R they scandalous???

I decided to review the blog http://www.ruscandalous.blogspot.com/, because before even going through the blog I had a feeling it was more scandal than news. Even though we are all in first year and yes it is very important to keep up with the newest trends, stay on top of the earliest gossip as well as know when the next party is. I found this blog rather insulting than interesting. The blog follows the stereotypes that have been used throughout the years about journalists only being able to uncover gossip and scandal.

The writing was very sensationalised as well as a bit humorous at times. Although the blog was given the name RUscandalous I also found tem to have trailed of their initial name and concept. The pictures were however very well taken they added a bit o ‘class’ to this scandalous blog. The blogs appearance was also very sensationalised as there was a picture of a woman with red glossy lips in the background.

All in all I thought the blog had forgotten about the initial aim of creating these blogs and I feel that they have created more of a scandal in terms of writing and journalist ethics, instead of initially uncovering the scandals.

SILENCE IS REALLY NOT THAT GOLDEN...

As a child I was always told by my mother that, the only way a women can express herself is through words. It did not matter how much make-up you put on or how much your shoes cost but the way in which you constructed your speech determined the women you are. I was told that men only pretend like they find beauty as an important factor in a women’s appearance, but the truth is a man only falls in love with the words that come out of your lips.

So I went and decided to do one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life that is living in a day of full silence. I woke up early in the morning, put on some heavy make-up and a brightly coloured shirt. The make-up and the shirt being my voice for the day. It was hard for me to do this because all my life my voice has always been my primary source of expression. I found it funny how my friends and people who know me instantly assumed that I was upset or that I was having a bad day. I didn’t tell anyone of my ‘silent day’, because I thought if they knew what I was doing they would make keeping quiet very hard for me.

After a long day of absolute silence I realised that people don’t really like the silent me. My friends thought I was ignoring them and were very upset. And those who didn’t know me just found me boring and rude. Some guy even told me to my face that my silence is unwelcoming. After this day I had not only wasted a day without speech, but I had lost a crush almost lost my friends and had missed out on seven important phone calls.

Bot Gardens- Immersion

Palesa Tembe
G09t1308

I decided to visit the Botanical Gardens for my immersion exercise.

I felt excited as I had not been there before, but there was an undercurrent mystery and overwhelming emotion. I was with friends for a picnic so I was also consumed by their enthusiasm. I expected to see a lot of hobo’s and weed smokers. But I was rather intrigued to see the amount of ‘ordinary’ students there, either to study, or relax in the company of those they loved. I chose a picnic at the Bot. Gardens because it is relaxing and nature inspires me. It is such a different environment to that which I hang out in. The time was enjoyable and I felt like a kid again.

When we were at the gardens, I felt most comfortable and at ease until the legendary Grahamstown weather took a turn for the worst. We brainstormed ways to keep warm as we felt our fun was not over yet. Just then a friend suggested old native games to play such as; Ingenda, Vul’ amasango, Ushumpu, Inqatu and others. Since these games do not need many props we improvised and it turned out to be quite the adventure.
This immersion exercise was a breath of fresh air and one I truly needed.

Pen n Heels blog Review

Review a Blog by: Palesa Tembe

I decided to review the blog called Pen n Heels, by first year journalism students Stephanie Lloyd, Nomathemba Zulu and Vuyokazi Burwana. This blog was their first group blog and there are many aspects of the blog that I enjoyed but others that I could have changed, or even re-thought.

The first striking image that caught my attention was the blogs profile picture. It corresponds well with the name of the blog and gives you an idea of the personality of the bloggers. I get the sense that these students are very feminine and lady like which are qualities evident in the colour scheme they choose (pinks and purples). The topics of each post, however, are quite serious, formal and sensible, not as care free and materialist as the ideology stands about women of this century. Some issues dealt with in this blog are topical and could prompt some interesting discussions. I really enjoyed these stories and an example of one is, “Is South African Journalism Really Gender Free”. Such reporting is interesting and very insightful.

The range of stories covered in this blog were very vast, unlike some other more professional blogs, were the subject matter of the stories are somewhat related and subject specific, either about the economy or entertainment. But this does not take away from the quality of the blog and you are still able to follow it relatively well.

Check out the http://pennheels.blogspot.com/ website for your own take on the blog.

Review: mirror mirror on the wall

by:lindokuhle mthombeni
There are many blogs that I found compelling and interesting but I chose this one, http://mirrormirroronthewall-rhodents.blogspot.com/ ,because it explains what it is meant for and its aims. I found the framework interesting and attractive. The blog stick to its principles from the beginning till the end
They say that they will be giving us the latest happenings on campus and around the world and we should be prepared. In their blog they did stick to that by giving us what’s happening around the world and by showing us pictures of what they are talking about.
The language that is used in this blog accommodates everybody of any level. The follow-ups of the bloggers show that, the bloggers themselves are enthusiastic about their blog. It gives you the sense of wanting to join-in and follow-up yourself.
The blog is very inspirational; I personal think that people should be recommended to this blog to experience the good work of dedicated students. This blog proves that team-work is the best because the participants played their parts responsible and the sticked to what they have aimed for and promised the followers. I personally enjoyed this blog

