In a world of tabloids and sensationalist reporting it’s no wonder journalism is no longer the highly regarded trade it once was.
In the old days, i.e. when people didn’t buy papers just to see Britney Spears get out of a car sans underwear, journalists worked to keep government, parastatals and businesses honest.
Visit www.journaids.org, the HIV/AIDS and the Media Project's website, which aims to support journalists writing about the challenging subject of HIV/AIDS
In fact an involved and informed Fourth Estate (the media) is seen as a necessary component of any functioning democracy. By holding people accountable for their actions, the media is able to exert pressure on those in positions of power to behave with integrity. Of course, in order for this to be a legitimate and effective role, journalists need to adhere to certain ethics. They can’t, for example, take bribes, report just one side of a story, or allow their own prejudices to interfere with the facts of a story.
Journalists were seen as necessary to keep the “powers that be” in check by reporting on their activities. Some notable recent South Africa journalism in this regard would be the reporting on the arms deal and on various members’ of Parliament recent exorbitant vehicle purchases. It is probably this constant contact with society’s underbelly that gives many older journalists an air of uncaring cynicism. They have, often, “seen it all”.
However, times have changed. According to College Crunch, an online college resource, journalists are number nine on a top 10 list of the least trusted professions, which includes policemen (at 10), celebrities (eight), handymen (seven), agents/managers (six), telemarketers (five), lawyers (four), mechanics (three), politicians (two) and used-car salesmen (one).
It’s for this reason that we, as journalists, do a little dance of joy when one of our clients, the HIV/AIDS and the Media Project, offers fellowships for journalists “to do in-depth work on the role of the media in the HIV pandemic in South Africa”.
The fellowships, which are supported by the Wits University Journalism Programme and Anova Health Institute, in partnership with the USAID/Johns Hopkins University Programme in South Africa, will encourage this round of fellows to focus particularly on how the media portrays the role of men with regards to issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
While there are undoubtedly media in South Africa and around the world which live up to a code of ethics that qualifies them as part of the Fourth Estate (rather than the ambulance-chasing, soft-porn type that has earned the trade such mistrust), what makes this particular fellowship so encouraging is that the chosen fellows will be providing feedback to journalists on how they report on the role of men in the context of HIV/AIDS.
The intention is to help practising journalists make a difference by adhering to journalism best practice while becoming better writers and better communicators.
If you are a journalist who is interested in applying for one of the positions available, send your CV, two pieces of your work, two letters of recommendation and a one-page proposal to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Applications close on January 30, 2010.
For further enquiries, please call 011 715 5828/42.
0 comments // | Journalism | Our Work