Classes on hold

By: Kgowa Tiragalo

It started as a usual school day in the University of Limpopo, Turfloop campus until all classes were disrrupted by a group of the so-called politicians. The group started singing struggle song and charnting from one class to another announcing that all classes were dismissed.

Their concerns was that one of their fellow students was killed. Indeed the student was stabed to death in the early hours of Tuesday. The student was doing his second year in LLB.

The SRC which is in the name of  ANC called for an emergency mass meeting to address the students. The students attended in their numbers. The SRC president asked for suggestions on what can be done to solve the problem of ill treament of the students by the thugs of Mankweng township.

One of the suggestions that was made by one of the students was that more buildings must be erected in order to accomodate all the students that are registered with this university. Another suggestion was that the university must hire buses that collect the students who resides off-campus that will transport them to and from the campus.

On their dispersal the SRC promised that they will convey all the proposals to the management and the students will get the feedback tommorow.

Future Journalists Programme: article

Future Journalists Programme: article

Water shortage affect students

By: Kgowa Tiragalo

Mankweng township,under Polokwane municipality is having a problem of water shortage.The township is a habitat for most of the students who are studying in the University of Limpopo.

As the campus residents are limited,most of the students find themselves not having a chance to stay on-campus so are forced to rent rooms in the township.For the past three days the township has been experiencing water shortage.

This problem is affecting students who are residing in the township because they are forced to fetch water from the campus in the afternoon as they are attending classes during the day.Some students's rental homes are far from the campus so they have to carry the buckets of water on their heads from the campus to their rental homes.

Students are complaining that this problem is consuming a lot of their study time as they are now forced to fetch water during their study time.

One of the students,Sello Phaahla said"I am forced to fetch water during the night because during the day i will be in class.This is painful because i am paying rent but the services are not being rendered.This place is not safe during the night as thugs are running the streets during that time.Students are being robbed of their cellphones,laptops and money.The unfortunate ladies are being gang raped"

The students are concerned about this problem but there is nothing they can do as the situation lies in the hands of their landlords.

Journalism a great career

Developed societies still share the same value of information with traditional societies.All humans have exchanged similar mix of news and information. Its clear there is demand for news and its journalist task to tell and uncover stories to the masses for general consumption.

Journalism is a tough at the same time a rewarding career. When i was growing up as a young boy have always wanted to be journalist probably i will be at some stage.  I loved writting a lot and my brother will often say if you love writting, then journalism is certainly the career of yours. I have never took him seriously, but now i  know what he meant.

Journalism demands a lot  and needs someone who is committed, dedicated and disciplined. A journalist should be willing to overwork, have the nose for news, sound knowledge of current affairs, have excellent writting skills, posess good communication skills, good time keepers, excercise patience,  be people's person, be responsible, avoid accepting bribes journalism, be prepared to work over time, develop investigative skills, avoid own opinion when writting fuctual reports , know and respect the rules of the proffession.

I have never dreamnt of finding my self in journalism, but now i seee why it is a fantastic career as i am able to experience the world in a different way and explore it. The career of journalism will afford me an opportunity to interact and meet people of all walks and share experiences. We live in a world which is surrounded by media and news. There will be always be a need for a journalist as people constantly want to know what is happening around them.

Journalism as a career is very diversified. There are many options to consider in the feild of media industry that is print media, radio broadcasting and television production. Through my undergraduate second year BA communication management degree, i have taken part in the future journalist programme (FJP) at Rhodes University. It was a fantastic opportunity for which gave me a unique, new insight into how the media industry operates. Through  interacting with other FJPs peers, Sim and other  facilators that gave me the knowledge and skills that will enable me to succeed in the world of journalism. However it is also important to try and acquire as much pratical experience as possible.

Journalism as a career  is interesting for me. It touches, explores the world we are living and the lives of people everyday. The every day news comes from journalist who go out gather and produce them. Television news, radio news and newspapers are operational everyday featuring stories gathered, reported and written by journalist. I love the desire and motivation to succeed, then journalism is the peferct career for me.

being busy

halo guys from future journalists programme! i have been busy ever since i came back. i had assignments and tests to write so i have never had a chance to communicate with you guys.i hope you will forgive me for being so quite

NURSES TAKE STAGE

NURSES TAKE STAGE

Sthembiso Sithole

@SITHOLEEXPRESS

South Africa’s largest hospital hosted Mr and Miss Chris Hani 2012 that was held at Chris Hani’s Baragwanath Hospital Recreational Hall.

