Can web journalism replace traditional media?
“Print is a dying art”. A bold statement made countless times by numerous journalists that are currently in the fast paced newsroom. There are so many mediums and platforms to inform the public of current events as they happen that paper journalism has become redundant. By the time it’s in the paper, it’s been on the radio, television, and most recently, the web.
It takes no more than a few seconds to update status’s, upload pictures, stream live video feed and start a debate about the news as it happens for a decimal fraction of the cost of manufacturing thousands of papers a day. As technology develops, consumers become more demanding. Time is everything in a world that is constantly being bombarded by information that is usually history before its even been fully processed by the reader.
A perfect example that web journalism is taking over is comparing two global events that happened in two different eras. When the world trade centers where flown into, the internet was merely coming into existence and its prominence as a tool for reporting was minimal as the older generations did not understand how to work this new developed technology. (The so called technical/communication generation is said to be those born in the 80’s, who were young children when the internet débuted, the current young adults, or main consumers today).the world trade center disasters were covered by newspapers, the radio and television, giving updates every few hours, from set locations. These broadcasts were only done by authorized stations that had the money to print papers or air the updates. Now, look more than ten years later at the Muammar Gadaffi debacle. All this took place in a time where virtually everyone has some sort of internet connection, usually portable, whether it’s a phone or laptop. This enabled people to update the world from the centre of the action as it happened. Tweets were being uploaded every few minutes, pictures were emailed and broadcasted on thousands of news websites and people were even updating debate forums about the developments as they witnessed it. And the updates were not isolated to only media professionals. Anybody could report any event at any time, with the click of a button. This enables the consumers to see different angles of the same story, from the eye of the media, and everyday people who are actually living through whatever is being reported. And also, besides making news easier to transfer, it makes it easier to receive. It is no longer necessary to wait till the top of the hour to hear a news report on the television or radio. Or wait till morning to read the paper. All you need to do is take out your phone and search the news on the web.
Most Newspaper now have websites that make it easier for the public to access the news, and still have the option of buying the paper, although studies have shown that sales have dropped substantially since the internet revolution.
It makes economic sense to throw out methods of reporting that have clearly been outdated. The world has become impatient. News should be immediate. That is in fact what the words “news” implies.
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Web Journalism Assignment 3
What makes for a good blog entry and their importance in today’s journalism world?
Blog entries, like any other written piece that is open to the public, need to be sincere. Readers want to be able to relate to the subject matter. Blog style is usually casual and conversational, so the more honest the writer seems, the more responsive the audience will be, keeping loyalty by revisiting the newer posts.
As a writer it is tempting to sensationalize when grabbing the reader’s attention. In a good blog, the subject matter is already of an interesting, or relevant nature. This should eliminate the need to embellish. Tony Weaver, Editor at the Cape Times and Former Freedom activist Says “Never lie to your readers. The truth is the best propaganda.”
Blogs began as an outlet for anyone who expresses themselves by writing and it is a free platform to advertising ones works and general thoughts or concerns. Many, if not all blogs are interactive, allowing viewers to comment and start debates. In a society filled with powerful people, this could lead to important changes and affect the mind-set of people by entering thought provoking arguments and seeing the perspectives of strangers, all online and accessible to most. Anyone could come across your blog. That’s why blogging is such an important journalistic too. It opens up channels that might not have been possible otherwise. It multiplies your reader base and reaches potential employers or people in the position to make a difference to the case you might be blogging about. At its best, blogging shines a spotlight on what's going on in our heads, which indeed echo what’s happening in our lives, communities, even the world that affects us in any way. An appropriate description is that the role of blogging was to "comfort the afflicted (the blogger), and afflict the comfortable (the uneducated reader)." However, having swept through a few blogs, many tend towards the trivial, and end up being channels for hate speech and diary entries, something that is debatably unnecessary for such a social platform. From a journalistic vantage point, in its ideal capacity blogging should offer an unbiased non prejudicial viewpoint so that readers can have a broader perspective on current events and hopefully effect a positive change that benefits the overall majority of society.
Many a debate has arisen in meetings of journalists and journalism students, asking the question, “Explain and discuss with me the lines between blogging and journalism, between social media and reporting”. It took many years for these platforms to be developed and the reactions have been vast. One would assume that people who write and want to be heard would appreciate the opportunity to be able to upload anything onto the Web. However, many feel this has taken the integrity and professionalism out of journalism. It insinuates that anybody can be a journalist. That it is no longer a skill, or art to be a writer. Social media has apparently given birth to what is known as “citizen journalism”.
