Gettin this journalism thing down!

g09m7425 Melissa Moss

Read a lot, learn a lot, and write extraordinary stories, a lot! Like the saying goes, “A reading journalist is a good journalist! “I believe this is a very true statement. As a journalist, you have to know what is going on in the world all the time. If you are not aware of currant events and information you are more likely to publish material that is not necessarily true, based on your ignorance of the world around you. I am also a strong believer in the saying, “Do not trust anyone”, when it comes to Journalism and getting the story right that is. You cannot base you story on what a friend of a friend of a friend heard, because we are all human and sometimes like to add our five cents in here and there. You need to go straight to the source and extract your information first hand, which ultimately ensures that your news will be based on hard fact. This blog aims to reflect the material, us (first year journalist students), are taking in, and discuss it in ways that will help us understand it. Our blog aim is to make students aware of what news sources can be trusted and how to go about gathering information for stories. If your experience in first year journalism has been anything like mine, I bet you are suffering from a bit of whip-lash. All the writing and deadlines can leave you feeling slightly bewildered. I hope that our blog will be a place that first year journalism students can come and share their experiences and struggles. Hopefully their struggles can be resolved and their lives enriched by the encouragement and input of other first year journalists.
We live in a forever changing world, with break throughs in technology nearly everyday. This means that the ways in which we communicate with each other are not the same ways in which we communicated a hundred years ago. Journalism is no longer limited to news papers, tabloids, and magazines. There are all kinds of exciting new possibilities in which journalist are able to express their talents and passion for writing and reporting. We hope that our blog will enlighten students to experiment and make use of the new multi media possibilities and opportunities available in the journalism sector today. In all aspects, we would like to think that our blog will make our target audience better rounded journalists.

I run my life, my life doesn't run me.-Zama

As a wannabe journalist I suffer one of two things, the pain of discipline and the pain of deadlines. Deadlines can't be changed, but I can take personal responsibilty for my actions and learn to like what I do, instead of doing what I like. if I end up being something, I would have made myself so, through hardwork, because passion can make clever men idiots and make the biggests of idoits clever. I want my work as a journalist to be a portrait of my personality. Creative, bold and influential. What I write needs to be a reflection of what is important to me, the things I believe and value the most. What can be concieved in words I believe can be achieved in my personal growth as a journalsit. the experiences I have encountered in my path as an aspiring journalist is trying to be myself in a world that is constantly trying to make me something else.

I want to get to a point where I can tell people to read my work, to know who i am. at least i dont need to be great to start but i need to start to be great. i dont want to be the moving horse that makes no progress and writing stories that have no value. we all want to be someone in life or something in life, but we are never specific. As student journalists we should aim to find that "specific thing" we want in life.

The notion of a wack or bad idea is nothing but a feeble and weak excuse as a journalist. I have learned to work with bad ideas until they become great ideas. If I end up walking on thin ice, Imight as well dance while the ice has not melted. I guess what I'm saying is that journalists face many challenges but the great ones are those that don't fear hopeless situations.

A famous writer said " If you want to dance to somebody's music, you need to get into thier house". Rock and roll to the lingo of the township scene and jive to the street sweepers broom. feel the music and understand the lyrics to appreciate the song. Journalists should have a deep understanding and take the time to experience what they are talking about, be knowledgable and informed. I want to be the journalist that has the power to change peoples lives through the words that I chose and the experiences I share.

and Mick too..

By Michael Moodie g09m2875

The world of journalism is forever changing. In yester-years, all it took to be a journalist was a notepad, a pen and the faint ability to write words into sentences that bear some resemblance to what we know as sense. Times have changed though, and the world of media and journalism has moved into a whole new solar system altogether. Television news networks, radio broadcasters, magazines, newspapers and the Internet are all sources of journalistic material and media production, and it is into this world that we as journalism students are taking our first tentative steps. It is a daunting thought that one day, when we are done living the life of beer, friends and Saturday morning hangovers, that we will have to find our place in this ever-expanding and chaotic world. We will have to be as good (and as sober) as we can be so that we can make our mark, make ourselves noticed, and make waves in the journalistic world that awaits us. We are the up-and-coming generation of young and opinionated journalists who will take journalism a few more steps forward, bettering and improving it always.

Journalism, to me, is the opportunity to experience something new and different every single day. From what little experience I have of the journalism world so far, I have found that no two days are the same and that each day offers me the chance to meet new people and do new things. I find the journalism world exciting, unpredictable and constantly in a state of motion. My blog will offer you insight into my experiences as a young and eager to learn journalist, as I share with you my thoughts, opinions and amateurish commentaries of the journalism world exactly as I experience it everyday of my life spent here at university. Perhaps those of you who read this blog will have some sense of what I am writing about and will be able to relate in some way or another, and then again perhaps those of you who read this blog will read it only out of interest, but either way I welcome you into my world as a journalist and hope that you enjoy the read.

Here's Jonny

By: Jonathan Jones ( 09j0848)
My Name is Jonathan Jones , Jon for short as the full name is cumbersome and only used by my mother. I come from a family of five and grew up in Johannesburg and at the moment I am studying a B.A. at Rhodes University in Anthropology , English, Geography and Journalism. I am particularly interested in Anthropology as it is concerned with the human in a cosmological sense and it nurtures my interests in the similarities and differences of people. My hobbies include cycling , climbing , photography, all of which I struggle to find time for and although i hate to admit it I am somewhat of a wanabe surfer. Climbing holds something which interests me. It is the most intense form of escapism i know as it demands concentration and strength. It is my favourite hobby as its intensity and demanding nature continually pushes a climber allowing him to disappear into his own world. However anything involving the outdoors with an edge of adrenaline will interest me. I enjoy getting out of the city and so if I could be anywhere in the world right now I would be sitting next to a fire in Tranquilitas( Waterval Boven) sipping on some gluvine and watching the stars. I am a curly haired 'shortish' guy and I adamantly maintain that I am not short but that everyone else is freakishly tall.


My aim for Note Pads and Deadlines (N&D) is to publish my experiences as a first year student of journalism including the 'Vac work' , my impression of the course and course work as a whole as well as comment on the current events of today in a satirical manner. The Authors of this blog ( Melissa , Zama and Mick) are my peers all studying journalism at Rhodes amongst other subjects. Amongst the four of us we will publish discusions of the news with a twist whilst commenting on our own experiences , opinions and interests as up and comming journalists. We have set up this blog to share our experiences , opinions and interests and to enhance and share our experiences of journalism whilst allowing for other potential journalists to comment and supplement their own experiences. Expect to find analysis of pics , cartoons controversial news as well as accounts of the exploits of first year journlism students finding their way through the maze like world of journalism in the 21st century.