Celeb Makahubalo and Thando Dudludlu crowned
Mr and Miss Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

Student nurses gathered in their numbers as they looked lavish to witness their new King and Queen.

The event was aimed to boost student’s confidents about their bodies and to relax their minds as they spend most of their time studying. This is according to Londiwe Ntuli,Chris Hani Hospital project officer.

“Today’s event, we want our students to feel confident with their bodies, especially ladies. We want our students to have fun as they work hard in their studies.”

Celeb Makahubalo and Thando Dudludlu were crowned Mr and Miss Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital after entertaining the judges with their swim and formal wear attires.

Thando Dudludlu said she entered for the competition in last minutes but she is glad to have won the pageant.

“I feel overwhelmed and excited that I won to be Miss Chris Hani hospital 2012. I took my chance to enter for the competition in last minutes and I managed to take it,” Dudludlu said.

1st prince and Princess were Karabelo Sempe and Perseverance Tshabalala.  Mojalefe Maselela and Sibahle Mthembu were crowned 2rd prince and princess.

Making the pageant more interesting, organisers decided to add other categories such as Mr Money, Ms Fit nurse and Ms Fun, Fully and figured also known as Ms Fohloza.

President of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Nursing College, Patrick Lekala said the event was a success and hopes that next year it will grow big.

“We did not have sponsors but the event managed to succeed.  We hope next year things will grow big.”

While judges looked keen to the contestants, the crowed was screaming to the music that Dj Tisetso Bokgutso played.

Former Mr and Miss Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital Tshepiso Moitsheki and KeleabetsweDumpe walked on stage to say their goodbye as they make way to the new Mr and Miss Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital

The importance of FJP

Hear what Prof. Jane Duncan from the Rhodes School of Journalism and Nonceba Mtwana from Open Source Foundation have to say about why FJP is such a special programme to have for our young journos.

Here is the link below. Please excuse the shaky motion of the video, it is because of the format.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaF3_1fkFEM&feature=youtu.be

Official introductions at FJP

The opening FJP function was an interesting night with great opening remarks from Nqobile Sibisi (rDNA Manager and FJP co-ordinator), Nonceba Mtwana from the Open Source Foundation, Prof. Herman Wasserman from Rhodes University and Chris Kabwato (HA Director). Here are the opening words from the veterans. Hopefully the FJPeers (as Chris calls them) were inspired.

Here is the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nno4AfoQnAQ&feature=youtu.be

Higher learning institutions have turned into a battle field



police open fire to curb the unrest at University of Fort Hare- August 2011

In the past few months a lot of mass demostrations by students in various institutions has been the order of the day. The students feel not enough has been done for them to justify the large sums of money they are  paying to get education.

Historical disadvantaged institutioons such as University of Fort Hare and Walter Sisulu University has been grabing the headlines and if nothing is done in the near future such trends are set to continue and the country is set to witness these ugly scenes.

The major petitions raised by  most students is their concern with the detoriating state of education in most institutions of higher learning.

Academic exclusions, increament of fees, poor living conditions, poor management of human resources and and the way the National Student Financial Aid Scheme ( NSFAS)  has been administered have left a lot to be desired  has been amomg the other reasons.

The government and the Ministry of Higher Education seems to have done little in the past to improve the situation.

Students feel it is within their right to  have a free access to education which is a contray to their expectations.






FJP 2012...My Personal experience of Autumn school.

After twelve-long hours on the bus, we finally arrived to Grahamstown to attend this year's FJP program. We got to Grahamstown and it automatically feels like we are in the north-pole. We got to Phelps, our temporary home and we get a warm welcome from the wardens. We got our kit that we will be needing for the week and then off to bed.

The week had many things in store for us. On our first day we had an great session with Sim. He taught us the basics of journalism and also what makes a good reporter. Later on during the day we met Lincoln and, he introduced podcasting to us. Lincoln then gave us our task that we had to work on for the week. The task was that we have to do a podcast about, "my democracy, my write" which is our theme. We had to come up with a question for our theme that we were going to use to interview people. We ended our first day by watching a documentary- "The glow of white woman"-which I personally did not find interesting.