Many are pro-traditional reporting. However, a good journalistic blog is just that. It reports the facts. Yes it has opinions and many viewpoints, but it is candid with the information. Not all bloggers will renounce their title of "journalist" or tend to amend it to "citizen journalist”.
Blogging is practice for journalists that are stagnant or need to keep the creative juices flowing. “And, like anything, the more you practice, the better you get”.
Shana Genever
Sources
Micheala Anderson
Tony Weaver (Editor Cape Times)
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How to deal cope with an unplanned pregnancy.
Two pink lines. The magic stick that seems to have determined the rest of your life. This life altering moment just wasn’t the plan. The dirty girl diary seems to explain it.
“I found out i was pregnant in 2009, sitting in my En suite on a Sunday morning, ironically as I was preparing for 10am Mass. (you know how us catholic girls can be…) staring at my feet, wishing that the two ply would wipe away the HCG. Well, I was actually half staring at my feet, and half at the crystal ball like apparatus that I have just peed on. It has just doomed me to becoming an unwed mother. You see, this wasn’t the plan. I was supposed to be famous by now. I’ve always pictured my name in lights, albeit Vegas, limousines, bodyguards, and telling people I’m from “the block”. Not once, did I picture having kids. I was about to own a mucous oozing, sand eating leach. I was about to experience gestation, gas, heartburn, vomiting, a possible C-section that I’ll have to do at a state hospital, and some intern was going to lose his sponge in my abdomen. Oh God. My Abdomen, and yes, this is worried me most, I was about to become fat.”
Understand that you are not alone. This is a situation that a lot of women (about a thousand a day) find themselves in. According to Joyce Cameron, a nurse at the Free Family Planning clinic in Strandfontein, about twenty women come in to the clinic daily, pregnant and wondering about their options. “These girls don’t know that times have changed since my day, they have so many ways out. Before three months they can have an abortion, but we encourage them to consider adoption or keeping the babies. They don’t understand that they can still be anything they want to be, a baby isn’t a roadblock”.
At 16, Simone Cadenz (18) from Eersteriver found herself in this exact predicament. She says in an Mxit interview “I was at school when I found out I was pregnant. I immediately phoned my mommy and she cried for a day. We spoke about whether I was going to give Lincoln (her son) up for adoption or if I wanted to abort”. Simone had no idea how she was going to handle studying and being a mother. “It all fell into place though, it helps having people that love and support you unconditionally. I was at school for seven months, then after that my friends brought my schoolwork to my house and I sent it back with them when I was done”.
What seems imperative in dealing with pregnancy in general is a good support system. Women need to be educated from a young age about the “ugly side of it all”, says nurse Joyce.The reason for lack of prenatal care is usually delayed pregnancy testing, denial or even fear of telling others about the pregnancy. Most suburbs have free clinics that offer prenatal care and patient confidentiality is law.
According to About.com, despite the fact that the teen birth rate is climbing after slowly falling for years, there are still an estimated one million teen pregnancies in South Africa. About 85% of these pregnancies are unplanned, which in any population can increase the risk for problems. The biggest risk for teen mothers is delaying prenatal care or worse, 7.2% received no care at all.
So, what are your options? And more importantly, what are the repercussions? Adoption is encouraged by the clinics as the compromise for being “Pro-life”. “Rather give the baby to a family that wants it.” The grizzly reality is that in most cases, abortion is the ultimate solution. Statistics SA one in every 3 teenage pregnancies are terminated. “This makes the girls seem like life goes back to normal, but I’ve seen most of them back here for contraception and when in ask them how they are they all say that they regret it. It might hide everything, but you need to be emotionally strong to deal with such a big decision.” Nurse Joyce says.
Pria Meyer* fell pregnant and had an abortion at the age of 17. “My father is a strict man and I couldn’t tell him that I was pregnant. My mother and I decided that the best thing to do was to terminate. We cried for so long afterwards, but I knew I didn’t have a choice. He had so many plans for me and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I think I disappointed myself instead.”
Shana Genever
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Robin Malan Interview
“So, who am i?” the gracefully grey-haired man entered the journalism lab, a playful grin on his experienced face. The class is silent at first, and then slowly a canon effect “Robin Malan!” vibrates to the front of the room, followed by hearty laughter. The ice is broken.
