WALK THE TALK;REVIEW

On the 2nd of June MTN and Talk Radio 702 held their annual walk the talk fun walk/run. And as usual the event was packed with seasoned and new enthusiastic fans of the event. The event was of course a roaring success but the best was yet to come and the show was just beginning.

After the run, "suited" star and idols runner up Shekinah took to the stage to entertain the crowd, and boy were they entertained. The singer performed hits from her certified platinum album "rose gold" such as her single "back to the beach" and she had the crowd singing along to her latest hit single, "suited."

Looking at her performance its no wonder the 24 year old is doing so well. Her powerful and unique voice, and her music as well as her stage presence are that of a star. It was beautiful to see her perform with a live band and listen to her voice sound just as hood if not better than through the radio. There's nothing more disappointing than watching a winded performer but at thiswith Shekhinah expect none of that.
If you weren't there you missed out, but it's not too late for you yet, this star's light is just beginning you still have plenty opportunity to see the wonder that is she on stage.

April 27 1994 saw the first all inclusive general election  in South African history and in 2019 we'll be heading to our seventh, what a milestone! This was a day of euphoria and exhilaration, a day that many had died fighting in order for it to be possible and millions of our country's citizens were a part of it, from the youngest to the oldest, I wasn't there but I'm sure even those who couldn't legally participate stuck around to witness history in the makingg.

Fast forward twenty four years later, six elections under the belt, its not that exciting. Its just another day in South Africa and not nearly as many people are eager to participate as shown by the decrease of voter turnouts over the tears, especially among the youth. Apathy was long thought to be the reason behind our youths non-willingness to participate, but according to a 2016 study by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) this so-called apathy is the youth's disillusionment with the country's current political landscape. In the 2014 general elections, voter registration among would-be first time voters, 18 and 19 year olds was a measly 33%, well below the 73% average.
In the registration weekend of 10 and 11 march 2018, a total of 26, 160, 680 people registered to vote and only 219, 451 of those are first time voters.

I spoke to some would be first time voters in my community of Zonkizizwe and only 1 in three registers to vote in the next general election. An alarming number to say the least.

The reasons behind their seemingly, disinterested attitude vary between, corruption and unemployment and even the petrol price. The country is in crisis and our "leaders of tomorrow" have list faith in our current leadership and the parties they belong to.

According to an article on the SABC website, close to 500 parties will be contesting this years elections. Most of these parties are small and their agenda mostly revolves around local or regional issues not matters of national relevance.

One thing is for certain though, if these parties especially the ruling party and main oppositions want to get the young voters behind them, they need to change their approach in how they relate to the youth and address issues that concern them especially unemployment and education.

https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://youthexplorer.org.za/profiles/province-GT-gauteng/&grqid=ir7D-sSl&s=1&hl=en-ZA
https://googleweblight.com/i?u=https://issafrica.org/about-us/press-releases/new-study-reveals-reasons-for-low-voter-turnout-among-sa-youth&hl=en-ZA

Youth day, a whole new struggle awaits

                    Youth day 1976

                      Youth day now

This past weekend South Africa celebrated the 42nd anniversary of the youth uprising in 1976 in their fight against the many injustices the apartheid government imposed on the black people, the much inferior education system of Bantu education as well as the lack of qualified educators, the last straw being for them, the making of Afrikaans a medium of instruction in black schools.

Their fight and their struggle has been talked of for many years in our country but the message seems to have been lost in translation somewhere down the line because the youth of today, well aware that blood was spilled, innocent blood, on this day in order for them to enjoy these rights that they so constantly boas of, use this day to drink and be merry.  Worst of all, they do this while attired in their school uniforms.

The struggles if the youth of '76 were a struggle for better education, fair education, a right that on paper we may enjoy but on ground level,  not so much. How can we say our education is freedom worthy when our education system us ranked amongst the lowest in the world.https://www.google.co.za/search?q=sa+education+ranking&oq=sa+education+ra&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l3.9839j0j4&client=ms-android-mobiwire&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8  How can we when those that fight for us to get free tertiary education are now in jails and out of school, not enjoying the benefits of their struggle.

To top it off, those of us who do get an education are stuck unemployed, with no prospects. How can this be as we celebrate the creation of 144 000 jobs, yet the number of people looking for jobs is at 43 000? Our youth, and government have a long way to go before the struggle is over. We cannot afford to get education, yet when we try, our efforts are in vain.

