WHY ATTEND A JOURNALISM SCHOOL

Students who have interests in becoming Journalists may think J-schools will do the magic. Well, this may not be the case. The trend has changed. Practically every phone owner is a Journalist these days. This is seemingly a fact which incites the Blogger, Patrick Thornton, to exclaim that J-schools are not important anymore. In his Blog titled ‘Lets be honest about J-schools’, he talks at length about J-schools: the prospects in J-schools, the shortcomings in J-schools, and the new trends in the field of Journalism. Of course readers did not let his blog go ‘scot free’. Reader’s comments are as most insightful as the blog itself.

While Thornton maintains that J-schools are a waste of time for those who think that connections and writing skills will been gained, most commenters do not bother on the former. Commenters like king Kaufman, Dave Cullen and Librarienne comment that writing skills are essential in journalism. Their comments, more like objections, erupted following Thornton’s argument that reporting is the heart of Journalism; writing skills are not. The commenters argue that writing forms the basis for good news stories.

However, Thornton maintains that going to J-schools being a graduate will not improve one’s writing skills. He explains that rather than go to a J-school which is very expensive, writing consistently will improve one’s writing skills. While a commenter, Pierce Presley concurs that Journalism schools are expensive, Cullen argues against consistent writing. He argues that people who do not have the necessary writing skills will not improve by writing consistently.

Thornton agrees with Cullen’s argument. He states that of course bad writing is not good for journalism. A good J-school should therefore teach good writing skills. This, he states, bearing in mind that J-schools have Professors who are not aware or updated about the new trends in journalism.He argues that Professors matter. A professor should teach about the new trend: Blogging, Twitter etc. The teaching of the curriculum introduced two decades ago is out-dated, argues Thornton. Mindy McAdam, a commenter, supports Thornton’s argument. She explains that Journalism students should ensure that courses they are taking make sense.

In conclusion, it is a reality; it is a fact. The trend has changed. Technology has compromised the media. Everyone can be a reporter; perhaps not everyone a writer. Writing skills are as essential as reporting skills. Kaufman and Lainey allude that reporting can be instinctive, the art of writing, however, need to be taught. J-schools are nevertheless a plus, for they can nurture one’s writing ability and reporting instinct.

ASSIGNMENT 3

QUESTION 1

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/: This site is owned by Mail & Guardian Newspaper (South Africa). There are eight Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers: Sarah Britten (What makes accountants so special anyway?), Bilal Randeree ('When you strike a woman, you strike a rock'), Coenraad Bezuidenhout (Mbeki's legacy -- what legacy?), Bernard Allen (What if Hillary was the bomb?), Robin Booth (Creating successful families III (after the vision)), Sentletse Diankanyo (Blade's out for those opposed to national health scheme), Coenraad Bezuidenhout (My John Hlophe -- small comfort for Pius Langa), and Liewellyn Kriel (Is this SA's silence of the lambs?).

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6737507.ece: This site is owned by Times Newspaper (United Kingdom).It contains a Blog only. The Blogger is Times Newspaper. The writer is Anjana Ahuja (Who is making a profit from swine flu?).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog: This site is owned by Guardian Newspaper (United Kingdom). There are twelve Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers:Lawrence Donegan (Golf for the Olympics? Why not?), Marcela Moray Araujo (Argentina power struggle leaves Diego Maradona to reflect on the chaos), Dileep Premachandra (Indian cricket not playing a straight bat with Wada), Guardian Newspaper (Uk)( County cricket - as it happened), Andy Wilson (Wizards of Oz offer Wembley feast in flipside to the Greg Inglis affair), Malcom Heyhoe (Talking Horses), Barry Glendenning & Greg Roughley (Today in sport - as it happened), Paul Doyle (Premier League preview No15: Stoke City), Kevin MacCarra (It may only be a friendly but these games are key to Fabio Capello), David Hytner (Premier League preview No14: Portsmouth), Malcom Heyhoe (Talking Horses), and Guardian Newspaper (uk) (County cricket – as it happened).

