#Marikana



Picture sourced from
http://www.google.co.za/imgres?q=lonmin+massacre&um

 


34 killed and 78 injured.  August 16 2012 marks a very sad day in the history books of South Africa.  The Lonmin massacre will remain a raw wound for many lives and families of those directly affected the government and the rest of South Africans who followed the incidents.  A massacre in the name of a wage increase?  Surely this indicates an issue greater than wages.   


The news broke on the news and spread like wild fire on social media.  Many different journalists covered the story including   Cathy Mohlahlana,   Sipho Hlongwane and Carien du Plessis.  On the day the story broke everyone on social networks particularly twitter tweeted about the story with shock and outrage.  The nation was shocked at the drastic response of the SAPS but there were those who sided with the police saying that the miners should not have gone on protests armed with knives and knobkerries.

Sipho Hlongwane who is a columnist for the Daily Maverick tweeted intensively about the massacre on the week. He wrote after President Jacob Zuma announced that he would launch a commission of enquiry into the shooting,  “The commission should specifically establish who authorized the use of live ammunition on the striking workers, within the context of how the SA Police Service managed violent strikes.”  He had strong commentary that was published in the Daily Maverick.

Carien du Plesis, a reporter for the City Press did not report as much about lonmin as Sipho Hlongwane however she did tweet a lot about it. Her tweets can be found in the attached print screen attached.

Cathy Mohlahlane is an award winning broadcast journalist who now reports for eNCA.  She tweeted and also covered the story for the e news channel.

Workers and Lonmin mine s still have not come to any agreement. Talks between relevant stakeholders continue.

 

 

The Power of Journalists decentralised?

‘… when major events occur, the public can offer us as much new information as we are able to broadcast to them. From now on, news coverage is a partnership.’ This was said by Richard Sambrook and he was also quoted on the BBC website.

The concept of citizen journalism has forcefully gotten most professional journalists off their comfortable chairs in the newsroom and caused them to take note.  This is especially true for print media. Gone are the days where you read yesterdays news today. When there is a press conference or an important news event happening anywhere in the world, people no longer have to wait for reports to come out in the morning edition of the paper or the evening news.  The power is now in the beholder of a smartphone or the simplest camera.  The public can now tweet or facebook about news as they unfold. 

This phenomenon has however caused quite a stir in the industry, many people have praised the rise of citizen journalism and others have condemned and questioned the credibility of the content.  New media has become a threat to newspapers but it is not entirely bad.  When the power to report is in the hands of the public you’re serving you burst open your horizon.   You’re no longer dependant on a few sources but on many, though you cannot control when and how the news is disseminated.  Yes, newspaper readership and circulation has declined drastically over the years which as a result knocks the profit and caused the increase in advertorials in newspapers.  But one would argue that such is the nature of all types of businesses.  There will come a time when threats occur in the form of competition and you face the danger of either upgrading or being irrelevant and eventually out of business.  I feel that people who are strongly opposed to citizen journalism do not have the interests of the public as a priority. 

A simple definition of News according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary is ‘new information about something that has happened recently.  Citizen Journalism cripples the monopoly in the hands a few news publications that determine what is newsworthy for consumers as well as agenda setting.   If one fails to realise that through new media people are able to communicate stories that affect them directly and in a language that they understand best than it is safe to question their motives for being in the industry. 

Richard Sambrook as quoted above states that from now on, news coverage is a partnership. And so it should be. Citizen Journalism allows media practitioners to know what interests the public, joins communities and gives professionals news from the reader’s point of view.

That was just baaaaaaaaaad!

I just sat through an hour of sheer torture. Intonjana is a traditional Xhosa play that went on for what felt like hours and hours... *all for the love of art, or what resembles art*. The show was about the ritual of bringing a Xhosa girl into Intonjana (a female initiate) through dance, music and indigenous movement.  The play began with a brief segment of dialogue followed by howling and stomping that, with proper directing could have been been cut to a couple of minutes instead of an unbearable hour.  My mind began to wonder, naturally and thought, well maybe I'm just not the target market, but then again last night I watched another show, physical theatre which was new to me but because it was so beautifully executed I simply loved it.

