by: Simphiwe Kanityi (Rhodes University)
Well, have written on why I have to take journalism, there has been a discussion in my class on the topic of objectivity. All I can say is that the argument went on and on each person giving his/her opinions based on what each person feels and believes is right. What I gathered from the argument though is that the statements we made showed that objectivity is difficulty to obtain, the reason why is because our arguments proved that some people are comfortable in knowing that their ideas are the best imposing an indirect motion that other people should align themselves with them.
Scholars have written so many articles on this topic as well, bloggers blogged on it and columnists also played their part, but all had not reached a common agreement on when and how to be objective. This alone, shows how unattainable objectivity is.
Now considering my previous article, there I have written that I am doing journalism because I want to change the world because of the power I possess to do so. Firstly, I want to get across that before writing my article I was clear on this subject of objectivity and the arguments thereof.
Defining objectivity is not so different from defining news. I believe “news” has derived from the word “new” referring to something that some one has not heard off yet. In this case I would draw from the words of Richard Taflinger where he says “After all, if news is that which is of interest to newspaper readers then the comics, the horoscope and the crossword puzzle are news, a conclusion with which few would agree”. The first decision to make is what is recent: today, yesterday, last week, five minutes ago, since the last news report? Someone, in journalism usually an editor, makes this decision, and thus that person's world determines what is recent.
From this I now know that starting from the first point of what to select as news might be considered as being subjective, but what happens when reporting on those news you have selected, can you be objective? The answer is NO! Why? A news report is a series of words describing the event. As in selecting which events are news, someone must decide which words best describe the event. These decisions are based on the reporter's world as he or she examines the facts gathered and decides what words those receiving the report will best understand. Now, to who is this person objective if he/she reports using his/her style?
Coming to conclusion, after reading Theodore L. Glasser’s article entitled ‘Objectivity and News Bias’ in Cohen, E.D. (ed). 1992. Philosophical Issues in Journalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, I feel more confident to say that my views stand still on what I said. I am doing journalism to change the world. I have got my own way of seeing things and my world view is not the same with other people’s world view. This gives me that extra energy that people out there are eagerly waiting for my opinions mixed with what is happening around them that they have not yet heard about.
I will not be biased or prejudice but I will be expressing my views and my world view in my own words and since I know that my world view is component of news, I will consciously minimize the impact of subjectivity. I will make sure that my world view does not dominate in gathering, preparing and disseminating the news, otherwise objectivity is a dream that we all would like to achieve and we keep on trying and hoping that it works out. Since objectivity has been argued so much even if it is not there people still think that the media is using it because their minds have been programmed into thinking like that. Again, this is my world view which is open to critics, but keep in mind that we will not see things the same way.
visit and comment on my other school blog on http://www.simphiwejmsradio.blogspot.com
Showing posts with label future journalists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label future journalists. Show all posts
02 March, 2009
14 September, 2007
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.
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.
12 September, 2007
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.
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.
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