Opinion Piece:Your Body is the Temple of God

by: lindokuhle

I grew up in a Christian based family. The belief that your body is the temple of god has became one of the many slogans at home. I believe that one has to respect their body as appreciation to god. One of the many issues that are important to me is honouring and respecting my body as if it was borrowed to me.
Today people change their physical features just as much as they buy bread. It angers me to the extent that I feel sorry for the plastic surgery-gone-bad victims because there is no way back. I have come across many articles in the internet about how far people go to look the way they feel is appropriate http://www.miniurl.com/19383 .
Issues like this means a lot to me because they are going in a pace that is very fast and it is destroying the minds of the new generation, therefore they need effective attention. The children of today are poisoned by what the read and what the see, so if a child is always reading about plastic surgeries they might end up having ideas that you need to do surgery in order to be beautiful.
Issues of surgeries that had gone bad means a lot to me, because they give me an alert on life. They make me respect my body in an enormous way, they make me proud of my beliefs and of what I have, the body which is a temple of God.

Sons of Anubis

by:lindokuhle mthombeni
I love reading. Always make sure that I read something before I sleep everyday. Factual, inspirational and real-life novels are my favourite. I normally take a period of a week or two in order to finish whatever book. For this exercise I decided to read a fictional novel and finish it within a day. I chose a book by Robin Saunders called Sons of Anubis because it was recommended by a friend to me, and because it was a fictional book and I have never read a fictional book before.
Before I read the book I was enthusiastic about it, I always find it challenging to do something I never did before but I love it and I was looking forward to start doing it. At the beginning of my reading I felt bored because I have never read a fictional novel before and I always thought they were manly and boring. I also felt that, the pressure was too much because I was pushing myself so had to finish the book that very same day and to also find the interest in that book.
I expected the novel to be unrealistic in a boring way because I believed that fictional novels are for men. I also expected it to be confusing and long. At the time of my reading I felt the pressure but was slowly finding the interest of the novel as well. Towards the end of my book I didn’t want it to end because I was enjoying it so much.
After I had finished my exercise I felt good about myself. I over achieved my goal, I had planned on finishing it in a day but I finished it in 6 hours. I felt like I can conquer the world, like nothing was impossible.

Opinion Piece: Super Sensationalised Stories

Super Sensationalised Stories By: Palesa Tembe
I have chosen to review the value of sensationalist journalism. My opinion of this topic is that it is not that valuable and I believe it hypes up news unnecessarily. One would find a lot of sensationalised journalism in tabloid style news papers and magazines. This style of journalism does not give the reader an honest depiction of the story being covered.

Journalism is meant to be reporting on happens, through a specific angle, not creating your own dramatic soap opera out of these happens. I have read enough tabloid news papers that make simple stories sound like either a superhero struggle or the end of the world heart break. It is understandable that the more extreme your headline is, the more your paper will sell or the more hits your blog will receive (this is clear when you take the time to research which are the popular magazines, news papers and blogging sites amongst our generation). The youth love drama and when journalists give them that drama in the form of news, many will start reading more news or keeping up with your stories. However, with that said publishing headlines such as; Hacking Human Eyes, Beauty Hit as Wannabes Fall out and Horrific ID Drama Spells the End, are just too extreme and unrealistic. Meaning is lost and the story takes on a different tone, which is unnecessary.

Journalist should stay more true to the story and not feel the need to hype up a story for popularity. Be confident enough in your own reporting skill and keep it simple silly.

Opinion Piece:Deep in me there is a secret just like there is one in you

I may look happy and content but deep in me there is a deep dark secret waiting to be unleashed. Just like the sun at night I wait to come up. I put on my smile because to the world a frown is seen as not the norm. Like me you walk around pretending, your smile is just a symbol of the hole that lies deep within you. This world is not a happy place for me and you. We have to walk around pretending that everything is all right, even though we lift our heads each morning to poverty, illness and children with no homes.

I shout, I rant and I rave but no one hears my cry. You look at my tears but there is not much you can do because you cry at the same pace each night. Like the homeless boy who landed on the streets because his father was a drunk who gave his mother AIDS, beat her to death because he believes she was sleeping around and went to jail leaving this poor boy to fend for himself. I also have that deep ache that he feels every night while he longs for his mother’s warmth.

That pain you feel, yes I feel it too. I drag it with me every day and wait for the day it all goes away. That secret you have yes I have it too. But like me you’re waiting for that day someone closes that hole and brightens all that darkens.

News Commentary- SHE IS JUST A LITTLE GIRL!!!

Sports has always been big news in South Africa and we try by all means to stay glued to its transformations. What happened to the good old days when sports news was strictly about sports and nothing else. Caster Semenya is simply and 18 year old athlete trying to make it big. The world and the media took her dream and turned it into a media fiasco. After reading different articles on Semenya it came to my attention that this was actually an invasion of her privacy. No one has the right to question another person about their sex, culture and religion. Running is was Semenya does best and taking that away from her would be very selfish and wrong.