Ok, it wasn't all bad. At some stage though, the performing group did show talent when they eventually changed the dance moves.  That was a classic case of raw, undirected talent.  *the pain we endure*

SuperMav3riQ trades in her cape for a scarf and a warm jacket and heads for the Arts Festival

I. LOVE. YOU.

I. LOVE. YOU.

Cuts through the wall of ‘I DON’T CARE’

Melts the iron gate of ‘I am strong’

Shatters the glass of ‘you are not wanted’

It slithers through the lies of ‘well you don’t really mean it’

It just demolishes the walls, bounds and fences built over the years to protect…

I. LOVE. YOU

Reverses the curse of ‘you are not wanted’

The Word of God says life and death are in the tongue

Meaning the wages of words spoken in truth are Life and Confidence for the recipient

They are a promise of hope

A crack of dawn

The fall of rain in times of drought

Or assurance when in doubt

I. LOVE. YOU

Moves the mountains that lie ahead of you

I. LOVE. YOU

Is a reminder that your suffering was not in vain

I. LOVE. YOU

Is that crack which light seeps through in your deepest darkest darkness

*WAIT*

HANG ON…

(PAUSE)

Does I. LOVE. YOU mean so much because it means much or does it mean much because I want it to mean much?

Maybe I’m just desperate for I. LOVE. YOU that I turned an anthill into a mountain

Of course ladies and gentlemen

That was the voice of doubt

A voice so familiar to my spirit

It questions EVERYTHING that is good, any speck of positive there is, it diminishes and at times it quenches what little spark of happy there is.   And here it is again questioning whether I. LOVE. YOU came from a place that is true.

And as usual I stopped to think and question and wonder. . .

What if?

What if?

What if you did not mean it when you said I. LOVE. YOU?

Then this time I was like @#%* it…

Even if it didn’t mean much, it did to me.

You see, I’ve not only read I. LOVE. YOU on my facebook wall but

I’ve seen it in your eyes,  I’ve heard it in your voice, I’ve felt it in your embrace, I’ve sensed it in your smile,

Above all I know it by your actions

So actually, you’ve been spelling I. LOVE. YOU in my life one letter at a time and now it’s engraved in my heart

From me to you . . .

I. LOVE. YOU!

Celebrity is Overrated

                                          My younger sister once barged into my room half elated and the other half was annoyed.  I gave her the 'child get to the point or walk out' loo k with my eyebrow twitched.  "Yoh guess what..."  They had just come from Maponya mall with her friend.  They were in a certain store and suddenly the world come to a sudden halt, *background music*, in walked Connie Masilo Ferguson and her husband Shona Ferguson.  The thrill in her voice as she told me this was enough to give me a rush for "days".  They went up to the couple and said hello.  "Shona is so nice hey, he spoke to us" she told me, but her face changed when she spoke about Connie or Karabo as she referred to her.  "She is soo rude".  For the first time in this conversation I stood up and listened eagerly waiting to hear what the great Karabo Moroka had done wrong.  "She just said hi and walked past.  She didn't even talk to us".  *blank stare*  I tried to play devil's advocate and told her that "well maybe she was in a hurry, or she was busy or..." but her mind was made.  Karabo Moroka is rude and there was nothing I could say to convince her otherwise.

We often confuse what people are famous for with who they really are.  And when you finally meet them and they do not meet your expectations or hear something that is out of character according to the romantic perception you had about them, you feel offended.  The older you become (this of course is in reference to my younger sister), you will have different types of relations with people and will at some stage realise (hopefully) that there is a big difference between the great work that people do and who they really are.  Whether it's celebrities, teachers/lecturers or just that cool guy in your class who always gets straight A's. 

 

She is sixteen now and apart from the hopes of meeting Justine Bieber and being cast in the next High School Musical, she is a little less gullible.  She has learned that great singer doesn't mean great person. 

Friend or fan?

We have to understand that people are in our lives for different reasons.  We seem to know that in theory but it baffles us in reality. Or it baffles me rather.  I have come to learn (countless times) that there are people who love me for who I am and those who love me for what I can do.  As soon as one decides to tone down on even or stop whatever it is they love about you. I kid you not, on top of the historic disappearances they are about to make, they will first look at you with great disappointment as if you promised them something. And then the classic change of direction as soon as you come their way, well maybe not that dramatic but you get the picture right?

When you love someone for what they have then you're a parasite correct?  When you love someone for what they can do then you're a fan right? and if you love someone for who they are then you're a friend, or lover, or parent or or or...

So I guess it's on you to identify who is who in your life.  Although at times fans might come in the form of friends, there are seasons in your life where everything that is not true to YOU whithers away.