Journalists or Con-artists?

Career

I am currently a first year journalism student at Rhodes University and after studying the Journalism and Media Studies course this year and learning what journalism really is have come to the conclusion that this is not a career well suited for me. With the modernisation of society, technology is playing a vital role in journalism and I do not appreciate or wish to associate with the complications of technology. This may seem extremely ironic as by posting on this blog I am using technology to express my journalistic views, however this is a requirement of my Journalism course that drives me to frustration; you could call me a hippie form the 60’s teleported into the future of technology still grasping the concept of a globally connected world.

In this new age I have come to realise that journalists have very little control over what they can write and what is published; they have very little freedom of speech. Institutions decide that which will be published and that which will remain hidden therefore I don’t see much point in becoming a journalist as I did back in my world where the point of journalism was to uncover the truth with objective writing allowing the audience to form their own opinions. To my disappointment I have learnt that objective writing is nearly impossible because it is extremely difficult to remove your own opinions and bias completely, this is just another reason why I do not wish to become a journalist and influence others to adopt my own bias (or those of the institutions) without them even noticing; back in my world this work was left to the con-artists.

As a group our aim of this blog is to provide a platform for journalistic expression and to incorporate all our unique and sometimes conflicting personalities and opinions in our posts. We also hope for our blog to serve as a platform for inspired journalists to gather new refreshing ideas and opinions on the world of journalism. My aim is to evoke responses with my writing and part take in discussions and debates with others who have their own opinions.

I am extremely happy that I have found myself learning about this world of journalism because now it is clear in my head that I do not have what it takes to become a journalist, I have never been one to keep up to date with new innovations and I certainly do not wish to pounce on the unsuspected reader and influence their thoughts with my inability to remove my bias or escape the restrictions of news institutions. I’m just glad to finally see the elimination of my choice of career has begun.