Having been introduced to the course and how it is structured, that is, what we are going to be doing this year, I am excited. There are basically two things that excite me the most first one is: I am looking forward to establishing a relationship with a community partner organisation (uMthathi Training Project). I think this will advance my communication skills and also teach me how to work well with people. I am nervous about this whole experience because I am aware that it is not going to be easy. There are going to be challenges along the way. However, I believe I will learn through those, I will soldier on. Secondly: I will get a chance to report on some of the important events (like the weekly demonstrations or training sessions that uMthathi hold). This (reporting) could be made possible through working with Radio Grahamstown.
I think the aim of the project that I am going to be embarking on is to expose some of the good work that uMthathi is doing. It is, more particularly to play the facilitative role that Christians et al (2009) describe in their discussion of alternative approaches to ‘professional’ journalism. They argue that, in adopting a facilitative role journalists distance themselves from centres of power. Instead they seek to provide citizens with a platform for expressing themselves and participating in the political process. It is this role that I hope to adopt in this whole process. I am there to facilitate social change whilst not forgetting my journalism ethics and principles. That is, we are not there to provide for the organisation but we are there to help the organisation broadcast some of the important things that they want the rest of the Grahamstown community to know.
What I like about this whole thing is the fact that I am going to be working beyond the limits or boundaries of objectivity which I think is a very problematic concept. Last year in the third year radio course, we spent time looking at what Glasser (1984) has to say about these limitations. Like him, I also find the concept of objectivity problematic. It is a term that is open to many interpretations. Different people perceive or look at the term in different ways.
Also I personally do not think that it is a term that allows one to represent journalists as active agents working within communities to raise awareness about certain issues. It signals, instead, that journalists are passive people and inactive members of the society. I believe this is not the case because journalists are the ones who bring social issues upfront; they expose them and by so doing are raising awareness. Adherence to the ideal of objectivity provides limited room for journalists to write about their own ideas and opinions.
Well…moving on, I assume that this is a community based project, it is ran by ordinary citizens from Grahamstown who also help teach fellow citizens about the importance of gardening, nutrition and so forth. I strongly believe that they need exposure, they may need some of the material that they work with but as far as I have observed, material wise, they are not lacking or at least they have not said anything about that during our regular meetings on Friday.
All in all, by working with uMthathi; I feel as if I will be fulfilling what I have always wanted to do as a journalist. I will not run away from the fact that I believe in development journalism because I believe through this kind of journalism, interaction with the citizens at their level is crucial. Moreover I believe I am obligated to serve people and make other people’s voices heard, I believe it is my responsibility to make known and available what has been hidden for a very long time to the majority of South Africans (a platform where they can voice out their views or in this case, talk about their project). I believe it is every citizen’s responsibility to make South Africa a better place, and therefore I trust that through radio such dreams (of uniting South Africans through working together in making this country a better one) do come true because almost every household has access to radio.
I believe I will learn a lot, and I will be challenged a lot. I also hope that by the end of this I will be able to fully understand my identity and my role as a journalist and also as a South African Citizen. Looking forward to the experience!!!!
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