The following day we were introduced to radio, Lincoln held a seminar where he did his presentation. Lincoln also taught us how to use Adobe 1.5 software, which would help us in editing our audio work. In the afternoon we had a braai, where we officially got to meet the sponsors of FJP. The braai had a very relaxed atmosphere and the food was divine, truly enjoyed myself. After the braai we watched a movie, "the shattered glass" that talks about ethics in journalism. The movie was really interesting and informative.

Day three was more intriguing as we had an introduction to photography. We learnt about taking and editing photographs. After our tea-break we went to Grocotts Mail to meet Steven Lang, the editor of Grocotts. After an interesting session at Grocotts, we went to the streets of Grahamstown to do our interviews for our podcast. After supper we were busy editing our audio interviews and also watched Darfur. Darfur was just too traumatising for me, but was a good movie.

On our fourth day, we started our day by having an introduction to new media. We watched the KONY 2012 which was informative and interesting. The rest of day, we spent on editing our podcasts and I got to attend my cousin's graduation. Later on, back at Phelps, we were having a crazy chilling session as some the FJP's will be leaving on day five.

Last day,we started our day by listening to everyone's podcasts. Some podcasts were really good, but can't say much about mine...Sim then gave us feedback on our podcasts and then we had our tea-break. After the tea-break, we went on a tour of the AMM (journalism) building, which was very informative. Our last activity for the day was to write a 300 word profile-piece on our partners that we worked with on our podacast.

Autumn school 2012 was a great learning experience and I had plenty fun...

FJP FAMILY

I didn't quite  understand the importance of being chosen for the FJP  programme . I must admit at first I took it lightly but being a part of the FJP family is an honor and a privilege .Many other young journalists would have loved to be in my shoes and other" FJPians" shoes . The experience that I got from this programme was  life - changing and really amazing, I could honestly say that I'm going home as a different person.

From the first day I got here we were welcomed with such warm and love.We met the likes of "Malume" Sim ," Sis" Nqobile ," abuti "Lincoln, "cuzzy" Sushi  and" ousi" Anele which taught us so many things from pod casting  to editing  .

I must say I met a great deal of different characters  from crazy people( Thabo , Marcel , Thandi , and Zandi) to  loud  and very opinionated(Sakhy , Asanda) people then  to quiet and reserved ( Majority , Nontobeko and Julia )  .

 Grahamstown on the other hand was quite different , VERY SMALL and quiet. It seems as if everyone here in Grahamstown is one big happy family as compared to the streets of Jozi .I must admit I really had fun from being chased by dogs and walking  all the way from "black market " to the Phelps house Residence .

I'M SO PROUD TO BE A PART OF THE FJP FAMILY

Till we meet again gang

As we draw closer to the end of the first leg of the FJP, I must say I have mixed feelings.  I am excited about going home, yet sad that I will be leaving a group of wonderful, some free-spirited and highly motivated and dedicated fellow future journos.  I find solace in knowing that we will maintain relations and keep open lines of communication via the various social media platforms and will meet again in less than three months.

I have made some close friends whom I know I will carry with me for a very long time. It is always said "everything happens for a reason and that life is worth living" I believe that there is a higher power that has pre-planned and shaped each of our paths, how we live our lives and treat through those paths is in our hands.  This experience has shown me that there is so much more to life and that life is not just for living, it is to be enjoyed, savoured and marvelled in.  In the words of young hip hop artist Nicki Minaj "to live doesn't mean you're alive". With those words I say, we owe it to ourselves to enjoy each and every opportunity presented to us that is how I feel about this particular experience. 

I have learnt a lot from this programme, not only in the classroom environment but in every experience I have encountered on this trip.  I am humbled at the opportunity and truly am grateful to be here and receive all these gifts of education and unequivocal wealth of knowledge.

Well, to all my fellow FJPeers, I have loved every moment spent laughing, chatting, acting crazy and just being in each other’s space.  I will miss the crazy dining hall conversations about "potatoes" amongst other things that is.  You are a wonderful and crazy bunch, I love your individualism, your zest for life, most importantly though, your passion for journalism and what it means to you as an individual.  I respect each and every single one of you and truly hope that we will maintain good relations throughout and even beyond this programme.

See you all back here in June, hopefully with more passion and more crazy stories to share.

Peace and Love

A

Universal Journalism

A wise man, David Randall, once said anyone could write like a universal journalist.  Yes you heard him right, anyone!  So I guess that applies to both you and I- thanks for the motivation Randall.

He even goes on to give us a few key principles as to how this can be achieved.

