Juicy Journalism

After sifting through the many blogging sites available to us, I decided to take a further look into the lives of the group members who make up the joUrn.juiCe blogging site. I was captivated immediately by the introduction to their page, as you are tempted to indulge yourself after being given a small taste of what they have to offer, as it incorporates a martini glass and a brief description of the posts that are uploaded onto the site. The play on words used in the beginning grabbed my interest and left me to read on.

The use of pictures in this blogging site immediately made me aware of stories that we were recently focusing on in class, acts that had never been performed before by the individual bloggers themselves were presented in the form of personal photographs and put on display. I viewed this as the olive inside the glass, often used as a presentation extra. As I read on I was intrigued to find out about the lifestyles behind a group of members in my tutorial class that I didn’t know on a personal level. Through reading this blogging site I was advised through their work at their personal mannerisms and interests. Journ.Juice gave me the chance to escape into a reality of the varsity lifestyle we live on a day-to-day basis from a different view. I was engrossed in the stories and it most certainly tantalized my taste buds, urging me to order me.

Tay Johnston

Wonders of the ever-growing technology

Earlier on during the week I decided to further my interaction skills and became one of many fans that use Skype daily as a communication device. I was intrigued to further my horizons after learning about tweeting and being an avid facebook addict, why not try out a new method of contacting friends and family around the world. I went ahead and purchased a portable camera and set up my Skype account. Within minutes I was hooked up and connected to the rest of the world on more of a personal level.

I was amazed as to how it was possible to simply view a friend that was thousand of kilometres across the world. The transition of technology immediately caught me by surprise. I was reminded of the moment I expressed my ignorance when my mom asked me to fax a letter whilst at her office and I replied by saying, “why has the paper come back to me and not sent?” to my surprise it did in fact not ravel up and send thru the wires that plugged the fax machine into the wall. As if this wasn’t mind blowing enough for me, the idea of seeing my parents who were in our house in Durban live, while talking to me took my breath away.

I informed them that we should talk over Skype, as it was a cheap method of communication that would allow us to see one another. Their excitement was as great as mine and was stunned at the fact that we were seeing each other after a few months since my last visit home. I was in awe as I watched my mom sit with a grin on her face and for the first time ever she was speechless and I could get a word in edgeways. My dad went on to take a tour through the house with the laptop and show off all his new handyman additions that had been attended to. I have never experienced such a fulfilling moment that was captured through the eye of technology.

Defiantly something I have never done and now I can firmly say that I’m possibly as addicted to Skype and the wonders of technology as I am to facebook.

Tay Johnston

Life of its Own!

“Like magic mushrooms, the media you consume changes how you think. We are just making sure that you are thinking for yourself...” This powerful opening statement represents a blog full of continuous humour and pun displayed by eager journalists. “Writer Than You - Atom” is a funny mushroom creature, created with a precise intention in mind. Their blog, however, developed a life of its own, and has taken lively blogging to the next level.

Through an original representation of a blog, these first-year journalist students have incorporated various entertainment aspects aside from their prescribed tasks, adding significant value to the prospect of fun within their blog. The blackened background and luminous headings draws the reader’s attention to the writing submitted, displaying a limited amount of distraction. The writing is simple and clear, avoiding many images, allowing the writing to create an individual and unique image in the reader’s mind.

Through this humorous blog, readers can expect only the best student experiences and opinions, allowing global upcoming journalists to relate to their blogging adventure. It is evident that the writer’s maintain different styles and outlooks on journalism as a whole, presenting a diverse approach to the media. Over all, I feel this blog serves its purpose in acting as a diary for a team of first-year journalism students in Grahamstown. “Writer than You”, an inspirational blog, allowing you to change the way YOU think!

Nadine Mather

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for this Modest Mouse: Satisfy your indie needs and Nordic knowledge!

Extraterrestrial activity. Arcitc anomolies. Russian hysteria. British sex. Converse takkies. These are just a few of the issues Pleasenotethefollowing explores, and from this list alone one gains a sense of the charming quirkiness the blog holds.
Excellent writing is combined with impressive photojournalism, making this site truly note worthy। It aims to provide the opinions of “ordinary people” and thus subtly combat the vacuous indoctrination that occurs when consuming mainstream media. Honest sentiments are provided over the manipulative ones of magazines wanting to further their own aims.

This argument is a little naive in my opinion, for while the sincerity of the posting is clear it is no less manipulative than that of any magazine। These bloggers are trying to convey their views and whenever that occurs then so does manipulation. Success would not be achieved otherwise. However, it is to be said that the writing is intelligent and the aims harmless: Skins is an excellent television show, bizarre ice formations are fascinating, and indie kids must not become as commercial as their all star trendy footwear. All relevant topics and ones that appeal to students for they deal with topics that we regularly discuss.