The next hour is spent wringing the last drop of information out of this humble mastermind about his journey as a writer.
“I do not consider myself a writer”, all eyes are fixated on him now, eyebrows clenched in disbelief. The statement does not make sense to this class that has extensively researched this tenured author. “When people ask me what I do, I say that I am an editor by profession. I am also a publisher and compiler of short stories. I never say that I am a writer. Writers wake up at 8am and write regardless of if they have an idea. I could never do that”.
As the class alternated between attentive nodding and notation, Mr. Malan proceeded in in giving the history of how he has become such a prominent figure in children’s literature. He feels that the secret to great writing is in reading. In an address to young writers in 2004 he stated that if you’ve decided you are going to be a writer and you have the urge to sit down and write, resist it.This is the message that he offered our class as well. He says that the more you read the more skills you acquire. It just subconsciously happens that your language and writing will improve. “…..Then eventually, write something and put it away, in a draw or cupboard, and three weeks later read it again. If you still like what you have written, then use it.”
His first novel was a gay love story called “The sound of new wings” in 1998. As an openly gay professional, this is one of his most self-satisfying achievements. According to Malan, being gay has never caused any negative issues in his career. The novel was inspired by a school he tutored at in Namibia. After leaving, he heard from an ex pupil that one of the students had been given a hard time for being gay. When asked why turn it into a love story, he simply replied “because there aren’t many of those.” He felt that the time was right for young gay men to see themselves in books, to have literature that they could relate to. The public reaction was positive. “no-one threw anything at me” he laughs.
In 2005, Malan wrote “rebel angel”. The book is loosely based on the life of John Keats, a poet from the early 1900’sthat died at 25. “It’s funny; I am fascinated by his life, not his writing.”
“Have you written anything for a younger audience?” a fellow student shouts out. In 2010 he wrote a book for children “Sunny Jim and his sister. “ I enjoyed it, but my passion lies with my teenage readers.”
Shana Genever
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Cats and dogs
Written By Shana Genever
The blank expression on Dr. Ivory’s face spoke volumes. He did not believe a single word I had said, as well he shouldn’t. A woman scorned should never be trusted. “How about we go through it again?” he asked, swallowing as if he had a mouth full of clay. I sat back on the cliché therapy chair, legs up, a little too comfortable for the occasion.
“I remember that it was raining. Judging by the distant look in his eyes, I knew they’d decided it would be tonight. He needed the right moment, steering our conversation to the perfect segue to his well rehearsed confession. One wrong move and the truth would escape. I didn’t want him to tell me, but the words poured out of his mouth like vomit, spilling all over my “I heart S.A” apron. The apron I’d worn for six years while cooking his dinner. “I’m seeing someone else”, he said, staring at me as if waiting for me to respond. “I’m keeping the dog” was the best I could do without crying into the spaghetti. By the weekend, he was gone.”
“Gone?” Ivory asked without looking up from his compulsive notation.
“Yes, he packed his suitcase and left to live with Penelope. “
“Penelope?”
“His secretary. He never was very imaginative. Penelope, the little sex kitten. Turns out my marriage wasn’t worth a PENNY”. Dr.Ivory chuckled uncertainly, wondering if seeing the humour in my misery was appropriate. “Please, continue.”
The next six months passed by fairly quickly. I just floated through the days, preoccupied by my recent public humiliation. I was terrified of venturing further than my lounge, in fear that I might see them shopping or kissing, or breathing. Eventually the sadness was replaced by anger. I would watch them from “La Vida”, the coffee shop conveniently located opposite their living room window. My blood boiled as he repeated our evening rituals with her. At 6pm they each sat down to a glass of Cocoa-Almond liqueur. A discovery my husband and I had made in a quaint shop in Kloof Street.”
“You stalked them?” Dr. Ivory asked, trying to sound professional and hide the intensity of his intrigue. “How long since you’ve watched them from outside?” He reeked of disapproval.
“I haven’t been to La Vida in about two weeks.”
“Why not?”
“ I’ve moved on”.
Ivory wasn’t convinced, but his phone alarm forced us to wrap up. I sensed that he was rather disappointed he’d have to wait a whole week until the next installment of my gripping life story. I picked myself up off the crazy chair and exited through the waiting room just in time to hear the secretary gab to her colleague about the arsenic that went missing from the hospitals chemistry Laboratory two weeks ago still not being recovered.
Apparently, arsenic smells much like almonds.
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