So I arrive to the final term of my journalism degree expecting to do the mundane things that I’ve been doing throughout my years of study only to be met by a big bang! Explosion in fact...and by no means am I exaggerating! Top up approaches to producing stories have now been turn upside down and all of a sudden instead of relying upon institutional values of news production that have been ingrained in my psyche for the past three years, I’m now introduced to a philosopher called Tanni Haas, who shares his own philosophy to public journalism. Like what the f#@%k I think for a second. I’m now expected to apply a bottom up approach to finding a story. One where I rely on the community in which I am based to dictate what should be regarded as news worthy. I mean, me...an aspiring journalist whose been indoctrinated with the hierarchy of values that define what story is worth telling. Scandal, Celebrity, Politics,Economics...and so the list goes on. But I regard myself as a person who is always willing to try news things. So the notion of a community based approach to journalism seems not too bad.
Enter the Little Flower Day Care Centre, the story in Extension 7of Joza, a location in Grahamstown that regards itself worthy of being told. I mean, with the founder being a mother and daughter who use their RDP house to keep kids from loitering in the streets, teach their recruits the basics concerning reading and writing and the essentials of potty training at the mere expense of plus minus R80 a month, why shouldn’t it be told. Right? Well maybe! Because all of a sudden, I am thrown in to a position of greater accountability, vulnerability and responsibility. Up until this point in my journey of journalism I have never felt such a great force propelling me to not only tell the story but enact a change in the situation of my sources. Lungi Mtwala, the founder of the Little Flower Day Care Centre was doing a great job in investing in the future of the future generation. But no man is an island and everyone needs help. Help, fortunately for me and my partner, the lovely photographer Miss Sarah Couch is what we were able to give her. We met with the regional manager of Pick and Pay, Grahamstown and organised a trolley of food that will be delivered to her once a week to help her feed her 60 troops at the nursery school. Further more, we organised a Christmas party that Pick and Pay will be sponsoring in the month of November for the Little Flower Day Care Centre.
I am proud of our achievements in listening to a community, identifying a problem and providing a potential solution. However, the vulnerability and accountability that this course has exposed to me has made me realise that I don’t wish to be a social journalist. Sad...but true!!!
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