reflection on Frontier Radio podcasting

In general, I think that the stories pitched by our agency were good ideas and related well to our agency document. My story pitches on the other hand I was not all that pleased with. I should have given myself more time to find stories instead of rushing and pitching two stories that sounded more like advertisements. In the end, a good story was suggested to me which was a lifesaver!
I was pleased with the sources that our agency used in their news pieces. An effort to hear the voices of everyday people was made. For the voting story, it was nice to hear the opinions of the voters and the angle that was taken (on special votes) was a refreshing one. Along with this, it was nice to see a story headline that can be associated with the news value ‘good news’.
Although there was only one person appointed as a techie in our podcast group, we were in need of at least 2. So the production manager helped out in that department. I think, next time round, instead of having two production managers there should be two techies appointed. This way, the job of recording and getting levels right will be less stressful. The other aspect of our agency that I would hope to improve on is our communication. I say this with regards to being aware of what stories our group members are covering. It’s important so as to make sure we don’t end up doing similar stories and so that we are able to broadcast a number of different stories in our podcast.

Audio Blogs man... Audio blogs

This whole Podcast thing is pretty cool. watch this space!
*Peace

Objection to Objectivity

As a student of journalism we are constantly reminded, drilled rather, about the need to keep objective- to practice the art of objectivity. Never mind the fact that this is often near impossible to do it is also something I find difficult to understand. In first year we were told that as journalists we are the watchdogs of society, keeping an eye out for an opportunity to, say, expose a corrupt government decision. This would be considered our responsibility. On the other hand, objectivity rules out the idea of responsible reporting. I say this because practicing objective reporting means gathering statements from those in charge, people in power, in order to gain greater perspective on the issue at hand. Theodore Glasser in a short and concise article about objectivity illustrates the bias found in objective reporting, this bias being in favour of leaders and officials, prominent and elite. “Objective journalism almost always favours Establishment positions and exists not least to avoid offense to them.” I am perplexed. This is what I’m talking about in my previous post- journalism is so complicated! So many sneaky aspect I wasn’t aware of!
Besides that, does the need to remain objective mean that as journalists we are, as Glasser also points out, stripped of our creativity and imagination? Objectivity, something initiated in order to make the whole news process efficient, is now a professional standard. This step towards efficiency was also a step towards reporters distancing themselves from the substance of what they reported.
But then again, at the end of the day I think about the fact that the consumers of news have the right to know both sides of the story. And this is supposedly what objectivity strives for. So ultimately, it would seem that I have a rather confused philosophy regarding objectivity. But, should I be forced to take a side, I would say that in an ideal world journalists would have the freedom to write unreservedly and passionately instead of regurgitating facts.

To Bjourn or not to Bjourn?

I could rattle off about all the reasons why i want to be a journalist. I love to write, Im always intrested in keeping up to date with the world today, I'm passionate about letting the truth be known, perhaps I'm even intent on making the world a better place. but I would be lying if I said that all or any of the above are the reasons for my desicion to study Jounalism.
I could however put it down to one thing and it's not nearly as 'deep' as the above mentioned reasons. It was a day spent at Radio 702 in my grade 11 year that sparked my interest in the field of radio journalism. Next thing I knew, my mind was made up and i was enroled at Rhodes to study a Bjourn.
My idea of what journalism was all about slowly changed through years of media studies and small attention to detail that I was so happily oblivious to. nevertheless, I'm still on the Radio Journalism track despite constantly questioning my ability to master the various arts involved. Lets see how it goes!