As an eighteen year old she is still trying to find herself and the media has no right to involve themselves in that personal experience. Whether Semenya is a hermorphidite or not is really no-one’s business. Yes we all understand the fact that allowing her to run against athletes would be not only unfair but against the rules as well. There are better ways of handling all situations and this one should have been kept more discreet.

So what happens now? Her poor little future has been invaded by journalists, paper, cameras, fingers and comments. Semenya has not only been stripped from her athletic dreams but also from her life as a teenager. She deserves to live her life in peace and therefore the media should stop publishing this story of her life like it’s a scandal. She has done her country proud and has made it to levels that now teenager has ever gotten, and for that she deserves a round of applause.

News Commentary- Diamond Robbery

A story which caught my attention was one about a diamond ring robbery at the V&A Waterfront. It has been reported that two neatly dressed, well spoken women went into a jewellery store in the mall and despite their reassurance of not intending to steal anything, they walked away with two diamond rings valued at over R700 000.

The story is reported in chronological order and the series of events follow logically. However, the reporter does not detail how the robbers got away with the loot which leaves readers guessing how the robbery was successful. Since this story is breaking news, only happening this morning, the only coverage on the story I got a hold of was on iol.co.za which makes it hard for me to get more views and interpretations of the event.

Although in my opinion, I believe that the saleswoman, Barbara Sozoniuk, was irresponsible and too trusting. This story is a classic example of the popular saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. These ladies came off as model citizens and unthreatening, they obviously did not match the stereotype attached to robbers. Sozoniuk lowered her guard and in essence made it easier for these crooks to get away with the crime. The article continues to describe that these women disappeared into a crowd of weekend shoppers.

This story was highly interesting, although I would have appreciated getting the entire story, including how these women left the store unnoticed with the rings.

Who am I?...What kind of a writer does that make me?

We are all born with different talents wether it is singing, dancing or running, we all have our talents. Growing up I did a lot of sports and my mother always use to think I would make it as a professional ballet dancer, since id been doing it for eleven years now. But one odd day I was bored at home and my brother decided to borrow me his novel collection to keep me busy. I read through these novels every day till addiction point. After months of reading non stop I decided that this is what I wanted to do forever. I wanted to write like the authors who wrote all the novels I read. I wanted to change people’s lives, involve them in my reading and change the whole perspective that reading is boring. With writing we can change the world one article, book or poem at a time. This is why we decided to start the blog ABABALI.

Ababali which means writers in IsiZulu was given this name because we want it to represent not only Rhodes but South Africa as whole. This will be a platform for Africans to display and share their work with readers or writers from all over the world. Our blog will be a platform for people to post and comment on different writers work. The blog will also come as a helping aid to all the journalism students at Rhodes who are planning on applying for journalism two. By posting their work for others to comment on they will be receiving free advice on their writing. Journalists are seen as gossips or people who earn money for digging into people’s lives, but this is not true. Being a journalist is about uncovering the truth, about telling the story and about informing the public about the world around them

Ababali is not really just for journalists or journalism students; it is for all aspiring writers throughout the world. Unlike most of these other blog we will use informal language and try to keep our other readers not only those who are writers involved. Because our blog is about student writers and them displaying or sharing their work with others it is important to keep the blog as casual as possible. By doing this we try to make the participating writers free to post their work without the fear of being judged. Our blog is not about critiquing each others work but simply about giving each other tips on how we can improve our writing.
By Ofentse Gomba

Going Green- New Res 2

Long walk to freedom

Comic

Personal Mission statement- Palesa Tembe

As a writer, I aim to gain a close relationship with my audiences. I ensure my personal voice is heard throughout all my pieces to keep the bond strong between me and those reading. My main passion as a journalist is focusing on human interest stories, one’s that people the world over are able to relate to.

This group blog believe in self expression and encourage our audiences to contribute without holding back or having to censor their input. Candid discussions and controversial topics may be brought up and dealt with in a safe environment. An environment free of judgement and mockery, where tolerance and acceptance is key. Our group blog is centred on South African issues and interests. We try remaining authentically African and giving international audiences a good sense of the quality of South African journalism and studies around media. This will broaden our audience’s knowledge and understanding of journalism across the world and how it compares to their own. Along with learning and extending our audiences understandings and views, we also seek a friendly relationship with them. We want to develop companionship and a trusting relationship.

In this blog we aim to connect all the journalism students around the world. Draw on each individuals experience and extend and learn from them. Unite all young aspiring journalists and share work idea’s.

tutorial comments

By: Lindokuhle Mthombeni
· Some people change their attitude towards things more often; I believe I am one of those people. I am a very hardworking, opinionated and caring person but during my Journalism tut I am not the person who expresses her opinion at all.

· I learnt things that I was ignoring about physical feature, things I thought were of no importance like that I have bushy eyebrows which are very dark, and that my eyes are elmon shaped, imagining that together doesn’t make a pretty good image.

· I learnt that my physical features are a little weird according to my terms. I believe with these kind of features a person is ugly but I don’t see myself as ugly by far.