Youth day '76 Facts

1. More than 500 youth, mostly under 23 died
2. Hector Pieterson is believed to have been the second victim after Hastings Ndlovu
3. Sam Nzima took the photograph well known to depict the events of that day
3. Some of the irgainwsers such as Tsietsi Mashinini's whereabouts are unknown to this day after fleeing the country due to pressure from the police to find and arrest them
4. Youth day, lasted longer than one day and took place in not just Soweto

Sources

Heraldlive.co.za
Teaveller24

The "twitterisation" of investigative journalism

I was asked to answer these following questions in a blog post: so brace yourselves, here is my two cents worth

As the social media movement has taken over the country, it is only right and smart and most certainly productive to be part of these "communities". I am a tweep, a facebook fan and also I am active on google+. some of these sites get more attention than others but I try to maintain a strong presence on all of them. And like any convenience loving citizen,I am active also on Whatsapp and the apparently now outdated Mxit. And I  must say, I love the latter. i not only get to communicate with my friends, family and sources but I also have access to apps such as Bookly and bsmnart. both platforms that any self respecting journalist needs. they not only help with reading material but they also provide one with the platform to express themselves in writing, thus honing your skill, but...I digress.  

Social media  is any and everybody's best friend, as a journalist one has sources that they try to keep in touch with on a regular basis, and what easier and more convenient way to stay in contact than on say...whatsapp for instance? These sites provide us with an easy, quick, cheap and convenient mode of communication. at times I am too busy to answer a call or I am far away from my land line...but i am guaranteed to check my timeline every now and again or my inbox. this way, sources know that whatever they have to share with me I will see.

Just as with a regular media house, printing incorrect or unverified information has consequences, so it is very important that one doesn't forget their role. even though your social media accounts are yours and are run independently from your media house, your reputation is all you have at the end of the day. and as the saying goes, you are only as good as your last story is not clichéd, but true. Nobody will want to work with a journalist reputed to broadcast unverified and false information, hence it is important to not only use verified and trusteed sources and to double and maybe even triple check any and all information that you may get. 

social media participants are very opinionated and sooner or later some people will either disagree with your posts or views or even oppose them and when they do, they will react. It is important that you keep your cool and do not allow yourself to be drawn into what the twitter universe has termed, "twars",they have a way of getting out  hand. It is necessary that you consider those posts that are critical but not hateful, and you handle them with grace. those that are personal attacks on your character or nature are best left ignored because they are the ones that will get out of hand and land you in an undesirable position especially as a media practitioner. 

There you have it folks...my truth on the twitterisation of investigative journalism 

SUMMER LOVE

I wonder how it is that the dumbest things you do, are the most defining factors of your life. right now I did the most selfish thing anyone in a relationship can do and somehow, I don't even feel bad about. now, what does that make me?


 it's not like all the bad things we do make us bad people but when you start going numb to right and wrong then you best believe you are totally on the right track to being fucked up 4 sho

REALLY NOW?

Okay, I understand that when something you don't aggree with occurs, it's all you can do to stand up against it. but the TUT SRC seem to take it to a whole new other level. yep if you know TUT, you bet all you have on it, ANOTHER STRIKE.

now I don't have a problem with them "fighting for their rights" but to disrupt class activities while at it is something else, esp. since I pay a lot of money to get the education and to come to campus in the first instance.

Amazingly enough, during last years election everyone campaigning claimed that if voted for, they would end PASMA's culture of strikes, and they were voted for and guess what? another strike is on already, a second one to be exact.

assignment on media websites

media24

The media24 website is a very good website in my opinion. It has good multimedia links such as videos, slideshows and blogs. It’s also very simple and user friendly, with easy and quick navigation. The website has all the latest news stories, sports and pictures.

With regards to the blogs, it’s easy for users to post comments quick and easy without too much waiting time before seeing if your comment has been added or not. There is a choice of accounts you can post your comments on therefore making it easy to share your comment with the rest of your social network conglomerate. 

Also the website itself looks very interesting and lively with pictures and such. Instead of just having the dry facts with different headlines and texts.

IOL

What I found with this website is that it is very blend and boring. It has no pictures and the first thing that you see when you access the website is the different headlines. It only has dry facts with nothing to make it any interesting.

The website also has no multimedia uses of any kind (no blogs, pictures nor videos). It allows for no interaction therefore, between the user and the organization.

What it does though is give you the news in a nutshell and quickly.

SOWETAN LIVE

This for me has to be the best SA News website. Firstly its lively, welcoming and catchy. It has headlines of all kinds and stories, from shwashwi to breaking news and world news.

You want to know what’s going on in your world and even in the lives of your favorite celebrities; SOWETAN LI VE is your website.

It has useable multimedia including blogs. It has simple and quick navigation from one page or story to the next. Has user-friendly material and the fact that it does stories on the simple guy next door also makes it a luckier bet than any other.

URL’s

1.       http//www.sowetanlive.co.za

2.       http//www.iol.com

3.       http//www.media24.co.za