TruthAboutLies101

In the blog planning process, the most important thing that had to be considered was the genre that would carry us through the whole term. The blog had to be a genre that we all agreed upon. The type of genre we could all relate to, in order for us to write articles about. Deciding didn’t take long at all, being a group of four charismatic and (secretly) cheeky girls our blog would suit all our personalities combined. I must admit that even I had to take a step out if the box. Starting with our catch phrase “We’re not feminists, just anti-idiots, hypocrites and idealists” we revealed our slightly tongue-in-cheek attitude. Sitting in the basement of the library, four seemingly shy and reserved girls with a blog so dense in attitude we discussed how to proceed.

First term Journalism was quite a shock to the system. In the first week of term as Rod Amner briefly went through all the assignments due I was having ‘miniature heart palpitations’. In an extreme panic I become an RUConnected junkie, I was as dedicated as a coke addict in rehab. Strangely enough, as I sit today in room 34 John Kotze and reflect, I find many similarities between this term and the first; not only in course content but in the way the lectures are executed. It led me to wonder if there was a manual for lecturers that gave step by step instructions to handling first years: Shock the first years in the beginning, all their assignments require them to dig deep into their souls and wrench out the darkest memories and emotions and so it would continue... If you haven’t had some heart-wrenching history your story doesn’t make the cut although every Journalism lecturer begins with the line “Everyone has a story”. Something I realised in the late stages of the year was that the ‘best’ are usually the ‘bad’. By bad I mean out of the box, shocking, emotional and controversial. This is reminiscent of the Oscars, rarely do the ‘soft and sweet’ movies win, it’s generally those whereby the character had to make some dramatic transformation, gain weight, look dreadfully unappealing and play a psychotic murdering lunatic. I do understand however that this sort of genre is appealing to the relevant audience, it’s the “Oh my God she dared to say that” factor that gets people talking. The reason I mention this is because it’s one of the difficulties I’ve encountered this term, thinking “What’s the most emotionally riveting story in my life that I could tell” but what I realised too is a quote that popped up on the overhead in a lecture, “There are no dull stories, only dull writers”. This resonated with me as it posed a slight challenge to my writing skills.

Our blogging genre seemed like the perfect forum to express ourselves fully, the problem was although the chosen genre was a group discussion, even for me it was really ‘out-there’, displaying extreme confidence in every aspect from the letter to the comic strip. It was an exhilarating feeling though, speaking out, becoming adventurous and knowing the responsibility of being held accountable through the comments which were made in response to the posts – my hand in the ‘cookie jar”. The group work was highly beneficial, we were able to gather ideas quickly and bounce off each others’ train of thought’. Working in a group here at University is fairly difficult as you’re not all doing the same subject at the same time so it becomes harder to get together. This is something you learn to adjust to and the way you really learn about time-management. We did however hit a creativity block with the comic strip; the genre was to be satirical and tongue-in-cheek. We debated around certain ideas that could have been extremely controversial such as suicide, perhaps not appropriate to mock suicide when it’s such as serious matter. Although, then you get cartoonists like Zapiro who continuously mock serious issues to make a point, then again we are just students. This also however leads on the genre of blogging as a whole as well as citizen journalism and new media. Everyone can blog, by the virtue of that fact everyone can make a controversial comic, professional or not. We openly discussed this in out tutorials, despite the fact that our tutor had initially divided us up into smaller groups to discuss whether or not blogging is journalism it turned into a class debate with opening and closing speeches (a bit dramatic) but undeniably fun. I knew I was going to love blogging from the moment I logged onto RUConnected during the September holidays and saw some of the readings already waiting for us. I still love blogging and will continue with it as I want to specialise in New Media.

Blogging in JMS I felt was highly beneficial not only to those hoping to specialize in it but for all students in general. Computer literacy has become of extreme importance and blogging in particular is a way to get your news to the world. Interacting with a global audience as the world becomes more intertwined is the way forward. As a result of the audience being so wide and not just for your tutors’ eyes it made me pay that extra special attention to detail. Subconsciously you wanted everything to be perfect. Dealing with sources as well was a challenge as you would have to explain firstly that all the information was going to be placed for the viewing of practically anybody. This could have in some way constrained the interviewee from giving too much information in fear of judgement or criticism. Despite the fact that blogs are easily accessible for anyone to partake in, it should in my opinion be considered Journalism. Within blogging, you’re engaging with people all over the world, therefore you should provide them with factual information, even if it’s an opinion piece the facts in the article should be based on a real event. However there are those who make comments without knowing the full background, this can be dangerous but then again some could argue that the point of blogging is to get more individuals involved in global affairs, this includes amateurs. I most definitely stepped out of my shell for the process of blogging and to reciprocate the idea of our blog genre. As journalists you write for the people, therefore to target them the stories must be appealing to their needs and desires. People like shock and drama but obviously at the same time stories must be credible, authentic and real.

Lotsa Love
Khatija