We are doing it!

Hello there....Yes, you! You see I find it is so hard to blog, its something that i really am working on and today I'm doing this alone. I must say, i'm pretty impressed with my fellow newspuppies. I'm sure they would agree with me, this week has been one of the most productive weeks for all of us. We've had our stories published, which is not only inspiring, but definitely worth the blood, sweat and tears we've had to endure. I'm personally having the time of my life, the passion is begining to emerge. I must admit, for one moment I was cursing my ancestors: "what the hell were you thinking Candy?", yep, it got that far. But these last couple of days have been wonderful. With speakers like the guy from Sweden we had, I couldn't ask for a better experience. I'm looking forward to what the rest of the year has to offer. Until then, take care.

Rekindling The Love

Hey there fellow blogumists, there's no we today, it's just Vumani flying solo for today. I've rekindled my love for journalism today (not that the love was fully extinguished; the flint was temporarily drenched in fatigue). Anyway today I met popular radio personality Glen Lewis, by the way he prefers to be called a radio personality instead of a DJ,quite silly isn't it. What an awesome and laid back guy he proved to be. He'll be featuring in the Sunday Times' My Jozi segment, luckily for me I was able to accompany the journo who interviewed him. I even got a chance to throw in a few questions here and there, some very intelligent questions at that might I add. With a story of mine being published in the Sowetan today, things are looking on the up. Anyway got to go. Check out Glenzito's piece in the Metro section on Sunday,and keep tapping away my fellow scribes. Lata.

Stereotypical Discussions

The stifling conditions in the Dungeon, (yes, the dungeon, it really is a dungeon) i.e the lack of a functioning air conditioner, malfunctioning computers, sharing one phone with 12 eager journos; thesonditions are designed to separate the wheat from the chaffe. Typically these conditions are not supposed to be condusive to a good working environment, but if we survive this then we can make it anywhere.

Moving on; considering that there are so many different ethnicities and cultures within the group, there have been some understandable cultural misunderstandings. We tend to brand each other according to stereotypical perceptions. Sometimes this can be quite comical. Here are some of the gems: 1. Zulus are militant (go Shaka!!!) 2. Xhosas are considered to be conniving (Xhosanostra: think mafia) 3. Sotho women are cheeky (rebelling against everything) 4. Coloureds are all believed to be alcoholics and are considered animals in bed (the list goes on and on and on, but this does not apply for our coloureds).

All jokes aside stereotypes are generalisations, they are not necessarily true. Everyone is unique and has their own idiosyncrasies, it was fun though poking fun at each other. Lata.

How could you Mr. Khoza?

In a media briefing this week 2010 LOC Chairman and owner of Orlando Pirates, Irvin Khoza told a journalist to “Stop thinking like a K$%@#r”. According to him, he was referring to a “K$%@#r as a dubious character and unreliable.”

We think that it was very unprofessional of Mr Khoza to address the journalist in such a manner. This is a man who has dealt with journalists and the media for a number of years in his line of work and he should know better.
People who are not journalists or in the media, are quick to sue, claiming that their characters have been defamed by statements made by journalists. In the context in which the word was previously used under the apartheid regime (and the word is still very heavy in itself) the journalist should consider seeking legal advice.
Mr Khoza should also offer a public apology to the journalist and more so to South Africans.

The reality of the courts

Forget about Denny Crane and Alan Shore...in South Africa we have a whole different legal system.
The group had an introduction to court reporting and spent the past two days at the Johannesburg Magistrates Court. We were shocked at the level of order or lack thereof. For example, we got to the information service to look at the times in which the court cases begin but we were shocked to learn how long they took to begin.
A couple of the court cases would actually commence an hour later than scheduled. postponed. Even more shocking to learn was that the very same cases we would be waiting for would be moved to a later date. Most of them would be moved to March (Lerato had one that was moved to June).
There is alot of sloppy police work, negligent prosecutors and lazy attorneys who have not filled in affidavits.
At the end of the day, our legal system is nothing like what we see on TV. The different groups that we set ourselves up into had to move from one court to another. This is because the hearing we went to would take hours to begin and we would constantly be checking when they start.!We are calling for the restructuring of our legal system.

The week started off on a sad note....

Friday afternoon, Isidingo actress, Ashley Callie died in hospital after a car accident. The daily newspapers had been reporting that her condition was stable. Her shocked fans have started support groups dedicated to Callie on social network sites.
Former Abashante member, Tebogo "Zombo" Ndlovu, died Sunday evening after a long illness. He recently revealed his HIV status and admitted that he was not taking ARV's.
A news website is reporting the death of a crime reporter in Johannesburg. Francois du Plessis died in a car accident on Sunday evening. He was 24.
Our condolences to the grieving families.

Freedom of the media

Today at the seminar that was conducted by Dario Milo of Webber Wentzel Bowens, an interesting discussion emerged about media reporting and hate speech. The group felt that this topic was rather interesting and not an easy one to resolve. We discussed the UKhozi FM dilemma about the song AmaNdiya by Mbongeni Ngema, and there appeared to be very different views: Some thought that the song was a should be allowed under freedom of expression, while others felt it was hate speech and discrimination against the Indian nation. What are your views on the matter?