From the typewriter era to the “click submit” era, the game is still the same









           Photo: Faith Daniels,South African Broadcasting Corp


This ability to easily create and publish content can in some ways create the impression that traditional journalism as we know it is now dispensable.

I worked for a time as a solicitor, a profession which I found stifled all my creativity. I see journalism as a challenging, intelligent profession which will serve to promote and encourage creativity among other things. Dominique Fourie, 26, BA/LLB (Otago), Pg Dip Comm Studies (Journalism)student, AUT

• I wanted to be able to represent individual's voices who may otherwise get overlooked or silenced Courtney Wilson , AUT Journalism

• Its simple, I love sport. What first prompted me to become a journalist was the rugby world cup in Australia, 2003. I was glued to the Television for a week and then began to think how I could get more involved in something like this. How could I make sport into a living? I was never going to be an All Black so the obvious answer was to write about it. Olivia Caldwell, 20, Post graduate journalism student, AUT

• I have a love for the English language mixed with a curiosity for how everyone goes about their lives, so it made sense that journalism was a career that I would follow. I enjoy every process of writing a story - the research, interviewing and getting to know people, figuring out the angle, completing a story and finally seeing it in print - to me it's just gratifying. Leigh Stockton, 24, AUT Journalism student, Third year Bachelor of Communications.

 
In response to the question "What’s your understanding of journalism?"
most of them said or alluded to the fact that journalism as the “Fourth Estate” was vital for any democracy and necessary in holding the wealthy and powerful to account, among other things.

• I believe that it is our job as journalists to inform the general public on all events, issues and persons that directly affect our lives. We are to act as a fourth estate on government issues by providing checks and balances on their parliamentarians’ actions, to report overseas news accurately and write objectively. We are a democratic tool, and so it is not our job to put our opinion on stories that do not require it. Fairness, accuracy and balance are the three pillars that a journalist should live by and hold dear to their heart. Olivia Caldwell, 20, Post graduate journalism student, AUT

To me, journalism should be there to give the little guy a voice and hold people responsible for their actions. I think it should be an outlet to celebrate the good things people do in the world, while also bringing awareness to the bad things people do, therefore give a fair and balanced world view.  Leigh Stockton, 24, AUT Journalism student, Third year Bachelor of Communications

• To me journalism is telling stories and informing people of what is going on in the world. We can't make people care about what is going on in Darfur, but we can show them what is going on, then it is on them to care or not care. Samuel Blackmer, 32, American, senior, studying abroad at AUT

• I think that journalism is about making sure that those in power are held accountable by the public. The public has a right to know if they're being ripped off, or if someone is abusing their power. Journalism is a job that a lot of people find annoying and invasive but without it we would find it very difficult to "watch the watchmen" - this is why I think it is an important job. Siobhan Keogh, 22, Post grad journalism student at AUT

• I've always thought there's a lot of justice in exposing "the bad side" of society/the community. I think the best journalism is when the wider public is informed of something dodgy going on. If doing this makes me rich and famous, that's a bonus. Celeste Gorrell, 3rd year journalism student.

• Journalism documents and thus provides witness to the goings on in a community. That community could be local, regional, national or global. Kim Bowden, 29, Postgraduate journalism student, AUT

Mantra of Journalism is still the same
To further demonstrate the argument that the journalism mantra hasn’t changed with technology, I also sought the opinion of seasoned journalists. Faith Daniels, a journalist and news anchor at the South African Broadcasting Corporation has been a journalist since the early days of the internet. I asked her the same questions I asked the student journalists.

What’s your understanding of journalism

I view Journalism definitely as the public watchdog that is necessary in society- to reflect people back to themselves, to hold those in positions of power accountable, to scrutinise what is in the public interest.Faith Daniels, Journalist, SABC, Johannesburg

Why did you want to be a journalist?

• Definitely not for the money. I suppose Journalism is in the category of the professions you enter because you have a passion, drive and I suppose natural talent for it. Depending on which sphere you enter, it allows you to be creative in so many ways – whether it be the words, pictures, sound you use or whether it is seeing the end product of what could sometimes be days of hard slogging. It almost gives you the sense that it’s many professions in one- you never do the same thing everyday- different people, different setting, different deadlines. Faith Daniels, Journalist, SABC, Johannesburg

Conclusion
My point in this discussion was to demonstrate that the mantra of journalism has not changed with technology. The aspirations of the student journalists I spoke with are no different from those of their predecessors of the pre-internet era. Most importantly, all the people I interviewed could have very well attempted to achieve their journalistic aspirations through any of the many new online and social networking platforms. But they chose professional journalism I’m sure because they know that journalism as a profession still has some currency. Professional journalism is not yet obsolete and has not been substituted by the new forms of online communication on social networking sites.


Related: Definition of a journalist