The blog also has quite an artistic feel to it, with much discussion of bands, festivals and alternative sub cultures। Some of the photographs are works of art in themselves. Which is why it is disappointing to note that the page is dreadfully dull aesthetically. A plain blue background with black writing is conducive to easy but not extensive reading. I believe that they really could have heightened the calibre of the site by having the appearance reflect the writing and the views expressed.

Please note the following: to increase your general knowledge on necessary happenings in society such as Nordic weather patterns and independent music, then this is the blog for you. It should be eccentric enough for your twisted little mind.

Full Moon

As I wake up in my res and unravel my closed curtains, an image of a single abandoned house clouds my vision. It welcomes me every morning as the suns rays capture its delicate structure, but as the night approaches a different view comes into mind. Rhodes students refer to this deserted building as ‘The Haunted House’ on the hill, but as a curious future journalist I knew I had to embrace the challenge of approaching the house at full moon.
Driving towards the old building I felt anxious and nervous, as a shiver of adrenalin raced up my spine. I had expected a house, a simple deserted building; however the reality of my expectations became limited as my imagination continued to race. As we approached the house my heart sunk into my stomach and my breath gradually became shorter. There were no windows or doors and the scattered glass surrounded our feet, and as I stepped into the building the darkness blackened my thoughts. Although my adrenalin was at its peak, I couldn’t help but to feel calm as stillness embraced the atmosphere. Looking out from the house, I couldn’t take my eyes off the glowing moon. Someone once lived here, created memories here, but as the memories continue to fade the buildings homely warmth had vanished. Everybody has a story to tell and I was certain that this house had many, and it gave me one to embrace.
Driving away from the house I felt a feeling of excitement as the fear of entering into such a dark space had disappeared. Although there wasn’t much to see, the atmosphere created many feelings of hope. As a young journalist, I am always searching for the thrill of it, and as I wake up and unravel my closed curtains, I look up at the “haunted” house and know that it has another story, a moment, with me in it.

Nadine Mather

The Only Exception

Right: SUBLIME SOAKING: Returning back to Res after a refreshing rainstorm

On one very average Tuesday evening, I was cuddled up under a blanket, thinking how happy I was to be here, listening to the thunderstorm that poured down onto my window and feeling all very nostalgic about returning home in a couple of weeks.

I decided to watch a thrilling movie at this point and halfway through, while sitting alone in my dark and eerie room, my friend bursts in dripping wet with her hair matted flat to her face like something out of a bad horror movie. After overcoming my initial shock at the sight of this zombie-lookalike I regain my composure only to be convinced to take off my shoes, lose my inhibitions and join her to go puddle-jumping in the thunderstorm.

Now, usually I would decline such a request or fob my friend off with the excuse that we’d get sick or contract some exotic disease of sorts. But something, most likely a sort of end-of-year syndrome, made me forget to do that. So I kicked off my shoes, let down my hair and rain into the sheets of pouring rain.

And you know what?

It. Was. Awesome.

At this moment the only thing that really mattered was that I was with some of my best friends skipping around in puddles (whilst being strangely eyed out by the passer-bys in their cars) and that we were in a sublime moment of relived childhood pleasure as we laughed hysterically down the road.

It was perfect. My mind was free from the daily stress of lectures and the looming exams. I was so happy that I walked into my Activate meeting that night barefoot and soaking wet – something I thought I’d never do. The sane me would have thought, “how unprofessional”.

But this was not sane me, this new experience seemed to bring out a whole a new side of me. One that stressed less. One that didn’t care about what others thought. One that just lived for the moment.

I wish it would rain like that on me every day.

By: Tarryn Ross

What the hell, Journ? What's going on in this world?

I will admit. I searched the list of available blogs to review in terms of how interesting the URL sounded and stumbled across http://whatthehelljourn.blogspot.com. As shallow as it is to select a blog to review based on the appeal of its name, I felt that title of the blog “What the hell Journ?” just captured the exact feeling I (and I’m sure many other journalism students) have some days. The paradox of being both overwhelmed and underwhelmed by your subject really echoed through this title.

The introduction made clear the objective of the blog which linked to the title again as the writers: Caelyn Woolward, Tatum Holloway and Phillipa Bradbury proceeded to explain that they aimed to make journalism seem relevant and exciting again – a refreshing change from the punctuation lessons we had been receiving in lectures.

