The title summarises the nature of the blog, thoughtful but inconspicuous and not very colourful.

I found the blog refreshing in that it simply reflected, contextualised and shared. Many of the Journalism 1 student blogs have, in their desperation to be read, over-emphasised their uniqueness and forced their point of view. In contrast, whether purposefully or not, Write Side Up has succeeded in creating a readable blog without much pomp.

Most of the posts, particularly those made by bloggers Chelsea Geach and Justin Archer, are insightful and well-thought out. Varying from Feminism to Julius Malema, the blog posts were relevant, current and readable. A definite positive was the emphasis on South African political side-shows. Interestingly, the blog did not aim to punch above its weight by raising controversial issues or opinions. Positively, this prevented the blog from failing in its pursuit for ‘otherness’ but negatively, it didn’t evoke a response from the readers.

The blog falls short in spelling and grammar with a few telling mistakes. These recurred in cases where proper nouns were not capitalised and where there was a lack of a comma or two. Cringe-worthy spelling errors, like ‘anials’ instead of ‘animals’ and, in one article, four variations of the spelling of ‘Agliotti’, seem to imply a lack of pre-post checking in some instances.

The blog succeeds in creating something astute and readable; however, it fails to add a splash of colour through blog format, vivid pictures or challenging pieces.

Having a Bad Day? Stay at Home! Nice Girls Roam.

Pic: ::big daddy k:: on Flickr.com

By Ayanda Mhlanga

It started with a worsening eye-infection, which resulted in me heading to the doctor for aid. For the first time I stopped to think, how mean some people are. I walked inside the consulting room, weepy eye and all; the dear man made me wait before attending to me even though he was available.

When enquiring of the cause of my little eye infection, he responded, “It’s an infection, how do you get an infection?” I kept quiet after that, feeling a bit small. Later, when I asked if it was contagious he responded, “Well, it’s an infection, how do you think you got it?” I felt both very small and utterly stupid by then, and took the script and left, not knowing how to prevent getting the horrible infection again, but knowing that I couldn’t go tutoring as it was probably contagious and could infect the kids. I didn’t receive a sick note, but I did not mind because I assumed the good ‘ol doctor reckoned I was well in enough to be in public. I reconsidered this assumption when my tears turned green and I was gripped by a headache. I was left walking around, covering my green eye and in great pain.

This led me to the conclusion, that Dr Nasty should take some off days, or stop practising, as he really ruined a nice girl’s day, and could be considered a hazard to society by possibly spreading a horrid eye infection.

I was sick, but I still managed to be civil.

This chicken ‘stew’ looks a lot like a chicken leg.

Pic: www.ru.ac.za

By Jessica Kriedemann

I don’t think the image of the foot long, green and brown strangled sausage I got slapped onto my plate during orientation week will ever leave my memory. The same can be said for the oh so desirable onion and tomato fish wrapped in tin foil which permanently put me off seafood ever since the first glance...or whiff.

Dining Hall food. Initially, I liked most of it: it was a treat getting slap chips with most meals and by ignoring the worry of first year spread, desert four times a week made me smile.

However, as the year is coming to an end, I miss the simple things like a cheese and tomato toastie. Being served two, big, Sunday lunch-type meals a day can get a bit much and often I’m not too sure what I’m putting in my mouth. Friends of mine have even labelled an unknown meat, “dead street kid” which is controversial, shameful and just gross. Breakfasts were an issue too, when this year the University’s budget cut out things like croissants and French toast and left us with a cup of cereal and a green egg each. We signed petitions, but that seemed to get swept under the rug very quickly.

I am grateful for the food, and as time passes I have learnt ways to give myself some variety. Melted feta on toast tastes a lot like Tassers cheese and cutting up the crumbed chicken and putting it with some salad and chutney, makes for one yummy “crumbed chicken salad with roasted peppers on a bed of fresh greens”.

However, I cannot wait to move into a private digs in third year...because well, in my opinion, veggies need to be cooked properly and I want to be able to open up a fridge at say three in the morning.

Rhodes isn’t racist. Rhodes is regrettably South African and positively reformist

Rhodes isn’t racist. Race issues at Rhodes University are South Africa’s social psyche and structural issues. Importantly, there exists a reformist attitude towards racism at Rhodes University.

In my first term of Journalism, we dissected the contemporary concept of race and racism. Similarly, boisterous discussions about racism have occurred in the first-year History and Politics lectures. Rhodes is reformist in this regard; race issues actually feature in the curriculum as a vivid reality – not as a distant concept. Similarly, racism is confronted, not ignored. The response by our vice-chancellor to a racist incident on campus was admirable, the university could easily have dealt with it simply by internal investigation and, perhaps, a notice on the website. However, the aggressive “Rhodes Rejects Racism” campaign proved steadfast dedication to a non-racist campus.

Upon observation of student dynamics at a reputable university in Gauteng, I was struck by the obvious lack of integration of different racial groups. A friend of mine from that university visited Rhodes this year and noticed the high levels of integration here immediately. Although racial social groups are still evident, I believe this is the result of closed communities and divided South African bubbles of existence, a social psyche issue. A structural issue which threatens Rhodes’s reforms is the visible lack of black lecturers and senior university staff. This is a South African problem, a historically and economically embedded problem. Rhodes is not racist. Rhodes is positively reformist and any racial baggage it carries is carried by the regrettable South African.

puppets or pioneers of truth

The first year journalism students at Rhodes University were taught that most of the news stories being exposed to the masses are controlled and censored by elite people, mainly politicians. The collapse or rise of an empire is due to military trends, this means war. The USA has been glamourising war for years. They use ploys such as 'Uncle Sam', who commanded "we want you". The media called the war against Iraq, the war against terrorism and the cold war, the war against communism, controversial words which justify the act of killing thousands and shodows the truth. The truth is that power-thirsty politicians want an excuse to be able to invade countries and gain power of their worthy assets, such as oil.

