This one time, at band camp...

By Stephanie Pretorius

Journalism is going to the dogs! That's what H.D Archibald's critical persona would say. As Journalism and Media Studies students we are continually told that we need to be professional and objective, we need to search for the truth and not trust anyone in our quest to provide the public with accurate stories and reports of the latest news. However, there is no possible way that a journalist or anyone for that matter is able to be objective in the reporting of events. Many Journalism and Media theorists claim that if one simply quotes a source then a story is accurate and objective but the people or organisations that are being quoted bring their own bias to the situation in their interpretation of events and circumstances and the context in which a quote is placed is also subjective and has been created by the reporter.
Along the same line of thought is the fact that we have to consider the role of industry and economics in the production of present day media. The media is no longer the 'watch dog of democracy' but rather a mass-produced, consumer based product that is there to keep society suppressed by feeding communities certain view points and perspectives that create brainwashed individuals who do not have the capacity to object to the oppression of the elite and powerful. This is partially because of the fact that advertising is so crucial to the ability to produce media and now controls so much of the information included within publications or broadcasts.
In this blog, as H.D. Archibald's critical persona, I aim to discuss critically the way in which the media is failing to do what it was created for and why today's journalists need to pull up their socks and begin to actually believe in their quest to provide the public with information that does not claim to be objective but rather states their outlook and then strives to inform the public to the best of its ability. Join me on a journey to see if there are still any real journalists left in the world who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in and are also not afraid of criticism of their work.