Despite the rather bland style of blog background and design the content certainly made up for it. Stories included topics on animal rights activism, governmental corruption and poverty in Africa, social-life violence in Grahamstown and a lighthearted take on life around Rhodes campus. So readers can look forward to balanced articles with refreshing takes on both international and locally relevant concerns. The stories were compelling and stylish yet the language was simple and entertaining enough to be relevant to the average student or cyberweb surfer.

“What the hell Journ?” successfully documents important issues while simultaneously adding a twist of student-street smarts to the mix that comprises this world-wise blog. So if you need a fresh outlook on life at Rhodes University or even an adolescent spin on global issues check it out. What the hell? What do you have to lose?

By: Tarryn Ross

Doing Waterver.

Not being one for ringworm and athlete’s foot and general encounters with all kinds of dastardly bodily afflictions, I have avoided the Union pool at all costs. Something about being in water that has touched the diseased flesh of so many really does not appeal to me. Stange, that. Not to mention the worrying rumours I’ve heard of late-night skinny dipping...etc. Most people find my (valid) concern to be an indication of my being troubled and some kind of germaphobe. Which I am not. Obviously. Thus the “new task to experience” was going into the cesspot of bacteria more commonly known as the pool. I did so in my clothes. With a watering can. And sunglasses. Why? Because I can.

Thanks to Aimee Caulfield for her waterproof camera and to my mom for insisting I take those synchronised swimming lessons in grade 6. Who knew they would come in handy during journalism 1.

Chloe Hirschman

Leaving Behind a Trail of Thoughts

"The Paper Trail" may not be as enticing a headline as other blogs but it definitely had me interested the moment I logged onto their site.

The home page actually fits in with the title of the blog and it is ver eye-catching. However, it is not the only eye-catching thing on this blog. Almost every post has a picture to go with it to make it seem more interesting, and it sure makes you want to read some more. I found that the articles were definitely of some substnce as they did not speak about menial issues that had nothing to do with society. they spoke about topics that people would usually think about everyday and they questioned the motives behind some of the stories and the people behind those stories.

The quality of writing of some of these posts is exceptional as they use language any English speaking person would understand but an over use of slang is never seen (or read). this site is easily accessible and it is also easy enough for anyone to use. Although some of the topics can seem to be overdone; they do give the reader a new perspective on the written topic and you can walk away drawing your own conclusions without being biased towards the writer's. This blog would be beneficial and enjoyable to anyone who read it. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fellow Journ student.

By Rochelle van der Merwe

BEE-ing the best you can?

The Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) act is regarded as a practical growth strategy that aims to appreciate South Africa’s full economic potential.

Is it fair to limit individuals of a particular race from their full potential to achieve, purely because of the fact that there is a required ratio of race that must be met within different sports in order to meet the economic potential that the system tries to achieve?

It is believed that this system has been put forward in order to restore the inequalities expressed during Apartheid by giving previously disadvantaged groups such as black, coloured and Indian races the opportunity to show case their talents and bring them into South Africa’s mainstream economy in both the working arena as well as on the sports field.

As a sportswoman myself, competing at the highest level with individuals who attempt selection to represent their country, I have been exposed to many incidences that involve the BEE act. It allows an individual the opportunity of a life time purely due to their skin colour while it disadvantages another individuals with a higher level of talent due to the fact that there is a ratio that is expected to be met before competing overseas.
Why is it that this system is not applied in all sports, enforcing a bracket of race ratio’s, such as the South African national soccer team which does not enforce this rule and permits a team of one race to represent the country?

Tay Johnston

Food for Thought

The topic “what is art” has always been one that sparks debate. While some believe that true art is defined by beauty and limited to skills such as painting, others believe that art is what you make it...as soon as one utters the words “this is art” it automatically means that is. This topic was reconsidered in the controversial wake of “artist” Guillermo Vagas Habacuc, who chained a stray dog to a wall in a gallery in Mexico and invited people to watch it starve to death...with the words “ Eres Lo Que Lees” (You are what you eat) smeared in pet food on a nearby surface. The idea behind this horrific piece was that hundreds of dogs regularly die in the streets of Mexico; humans have become immune to the suffering they see – yet as soon as it is put in a different context, one that forces them to take notice and causes discomfort there is an outcry. In his own words, when “you publicly display one of these starving creatures” it “brings out the hypocrisy in all of us.” There work ignited the wrath of PETA as well as the general public, with petitions to have Habacuc removed from the running of the prestigious Central American Biennial awards. He was deemed a heathen monster, incapable of the beauty of art. Yet how has he failed? Is art’s function not to make us question the world around us, make visible the ignored, represent a certain truth? The infuriated responses of society proves that he has succeeded in doing this. Performance art is by definition “a defiance of orthodox art mediums” “conceptual” and intended, through shock, “to ignite change and expose the inadequacies of mankind” (1987: Sayre). Not one single person tried to unchain the dog. They simply observed, and complained. Thus Harbacuc has succeeded in exposing the uselessness and apathy of humanity through an avante-garde mode of performance that is, by all means, art.