Albert Gore, the former opponent of George W. Bush for presidency, claimed that the government was secretly searching people's emails and interrogating lawyers. What is America so afraid of and why are the people of America not knowlegable of this fact? If the American government is so supportive of the invasion of the public's privacy and their personal lives being hacked into then why can American politicains not joyfuly share their deepest secrets. Gore says that the government has a mass of shocking secrets that are constantly being hidden under a huge, iron-solid fist and that fist is at the mercy of the powerful media.

As journalists and members of the media it is our decision wether we will become the puppets of politicians or like Gore decide to tell the truth even if it is inconvenient.

Classic Media-on-Malema approach

(Picture: Mail and Guardian Online)

By Sarita Pillay

Recent online media reports covering Julius Malema’s nomination for a Feather award, in the drama queen category, were written with the expected media-on-Malema approach. The media probably knew that all that was needed to make the story was Julius’s reply. The Feather Awards were started this year by the gay community to raise dialogue around sexuality. The organisers of the awards picked well, dialogue is Malema’s forte and if nobody knew the awards existed before, now they do.

I found the that The Times composed the story quite effectively, a picture of a smiling Julius cutting a birthday cake with a scantily dressed local celeb at his side (completely unrelated to the story) along with the headline, "Julie’s such a drama queen, doll" would make even the most discerning of readers stop and read. Julius, the media’s jest, had returned and the ‘Julius the clueless’ theme, popular among many in the South African media, was the main angle of The Times. Julius’s apparent lack of understanding of the term ‘drama queen’ is used to great patronising effect through a quote.

The Sunday World, a tabloid, also opted for a humorous headline once Malema had rejected the nomination, "Hail Queen Ju-Ju baby! - But Malema spurns the royal title". The tabloid adds a twist to the story, quoting a mysterious ‘source’ as sighting the nomination as an orchestrated attempt by Malema’s political opponents to ridicule him. It is Malema after all, and journalists can't resist throwing the usual counter-revolutionary spanner into the works.

Barak's Peace Prize

Pic: macondaily.com

By Jessica Kriedemann

As if the mention of the name, ‘Barak Obama’ isn’t enough to get a three hour debate going, now he has been awarded the Nobel Prize for 2009. Many seem to be upset by the fact that America’s first black president hasn’t really done anything to deserve the highest award for peace...just yet.

With eight months in office and his continuous struggle with harmony in the Middle East, the Norwegian Nobel Committee states that the award was given for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples”.
However, the possibility of the prize simply being another jab at the anti-Bush campaign has been brought up in many recent dining hall discussions.

In comparison with Nelson Mandela who jointly won the prize with F.W. de Klerk in 1993 after suffering in jail for 27 years and returning to peacefully help build a democratic state without bitterness, one can see why Obama’s win doesn’t seem justified. He certainly has become an iconic figure who has seemingly united the nation with a promise for a brighter future and his attitude and values are something that should be recognized and admired, but maybe not awarded for at this stage.

With already high expectations of the new president, I’m sure receiving this award adds on the pressure as well. Venezuela's socialist leader Hugo Chavez harshly compared Obama to a basketball player who had won his trophy before a match, with the promise of winning the game.

I don’t believe that the prize was unjustified, as I have high hopes for Barak, but I do think that the committee should have waited at least another year allowing him to deliver on promises made.

Victory in the Settlements

PIC: ciaranichonaill on Flickr.com

By Ayanda Mhlanga

The Abahlali baseMjodolo Movement (ABM) were fighting for the scrapping of the Slums Act but had lost the case in Durban High Court in January this year to Judge Shabalala’s ruling. The Mercury article painted the ruling as almost ridiculous because the information provided made me side with the ABM. It’s a good thing they appealed, because Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke of Constitutional Court ruled that section 16 of the Slums Act was unconstitutional in October.

That first judge probably wasn’t too keen on shacks, understandably, they are not that pretty to look at and they were in his province; but people live there and people deserve respect, and a home.

The story seems to have been covered by one media agency, SAPA; this is disappointing as media did not really interact with the issue so one has little to base opinion on, because it is all recycled into the various publications.

The members were also involved in attacks by a mob during one of their meetings. An attack that occurred, coincidentally, 2 weeks before their appeals case was to be heard. There were certain allegations about who could have been behind the whole situation; the suspect being ANC members, which was dismissed without much thought. My intent is not to point any fingers but pose a question. I cannot imagine why a mob would attack an organisation that was trying to stand up for the people living in settlements made of those who co-inhabit with them. Can you?

A day's work done

Continuous construction

Mexican Daze

Click on image for high-resolution version

What to write about

Yes, this pineapple did intrigue me. I realised that as a journalist one can choose to write about anything, I could write about the benefits of pineapples, or perhaps about how the pineapple arrived on this table, in this house. So I could write about the whole process of how pineapples are planted and picked and transported, for perhaps an agricultural magazine or business men who are in the pineapple business, hmm. My point is, make it count!