However, his principles should not be thought of as magic formula, which we meditate on day and night. Hoping that in our Zen like state we would have the perfect piece revealed to us. This would be AMAZEBALLS (if you are into that kind of thing), but it's most unlikely! My sincere apologies hipsters.

 I do reckon though, that it should be what we strive towards in our writing. It should make the writers writing worth being read.

Let's get back to those principles.

 Lots could be said about Randall’s principles individually, but I think that the first one embodies the rest quite well. “Discover and publish information that replaces rumour and speculation.”

Pause to think that through...

 Basically replace rumour and speculation with truth.

Give people insight and knowledge to what they are probably already discussing (or would be discussing if they were so informed).

Provide a platform that encourages critical analysis of government, authority figures, businesses, ideas and beliefs that make people feel comfortable and the nature of  not -so -human nature.

Everybody needs to be held accountable for their actions; things need to be exposed and uncovered.

We all know in reality we can't retract our statements. Although some may believe they can.

In short these principles push your writing into the bracket of a universal journalists. This is the kind of writing we need, these are the pieces that truly do our readers justice.

Africa is being misrepresented in the Western Media

After watching the so called KONI 2012 here at the FJP, I really felt like someone was pouring salty water on an open wound. More often, the western media report Africa as a dark and uncivilized continent that only they can emancipate and illuminate.
From the way I now see it, the American foreign policy is selfish and self-centered, it designed only to serve the country’s best interest. What are we, are we human beings first or we are citizens first? I believe we are human beings first then citizens. Only imaginer lines separate us. It’s not like God created nation by nation and separated them, what he did is he actually created the earth as a single village without boundaries. Now the Americans have lost their humanity and now they resort to citizenship as their most important purpose here on earth.
I fathom that, a few years ago they never wanted to intervene in the so called Koni’s terrorism against his fellow countrymen. The reasons being, that whatever was happening in Uganda was out of their Foreign policy radius.  America’s foreign policy is strict in that the country can only act when the endeavor will benefit the country economically, and if there is a threat against their nation. Uganda did not have either, so America saw no reason to intervene. However, it’s been recently discovered that there is oil in Uganda and suddenly America is sending in troops masquerading as ‘advisors’ while in actual fact they are there to make sure the oil is there. It may also be because that they want to claim the resources of the country on the bases that they assisted in restoring peace to the country.
I am also beginning to question the question of terrorism in America. I think the country intentionally bomb they own structures killing their own citizens and then blame countries like Iran. This give them even more reasons to be in those countries take control and exploit the resources there found. I say this loosely but the point of the matter is if they consider being humans’ first they must take part in helping country where they don’t have any hidden agenda.
To my surprise, the people of Uganda were speaking freely saying Koni has not been in Uganda in the past six or so years. The way the video was done is more commercial than humanistic. The guys are trying to squeeze every little money they can get their hands on especially from the young misguided people in Europe who don’t even know anything about history and Africa to be precise. They base their arguments on what was written years ago and not what is currently on the ground.

 It is now the duty of us, the young and energertic future FJP to change the way Africa as a continent is reported. I believe and would like to see us, the African media taking charge of our continent. We have the power, lets change the course of history

In to the future

Journalism is a volatile market across the different sectors of the media industry. This is influenced by a fluctuating consumer, producer and ownership interdependent relationship. The exponential advancement of technology has created a niche that is nascent in its development, but is predicted to soon take over the market entirely.

This new media stems from the increasing demand and accessibility of the Internet coupled with the proliferation of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and blogging sites. Through these avenues the 'audience' has the power to disseminate information globally. This communication process is instant and devices such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets are used, which have simple software that has been made easy to use by anyone.

This has changed not only the practice of journalism but also what capabilities a journalist should have. A journalist should be multi-skilled in the various fields of journalism and trained in using the latest technology to achieve the best performance.

The future for South African journalism is not as clear given the many political, economic and social struggles we have to overcome before we can claim a free market at the highest possible standard of performance- competitive on a global platform.

Although this is a herculean task, I think the Future Journalism Programme is tackling this hydra-headed problem effectively and I'm happy to be a part of this venture. I'm learning to adapt and evolve with the high-pressured demands, because of this opportunity my future is looking very bright.

HAS SOUTH AFRICA EMPOWERED WOMEN TO VOICE OUT THEIR OPINIONS ON ISSUES THAT AFFECT THEM?

It's been 18 years since South Africa has attained it's democracy but yet there are practices that are performed by the government by which raises questions about the rights of women in South Africa.


