J-School summary

(1). The writer of the blog is Patrick Thornton.
(2). In his blog article titled “Let’s be honest about J-school”, Patrick Thornton opts to inform his readers of the pro’s and con’s of attending journalism school, and is true to his title by being honest about why it is not as glamorous a job as is often depicted. He plainly states that students who are not open to change, and will not work hard and get their hands dirty are not suitable to be journalists.
Thornton divides his article into sub headings that each have their own criticisms (whether constructive or not) and comments that support his claims, such as Columbia having been a ‘top-ranked’ Journalism school many years ago, but not being one anymore. He says that J-school is not enough to encourage students to start their own ventures and become entrepreneurs, and that the networking is not the only thing one would benefit from whilst attending Columbia.
His subsequent sub heading, called “Professors matter”, has Thornton personally naming and honouring professors at various institutions (Journalism schools), and he emphasizes the importance of a professor who wants to encourage positive change in the media sphere, and appreciates all web-related aspects of journalism. Thornton adds that a professor who can write valuable blogs is also an advantage.
Thornton then goes on to stress the importance of having an undergraduate degree, whether it is one in journalism or not. He states the benefits of attending J-school as either an undergraduate or graduate, and when one should consider attending either of the two.
Under his “Connections” sub heading, Thornton highlights the source of his connection and network-building as being his blogs, and other journalism websites, as opposed to J-school as one would assume. He also attributes his successful connections to journalism social events and parties. To some extent, he plainly disregards J-school as a site for connections to be made.
As alternative learning options such as gaining writing and research skills, Thornton suggests that students sign up for (sometimes free) journalism courses and sites that would cost a fraction of what obtaining a degree would. In effect they have similar benefits.
In his concluding section, “Writing skills are overrated”, Thornton emphasizes that a good journalist is not one who has excellent writing skills, but rather outstanding reporting skills and is thus an excellent reporter. He merely says that “No amount of great writing will cover up for shoddy reporting. Never.”


Semenya blog response:
"I think that there is some justification in the speculation of Semenya’s gender, as I was even taken aback when I saw her masculine image for the first time, running amidst fellow female women athletes. However, the way the IAAF has handled the situation has been morally demeaning and embarrassing, and could have been done discreetly at a later stage."

Blogger Questionnaire

QUESTION 1
Blog 1. Blogger(s): Sarah Britten, Bilal Randaree, Robin Booth, Bernard Allen, Coenraad Bezuidenhout, Sentletse Diakanyo, Llewellyn Kriel.
Site owner: Mail & Guardian Online
Writer(s): Robin Booth
Blog 2. Blogger(s): Anjana Ahuja
Site owner: Times Online
Writer(s): Anjana Ahuja
Blog 3 a. Blogger(s): Paul Rees, Jonathan Wilson, Laurence Booth, Paul Wilson, Maurice Hamilton, Duncan Fletcher, Andy Bull.
Site owner: Guardian.co.uk
Writer(s): David Conn
Blog 3 b. Blogger(s): Daryl, football365, Naeem, Andreas.
Site owner: World Cup Blog
Writer(s): Daryl
Blog 4 a. Blogger(s): Anthony Kaufman
Site owner: Indiewire blog network
Writer(s): Anthony Kaufman
Blog 4 b. Blogger(s): Sujewa Ekanayake
Site owner: Indie film blogger road trip
Writer(s): Sujewa Ekanayake
QUESTION 2
Sujewa Ekanayake is a colourful, witty character, who portrays himself as an outspoken, humorous guy, which comes across clearly in his writing. He claims that he “generally rocks’, which adds an egocentric dynamic to his personality. As a “maker of delightful movies”, he is fanatical about all things Indie, specifically the movies he produces and reviews. He is a suitable blog writer candidate, as he is not inhibited in his quest to show himself to the world, his real self, through his writing. Sujewa Ekanayake is simply a blogging artist, through and through.

censorship and freedom of expression in new media

Coetzee is accurate in his description of how a writer is ‘dehumanised’ in a sense, when his writing is scrutinized by others, and altered in such a way that the very essence of that person’s ‘voice’ is stripped to the core, and so “the system is a diabolical device for annihilating your own soul”. This relentless process of taking away what should be heard is commonly known as censorship, and is a ritual in many countries where government regimes are strict in their privacy policies, and strive to maintain power by silencing the media and general public on issues that are usually open to debate and opposition by all.

