Lerato on pause

by Wendy Ngcobo and Sesethu Malgas

This is the story of Lerato, who has been waiting for three years for his final school results.

The boy everyone loved

I'm talking to you:Phumlani Nkwanyana takes a break from Spring School in front of the AMM at Rhodes University. Pic by: Anorth Mabunda

Phumlani Nkwanyana was born in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal. He still lives there and goes to school at the University of Zululand. His parents describe him as a shy little boy. “Everyone loved me,” he says. “People used to give me money”.
Nkwanyana reminisces on his childhood memories and speaks of the wonderful time he had in Grade 3 with his good friend Prince. “We used to talk about life,” he says. His worst memory was in Grade 1. He badly needed to use the toilet but was too afraid to ask his teacher for permission. He ended up soiling himself right in his seat.
Nkwanyana has three older sisters and a younger brother. Although his little brother was born, Nkwanyana’s parents were not planning to have any more children after he was born and so named him Phumlani, which means “to rest”. Nkwanyana recalls a time in Grade 5 when he and his brother had a fight in which his brother scratched his hand with a piece of broken mirror. The scar still remains. Regardless of this, Nkwanyana and his brother now get along like the best of friends although they fought a lot whilst they were young.
Nkwanyana not only enjoyed making new friends as a child but he liked making things with clay, playing soccer and watching Power Rangers and George of the Jungle. With his 100 watt smile and approachable nature, it appears as though Nkwanyana has remained the same sweet child as he was long ago.

Young at Heart

By Sungeni Chithambo
Hillel Aron is a Journalism Masters student from the University of Southern California. He is from Los Angeles but is currently staying in Cape Town and is a news writer for The Cape Argus. I met him pretty randomly. I was just chilling in Zoo Minor waiting for the Captivate workshop to begin and I heard an American accent behind me. Americans are always interesting. So I thought I’d turn around and introduce myself. After asking if he was invited to the conference I asked “what are you”? “A person!” he answered. The whole class turned around and laughed.
Hillel is tall with dark hair. I’d rather not describe him as tall, dark and handsome. He has a youthful face and a very nice phone. Gold. I asked him if we could exchange but he said no. He was wearing jeans, a checked shirt and white and navy Nike sneakers. Laid back attire, just like his personality. I think Hillel looks a little like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. He loves soccer. He says he sucks at it though. He also enjoys reading and going to restaurants. His favourite one in Cape Town is Eastern Bizzare. He has a younger brother who is 25 years old. I got the shock of my life when he said that. Hillel doesn’t look a year over 21! I’m still struggling to believe that he’s 30. You’re 30 years old? “In Los Angeles everyone looks young,” he says amused.
Another thing I find interesting about him is his name. It sounds especially funky when pronounced with an American accent. He says he was named after a famous Hebrew priest. Now that sounds like the name of someone destined for great things. Even more cool – he has a friend called Shotgun!

FJP and HA are legendary via Twitter: An Alumni writes

I wrote a few weeks how bad i felt when I didn't see any new posts on the blog for the past few months and if you read it, you'd know how I felt. Anyway, thanks to Sim for being as active as ever, with one post a month! Atleast we are still getiing a lil bit of traffic.

Welcome to the new FJP's! I'm sure that you, like me, were excited when you got the call that told you that you're one of a few journalism students in the country who can boast of being part of the Future Journalists Programme. Well Done! Use this opportunity as well as you can and trust me, you'll be a success. I am.

Anyway I really wanted to be at Highway Africa this year,  I even enquired about the prices and everything, but alas, due to the World Cup (which I am so sick of... add Zakumi to the picture and I gag) I couldn't get leave, therefore I couldn't exactly come to G'Town for the conference. However not all is lost! Thanks to a little nifty thing called Twitter ( btw you can follow me- Buhlebonga) I can follow the whole conference! From who opened the conference, to who said what and what people wore to the Awards last night (thanks Lebo). :-)

So its great having people tweeting about the conference. It makes me feel like I'm there and hopefully I will get to learn something out of this year's HA. Oh btw, what is the theme this year? *hides*

PIC: 2008 FJP's at the 2008 Highway Africa Conference

It's the African way or the Highway

By Sungeni Chithambo
I can already see that the Highway Africa Conference is going to be an experience of a lifetime. Not only is it the first conference I have ever attended but it is one which epitomizes the goals and ideas of my future journalism career. This prestigious conference is trying to achieve some sense of African unity. By bringing together a diverse multitude of delegates not only from around Africa but from the rest of the world, African media and its role in our ever-changing society can be defined and redefined using interpretations from various backgrounds. This is the unique flavour of Highway Africa, the only conference of its kind. Highway Africa is trying to bring people together and the attention it draws clearly shows us that the journey African journalism is embarking on, is one to be taken seriously. This is what I gather from the talks and discussions I have been to so far. This conference gives people a voice. Who knew I’d ever be in the same room as the retired president of Ghana and watch him avidly discuss issues of African development with people from all around the continent?
I am already overwhelmed at the number and calibre of guests at this conference and even more overwhelmed at the notion of networking with them. But I have to get over this irrational fear of crowds because it would not do well with my career at all. What journalist lurks in corners waiting for stories to come floating down from the sky? So I think it’s about time I give myself some advice; get some spine girl! I am yet to attend the Absa Africa Night and if this does not prove to be the networking opportunity of a lifetime then I don’t know what will. Highway Africa and the delegates taking part have much to contribute to my future career as a media worker. Their experience, background and advice will shape the choices I make regarding exactly which path I want to take in the future. My plans might change and I believe it is up to the media professionals attending this conference to mould my ideas of journalism and help me grow. Rubbing shoulders with some of Africa’s finest media professionals will hopefully lead to me drawing on their ideas and incorporating them into my own view of journalism in this flourishing continent.
There is so much people have to share. Highway Africa is an event well worth talking about, tweeting about, blogging about and making Facebook status updates about. Everything that happens throughout this conference needs to be documented so that others not part of the Highway African experience can gain insight into things like developmental issues in Africa and the problems African media is facing.
I am enjoying the experience so far. My fellow future journalists are awesome, my FJP coordinator is awesome, the long walk up the hill, not so awesome, but hey, we can’t have everything. After this conference is over, I want to know exactly what I want to do with my journalism career and where it is going to head. I need to be prepared.