Words: Chloe Hirschman

Works Cited
Gortais, B. 2003.“Abstraction and Art.” Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences, Vol. 358, No. 1435, The Abstraction Paths: From Experience to Concept .Great Britain: The Royal Society.
Guillermo Habacuc Vargas, “An example.” Retrieved 20 October 2009 from http://guillermohabacucvargas.blogspot.com/.
Sayre, H. 1989. “The Object of Performance: The American Avante-Garde since 1970” Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Who's Life Is It Anyway?

Nadine Mather
The right to life is not a right simply to exist. Is there a duty to die?
When we start life in our mother’s womb, we have no choice in the decision regarding our right to live. Other people will debate our right to life depending upon their ethics, religion and economic circumstances and make the decision on our behalf. And so here we find ourselves in a world in which we played no part in the decision to be here or not. We are then allowed to formulate our own views as we become more adult entitled to freedom of thought and speech. So what if we decide that life isn’t that great after all and the decision made on our behalf years ago does not suit us anymore. Surely we then have the right to die if we choose to. We all die sometime, that is not up for debate. The question is when and how. Who is to say that we cannot choose to die when we want to? Your life insurance will not pay out but then again how does this affect you? The issue surrounding the right to die is one of the effects that it has on other people. You will be seen as selfish only thinking of yourself. But must you continue to live just to make other people happy. There is a duty for an individual to die, life is not a given right, it’s a privilege. Whose life is it anyway?

Reversing the damage. One steak at a time. What have you done to save the planet today?

I recently attended a very moving couple of History 102 lectures discussing the human impact on the earth as well as our impact on the animal world. Professor Cobbing, our lecturer, urged us to take a test in order to establish what exactly our ecological footprint was. I thought the man was exaggerating as he proceeded to scream at us with accompanied overzealous hand gestures for not taking the matter as seriously as we should. I thought: “come on, I’m a little student in a tiny town, I walk everywhere, I don’t eat red meat how could I possibly harm the planet that much?”

Well, I was wrong.

Have you ever measured your ecological footprint? Find out: http://earthday.net/footprint/flash.html or even www.myfootprint.org/en/visitor_information/

It’s a shocking sobering process, but it’s made me aware how much attention we need to start paying to the little things we do in order to preserve what we have left. In desperation and disbelief I took off all my meat-eating tendencies from the quiz and my footprint was drastically decreased.

This brings me to the situation that our carnivorous ways have landed us in. Did you know how harmful meat is to the environment? Did you know that for every kilogram of steak we eat five kilograms of grain could have gone to feed the hungry? Subsequently 10 000litres of precious water would have been saved if we spared the steak too.

In light of this I’ve decided to slowly work my way towards becoming vegetarian. It’s not an easy process you know, but I’m now tired of feeling guilty for what I consume. Today I make a difference – albeit a little one. Shouldn’t you?

By: Tarryn Ross

The World: Doomed or Redeemable

The History 102 course is centred around how humans have created the current problems we are experiencing with our climate, animals and our species as a whole. When I signed up for this course I was expecting another boring History lecturer speaking about things that we wouldn't think twice about once we had passed the course - I was oh so very wrong.

Throughout the whole course we have discussed the global crisis and I have come to the realisation that no matter how much we get taught about the things that we have done wrong, most people will never change themse;ves or their habits to better the world that we live in. When we were getting taught about Hiroshima and the atomic bomb, the lecturer made a ver interesting point: Once humans have gotten an idea into their heads, it is impossible for them to let it go. I couldn't agree with him more.

We were told to look at our ecological footprint on www.earthday.net because the average human is only supposed to use up 1,5 planets in their lifetime. I use double that amount and I was shhocked that my little "go green" initiatives didn't help that at all. So how many planets do you use? Are we seriously doing enough to prevent the global warming disasters from happening? Or did we doom ourselves long ago when we decided that our comfort was more important than our home? Personally, I think we could have done more to protect ourselves and our planet.