Has the South Africa empowered women to voice out their opinions on issues that affect them?
We went down town to find out what people had to say,Thandiswa Bikistwa of Ellererines said , "The government does not give women a platform to voice out their opinions , many women and children get abused but their voices are not heard."On the contrary  Gira Hattingh ,owner of KwamamGira super save store said that women are not given a platform to voice out their opinions ,"I feel that the empowerment for white and black women is very bad I know and I've witnessed too many foreigners  in this country, the revenue is taken by foreigners , ladies who have hawkers on the street cannot buy with the money they have because Somalians or Pakistani's in every corner , therefore us as women in South Africa have no place.

However, cope spokesperson in Grahamstown , Sfundo Mlinda is adamant that South African women are empowered to voice their opinions , he said ,"South African women are empowered to an extent that the regulatory framework , including the constitution provides so, to participate directly in the democratization of the country , to an extent that it is successful  we may not be in a position to claim that  indeed after seventeen years of democracy women are indeed in the mainstream of democratic  processes in South Africa".


While some people think that women are being given a platform to express themselves , there are those who still think that there's more to be done.

By:Natasha "STICH"  Phiri

Apartheid, the shadow of democracy

Democracy is the greatest thing that the past marginalized citizens of South Africa achieved. Until this day people struggle to define the meaning of democracy, but they have a clear distinction of what apartheid is. In short democracy means having equal access and the ability to exercise all rights freely. That is why a democratic government is termed government of the people by the people

The only democracy people know of is walking the streets freely but they do not speak back to authority even if their right is being infringed upon. For instance a video about police brutality in Vaal Water people just stood there and watched a person being beaten up by a police which shows truly people are still chained in apartheid where police would do as they wish.

It makes one wonder what kind of a future the following generation will have when it comes to freedom, for instance if people cannot speak back to authority now, will the next generation be able to? People are aware of their rights but when given a platform to exercise them people choose to walk away, for example on that video people had a chance to stop the incident but they chose to watch and say nothing. South Africans are afraid of exercising the freedom they fought for, they rather be silent.    

The oldest idependent newspeper

When i got in town,i was a bit confussed on how the township newspaper is actualy going to help us. Then i thought for a moment maybe there was something special about it,and yes there was.I never heard of bt maybe it is because we are not very much exposed to these things and I never saw a reason for me to know more about the newspapers,but am rather much into what is said in them and i usually go for one news paper which is The Mecury.The Grocotts mail is one of the oldest idependent newspapers and I crown them for that. In our communities we all need that kind of a newspaper that will actually mean something to us and address the thigs that we face as a the of that munipality.Grocotts mail has been in to this with their heart they have diliverd since from the first day the newspaper was  born,this shows that they've been very faithful in what they do and what they got themselves in to.they hav shown their commitment in delivering to the community and giving them the news that is at its best quality. I was very much inspired by this kind of a newspaper,and has motivated me in believing in myself and actually want to start my own newspeper,as am very much inlove with writting and my love for writting was strongly motivated by Simore,whom i also find to be very much humble guy and one person whom i look up to. Grocotts mail has made people like us who actually want to be future journalist look up there with authority,and believe in making things happen!
Z.N.P Msane

My FJP experience

My first day on FJP was the hardest, as I thought, being shown how to edit audio it made me to almost want to pack my bags and take the first bus out of G-town. As time went on and we were shown how to do audio editing I started enjoying it. All the activities that we did they were all interesting, one that I enjoyed the most is editing, although it was tiring splitting and adding clips.

FJP fulfilled my expectations, because I hoped to learn to learn something new that I had no idea off that is challenging. In order for me to say I have gain more knowledge about media. All the knowledge that I got here is what I am taking with me.

My first time field work is another thing I am taking with me, because it made me have a glimpse of how much people hate journalists. It was truly a journalistic experience that made wonder why people are afraid of expressing themselves. In all FJP made me to have more passion for journalism. 

The Chronicles of Black Tuesday

Soiled this day shall be for Black Tuesday has tainted humanity. An embarrassing truth of deception it, say your word fellow earth dwellers for it will soon be expelled. Who do they think they are? Puppets dancing to clueless tunes?! No, we denounce such fallacies! Yet the canvas we thought to be is now bleak in the abyss of our own creation. Garvey, Brother Malcolm, Nkrumah and Biko now weep beyond the horizon…