FJP REUNION? Yes, please!

I miss this blog. Its one of the first outlets that I had to use to get published and as I watch it being in active, I become sad as this was such a great platform for young writers to get their thoughts, writings and talent to the world.

I miss the Future Journalists Programme. Its been two years and I remember that two years ago this time we were all prepared and super amped for the upcoming challenge that was the Arts Festival and seeing Grahamstown coming alive. Not only did I shock myself by writing my first tongue-in-cheek article and also interviewing Xolela Mangcu, who turned out to be a nightmare, very rude and unkind to young journalists, but I stood my ground and got the response I needed.

I miss YOU guys. We may chat on Facebook, twitter and everything, but you all made a HUGE impact on my life and I would do anything to see you guys. What I'm saying really is how about we have an FJP reunion, just so we can see where we are now, whether we all have jobs, and share how FJP made our lives better or improved our chances of being accepted in the industry?

So I'm posing a request to everyone who is FJP alumni? Can we meet up soon and reminisce about the good times that we had as FJP's? I know that FJP helped ME secure the job I have now and so interested was my editor about it, I spent a good 15 minutes talking about it, mind you this was on an impromptu interview on my graduation day!

Me and colleague, Charmel Bowman

 So how about it Boss Lady? Can Highway Africa and Open Society pull it off???

Gender and sexuality issues - a journalists' obligation

So, what do journalists say on gender and homosexuality- particulary in the age of digital citizens, where production of stories is in the hands of the individuals themselves?

Maureen Agenda of “Women of Uganda Network” spoke about what her organisation is doing to empower rural Ugandan women by giving them a platform for conversation about the problems and issues they face on a daily basis. She discussed how these women get an opportunity to converse about problems with farming their crops, looking after their households while living in polygamous marriages and the dangers of contracting HIV. In the panel discussion, termed, Gender, Civil Society and Digital Media, there was much deliberation around the reporting of issues related to sexuality and women, the primary focus being women in Uganda. Maureen established that the best mediums of communication for these women are radio and telephones as many of them are still uneducated.

This discussion took place at Eden Grove, Rhodes University in Grahamstown at the Digital Citizen Indaba Conference. The indaba forms part of the Highway Africa conference,running from 6-8 September. Highway Africa is currently abuzz with activity as a plethora of top class professional and citizens journalists have gathered to discuss the role journalism plays in reporting on issues affecting the marginalised.

Nthateng Mhlambiso, the Managing Editor of “Behind the Mask” spoke about the need for journalists to report on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and inter-sex (L.G.B.T.I)issues in the media. The media was urged to assume its place in society and give minorities a voice even if that means having sector specific media.

By: Chwayitisa and Hunadi

Future Journalist?

Michelle Jones

Being a Future Journalist is a more than a little daunting. It almost sounded like I was going to become an Editor of a major newspaper next week.

The Future Journalists are all students: first years, second years and third years from around South Africa who were chosen to work together on various media projects.

We have just attended the Highway Africa Conference in Grahamstown. We attended lectures, discussions and workshops on an array of topics such as blogging, gender issues and the changes in journalism due to new technology. We were lucky enough to meet national and international renowned journalists. City Press has given us the amazing chance to be able write for them and be published.

I may not be editing that paper yet, but with these opportunities available to us, it’s only a matter of time.

New journalism, new generation

THE PAST few years has seen considerable debate about the merits of 'new' versus the old or 'legacy' media - print, radio and TV - and the effects this may have on 'journalism'. This week, that debate came to Highway Africa - the continent's largest annual gathering of media intelligentsia in Grahamstown, South Africa.

The dystopian chorus tends to emanate from an old guard who sees journalism as an immutable practice based on fixed values and ideal principles. They nostalgise about the purity of the past and relate how journalism is threatened by new technologies and the young upstarts who challenge the status quo.

There is nothing new in this. The monks who wrote books by hand were not thrilled with Gutenburg and his movable type. Radio hacks had their nose bent out of joint by television, and less than two decades ago, the transition to PCs and desktop publishing offended the sensibilities of many newspaper sub-editors.

Change is inevitable. A thoughtful and critical examination of the impact of any technology on the established value and quality of an existing practice such as journalism needs to be considered - especially in developing contexts such as Africa.

Who benefits?
What can be added through ICTs?
What could be lost?
How can old and new coexist?
The solution is never either/or but will continue to color newsroom cultures for years to come.

Future Journalists
The future of journalism belongs to those who believe in the ethical values of journalism, who competently 'precision storygather' and 'storytell' in the public interest using multiple modalities, and who have the balls to bravely tell the "African story".

The African story is not just about the elite, big business and breaking events. It is about how power affects us all and about how African citizens are every day reclaiming their dignity after centuries of feudal, colonial and authoritarian repression.