By Rochelle

Off their Rockers

Rocking the Daisies is one of the most exciting music festivals held in South Africa. A relatively young creation hosted by glorious Cape Town during October, it has been known to attract music-mad-mongrels and happy hippies from all over the country. This year’s line-up boasted diversity, with big names such as blues guitarist Dan Patlansky (having recently returned from a successful run in the smoky state of Memphis) and Goldfish, who had the crowd soaking up their sunshine melodies.
Unfortunately there has been a lot of negative publicity in terms of crowd control, with people livid at waiting hours to access the estate. Owing to excessive congestion, cars being trapped in mud, pesty pick-pocketers and generally “shocking organisation” – as termed by irate festival-goers. There has also been talk of boycotting future Daisy revelries.
The festival organisers were compelled to release a statement apologising for the “disaster” of the weekend. However, I truly believe that people are over reacting; it is perfectly natural to assume that crowds nearing 13 000 people will generate at least some degree of bodily traffic! Nowhere in the world can renowned artists be seen without it– does one expect to go to Glastonbury for a problem-free, mud-free and (most ludicrously) people-free experience? Of course not.
Festivals are messy. There is nothing orderly about setting your soul alight with music that singes your core. Those who do not appreciate this should go to a Kurt Darren Kareoke concert instead. There probably won’t be as many issues with congestion there.

Obama Drama

Ever since the beginning of his satire regarding the Jacob Zuma shower scandal I have become an avid fan of Mail & Guardian's (amongst others) cartoonist Zapiro. So every so often, well every day in fact, I check up the M&G website for Zapiro's latest slander on his appropriate muse. It just so happened that this week's cartoon refers to Barack Obama's award of the Nobel Peace Prize. So, out of curiosity I looked up exactly what he was being recognised for http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2009/press.html and honestly it just came across as far too vague for my liking.

I personally have very little opinion currently on Obama, except that he's the apple of the media's eye and perhaps this attention is presently a bit uncalled for. Don't get me wrong, yes the world has high expectations for "America's First Black President" and sure he's one hell of a public charmer and perhaps all round nice guy. But what has he achieved so far in his short 10 month stint as president? And what makes him so deserving of one of the most prestigious prizes in history?

Surely it's far too early to reward Obama for his presidency and certainly it can't be justified as yet. In between his many amiable photo opportunities that are sprawled across newspapers, we still witness the same old negative political situation that has yet to change in the slightest. The President said it best when he stated during his victory speech, "Let me be clear: I do not view it as recognition of my own accomplishments".

By: Tarryn Ross

Slamming Selebi

Coverage about the latest Selebi case read in both The Star newspaper as well as the Daily News; represent the exact same story stating the background behind the story. It is believed that reasons for the case being raised again include the fact that “Selebi's defence team are fighting for it to be shown in open court”. As a result hype surrounding the case has begun again. It is believed that Selebi's defence team wants to release a video showing Glenn Agliotti turning against the scorpions in court in the duration of 2008.

This article represents a recent news article that was a previous issue and has been brought up again with regards to matters surrounding the topic. These newspaper articles are factual with a sense of humor attached to the story line. This paper uses play on words to emphasize the meaning and add character to its articles. An example of this style is shown in Alex Eliseev work, “To play or not to play, this is the question that stopped proceedings in the Jackie Selebi trial this morning.

Mail & Guardian Online take a different approach to their style of writing and this is expressed through the article as it goes into precise detail about the story and it is evident that there is a need for a good story that is fully explained. This newspaper includes videos and different people’s opinions in order to back up theories made. Mail and Guardian takes a formal approach in its writing as well as the presentation.

Moon Goes Boom!

For the past few days, there has been hype all over the internet about the bombing of the moon that NASA was in charge of (no surprise there). After all of the publicity it got, you would expect it to have made more of an impact wouldn't you?

According to POPSCI, the two spacecrafts crashing into the moon had sucha minor impact that NASA could have gotten away with it without telling anyone. All of the eager astronomers and stargazers were disappinted that nothing big happened for them to see through their telescopes. The question is: Why does NASA think that bombing the moon is justified? Sure, they might find frozen water under the surface but shouldn't they just let nature take its course?

I have a feeling that this won't be their only attempt at finding water and that the next one might not be as gentle. If this is so, how would it affect the tides? Would it not be dangerous to all life on this planet? NASA says that if they do find water then it would be possible for human habitation on the moon. My theory is this: There is only this planet for us to live on. If we have destroyed it in any way then that is our fault, but it does not mean that we have to destroy it even further by destroying something else that is relatively close to this planet. Comments from Sky New also reflect this.

Pegasus Spreads His Magic

Sean La Bang is held spellbound on the Slipstream stage by his own glitter pop renditions.

Photograph taken by: Chloe Hirschman

Flyer Fever

Photo by: Tarryn Ross

Lawyer in training

Photo taken by Rochelle van der Merwe