One such country is Iran, which has been overwhelmed by the government’s need for news coverage, especially with regard to the recent elections, to be censored and screening of the subsequent protests to be blocked by local and international broadcasters. What has to be kept in mind is that the government itself is subject to appeal to a higher authority for advice and other concerns, and Ayatollah Khatami is the religious leader of the country who is the person who has the final say regarding all government decisions, since Iran is a staunch Islamic country and therefore abides to religious laws above state laws. In hierarchal terms, religion comes first, state laws second. In other words, what the Ayatollah says goes and no one may contest his decisions.

The main limitation of state censorship in Iran is that its control is being compromised by technology and forms of new media, such as the micro-blogging site ‘Twitter’, which has allowed coverage of the post-election protests to be sent via mobile phones regardless of attempts at censoring its broadcast to other nations. Despite government’s efforts to stop ‘Twitter’ and ‘Facebook’ traffic, they and even Ayatollah Khatami have no control over what is said via these channels of news transmission, and Frederick Lane states in his article; ‘Twitter Plays Critical Role In Iran Election Coverage’ that “the Electronic Frontier Foundation's John Gilmore once famously said that "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it." The tweeting in Iran is a case in point, as messages are passed by circuitous routes in an effort to evade the government's blocking efforts.”
Another limitation is that of the influence of freedom movements, particularly ARTICLE 19, which “is an independent human rights organisation that works around the world to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.” This organization has posted many articles on freedom of speech and its violations, and the extract above is taken from an article entitled; ‘Iran: Escalation of Attacks and Censorship after Elections’, which requests that Iran unblocks Iranian’s access to local and international media and news coverage. These limitations are effective in assisting the general public to voice their opinions, and with these forms of new media they can now avert the government’s endeavors to silence them.

With regard to Dave Carroll’s song in response to his expensive guitar being damaged by a baggage handler as a result of United Airline’s poor service delivery, his choice to broadcast it over the internet whilst using YouTube as a means of doing so has earned him substantial recognition and praise for voicing his concerns regarding the conduct of the Airline after having complained to them about the incident. Although some blamed him rather than the Airline for negligence, most comments made were in favour of him and furthermore contended that United Airlines’ service is indeed pitiable. One comment made even stated that; “It just goes to show that, Youtube can be a powerful tool in solving some of today’s problems with businesses. :) I just may have to do the same thing.”


As opposed to Dave Carroll’s musical out lash, Amanda Bonnen was ridiculed and even faced a lawsuit from the Horizon Group Management Company, after having complained about them to ‘millions’ on ‘Twitter’, and hence ‘defaming’ their name. In her tweet she apparently blamed them for something of which they had no control over. Although her response was mostly negative, her message was in effect carried across and heard by more than she would have liked. In essence, these ‘new media’ forms have assisted these people in raising a point and voicing their concerns, with masses hearing their plea and responding to it. This would not have been possible with older media forms as their complaints would first be filtered down many divisions before ultimately reaching the intended recipient, who would then decide whether or not to respond to the accusations or complaints. With these new media forms, they have no choice but to react in their defense, since potentially millions of people will be monitoring the situation. The accused and complainant’s freedom of speech has thus violated and defamed the parties on the receiving end, and action is taken as a result.

In retaliation, I conclude that the defamed may choose to fight back and sue the ‘violator’, as in Amanda Bonnen’s case. This would help them save face and protect their company’s name, as they are willing to protest in court against the accusations made by the complainant. In Dave Carroll’s instance, however, the United Airlines representative chose to apologise and set up a meeting to “make it right”, which was their way of admitting guilt and attempting to save what was left of their damaged reputation. Hence, depending on the context of the situation, the defamed may either choose to legally fight against what has been said about them to defend their name, or apologise and make up for their lack of regard for the complainant. In this way, the defamed must respond accordingly to have the injury to their (good) name repaired.