http://southafrica.worldcupblog.org/:This site is owned by South Africa World Cup Blog. There are nine Blogs in this site, each owned and written by these following Bloggers: Football 365 (2010: Are we really ready?), Football 365 (How I learned to stop worrying and love the World Cup), Football 365 (Goodbye Carlos, hello Santana), Football 365 (Are SAFA behind Parreira’s decision?), Naeem (South African Sentiment), Andreas (Point Gained! Point Made!), Naeem (Reaction to the Game), and Adreas(South Africa v Angola).

http://blogs.indiewire.com/anthony/: This site is owned by Indie Wire blog Network. It contains a Blog only. The writer and Blogger is Anthony Kaufman (The Real Internet Movie Database: SpeedCine).

http://indiefilmbloggersmovie.blogspot.com/: This site is owned by Blogspot. It contains a Blog only. The writer and Blogger is Sujewa Ekanayake(Indie Film Blogger Road Trip).



QUESTION 2
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/Swine_flu/article6737507.ece: As has been indicated above, the only Blog in this site is presented by this Blogger: Times Newspaper-a Newspaper proudly described as a medium through which “the latest World and UK news, breaking current events, video and photo news, exclusive expert analysis and opinion on top headline stories” can be read. This implies that the writer, Anjana Ahuja, is a professional writer, and her Blog (Who is making a profit from swine flu?) must have undergone appropriate editing before it’s was published. Therefore, plus the fact she has a PHD, Anjana Ahuja is a qualified Blog writer.

THE LIMITS IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP

LIMITS IN FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND CENSORSHIP

An individual could log on to the internet and express his self through Blogging, Twitter, Facebook etc.-these forms of media are very effective in speedy distribution of messages, receiving feedbacks and limiting restrictions or censorship. However, recent event in Iran proved that they can be censored (cf.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm).

Following the presidential election in Iran, opposition supporters staged rallies, one of which caused the death of eight people. As a result, the state authorities decided to limit the damage to the country’s image, by laying restrictions on all the media forms e.g. television, radio and internet.It appears the Iranian authorities regarded messages from the opposition supporters as “offensive to public morals” (cf. Coetzee 1996:185). On what grounds? Is it on the grounds of an assumed ‘damaging to the country’s image'? Which is similar to the claim by Horizon Group Management, that Amanda Bonnen “damaged its good name” through Twitting (cf. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm).

The restrictions further provoke more questions: Where do the citizens take part in the power play? If Iran is governed in the interest of the citizens, are the citizens involved in the decision making? According to Van Rooyen, it is expected that a censor will, as his criteria, ask whether “the likely reader of X finds X offensive” (Coetzee 1996:190.)If the Iranian government had considered the messages from the opposition supporters as offensive to the citizens, it had done so to protect its own personal interest. The fact remains that the opposition supporters are part of the citizens that make Iran; to ignore their plight, deprive them of their right to freedom of speech, is to take away their birthright.

Of course, this is not to forget that freedom of speech as a basic right is a limited right. Public speeches which contain “incitement to crime or racial or religious hatred, defamation, or insult (injure) can result to a criminal penalty, according to the Press Law from 1881” (cf. Barendt 2005:68); a premise which begs the following questions: Did the Iranian authorities restrict the media based on the fact that the press reported messages violating the Press Law? It is obvious that if the media had violated the Press Law, the Iranian authorities would have filed a law suit.

Nonetheless, as much as freedom of speech is a limited right, censorship is as limited in capabilities. For example, the Iranian authorities were able to restrict- through Blogging,You Tube, and Facebook-information and media coverage for the opposition supporters, but were not capable of ensuring that their restrictions were not overrode. A 25 year old IT director in San Francisco, Austin Heap, was able to create proxies with which Iranian citizens were able to bypass the Iranian government’s restrictions. And again, Iranian citizens were having their voices heard, their faces seen and their story gets told around the world without filtering” (cf. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173731.stm), through these new important form of media: You Tube, Blogging, Facebook, and Twitting.