Knock-knock, whose there? By Caroline King

Caroline King (a.k.a me) is a first-year journalism student at Rhodes University in South Africa (Go Rhodents!) I have lived in this country since I first opened my beady little eyes and am yet to venture off the continent, although I have been to Zambia and Egypt; thanks to my German grandmother who has an addiction to travelling, and took me along with her. Despite not having much first-hand experience with foreign lands, I must say I prefer the thrills and perils and mundane comforts of South African life – the broad spectrum of people that inhabit the country, the amusingly differing cultural heritages that have filtered down the generations, and Bovril, biltong and Mrs Balls chutney. Can’t say that I care much for the crime and politics though – they just cause grey hairs and arguments…

Let it be known that I value wit above almost all else and have an opinion about everything. If I say that I don’t have an opinion about something, then that’s just my diplomatic way of saying that I think something isn’t even worth looking at with a sceptical sideward-glance.

This blog is a group-project for Journalism & Media Studies, but will more importantly be a platform for discussion between journalism students, and of student-related topics that Mpiwa, Mike and I initiate. I aim to please! Entertainment and informing readers of interesting and worthwhile things is my main intention for Firstyearspread.

Journalists (or future journalists as we are now) should be as informed and curious as they have the time and energy to be. Other than being objective and critical, I think we need also to keep a very broad sense of humour in order to deal with various types of people and situations if we carry on to become professional journos. We should actually count ourselves as lucky to be able to look forward to a career where every day will contain something fresh and exciting to tackle. (Unless you plan to work in economic journalism, or are stuck writing obituaries or something… Then I pity you.)

Life as a journ student means that one is constantly on-the-go; there are always readings, written work, or tests etc to keep us busy, but if this is the right path for you, you’ll love it anyway. I must say, journalism is what I’ve planned to do since primary school and so far the first year of varsity hasn’t put me off! The head honcho of horrors that must be faced in tertiary education is deadlines – once you’ve accustomed to that (which I am still mastering) then all should go relatively well.

And on any further Firstyearspread matters – I’ll keep you posted… =)

Together we can!

By Mike Chimhini
As young aspiring journalism students I believe together as a team we can work and shape our future and have a better tomorrow.
Together We Can!
I believe journalism serves many essential functions in a democratic society. As the eyes and ears of society, journalism finds out what is going on in the world beyond people's doors and tells them about it. In doing so, journalism reflects and transmits society's morals. The best journalism promotes public accountability of the powerful and encourages a well-informed citizenry. I also believe that, this should all be done in manner which accommodates everyone as we are all equal members of the society. Journalists have got the keys and the power to change and shape the world both negatively and positively. As a young aspiring journalism student I would love to be part of the driving force for positive change which is why I aim to prosper in this field of study.
On our blog, I aim to provide good writing and effective presentation of news articles which will promote ethical and productive citizens. Since our main audiences are other journalism students around the world through our blog I would love to encourage them to use their journalistic skills in educating the people’s hearts as well as their minds. More so, on our blog I aim to be sensitive and responsive to the needs, concerns, and interests of my audiences but not forgetting that hard news can also be light hearted and enjoyable to read especially to the youth who have been neglected by the form of hard news as they believe it only caters for the muscular audience.
I also aim to promote, maintain and enhance the good reputation of the Rhodes University Journalism Department. I intend doing so by providing constructive, not destructive knowledge to my audiences and I believe this will help build a strong relationship between our blog and our audiences therefore brightening further the future of the Rhodes University Journalism Department.
I also aim to post entertainingly-written versions of current news stories, or as a group our dissections of journalistic books, movies, news reports etc for our readers to attack or probe. We want them to feel inspired to share their thoughts on our blog. Through such an interaction with our audiences I believe this will be able to induce them in to following our blog.
As a young passionate journalism student, I believe life is what you make it, so through the journalistic features that I am learning, I intend to shape the world in a positive manner for the benefit of my future and other journalism students around the world. If you are a dedicated young aspiring youth, I say to you feel at home because this is the right place to be and you will never regret making a decision to follow this blog. Welcome on board and please enjoy our content! FIRST YEAR SPREAD…CAN YOU FEEL IT?!!