Food is one of the greatest elements of culture
Spotlight
About this page
Never in history has it been so easy to accumulate information. A vast sea of stories flows ceaselessly through the devices at our fingertips. But some days I feel I am drowning in data that does not help me understand the world any better.
Edward R Murrow’s warning about TV in 1958 could just as well be applied to all our modern information sources:
“This instrument can teach. It can illuminate and, yes, it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise, it is merely wires and lights in a box.”
It is what we do with the information at our disposal that determines our destiny.
I once had a news editor when I worked on a small broadsheet newspaper in Cape Town who would cut me down to size by reminding me that my feverish efforts at storytelling would soon be “fish n’chips wrapper”. Undeterred I sat at my Olivetti typewriter for hours until I was happy with the stories.
In 2014 when we launched The Journalist we had a section called News. Our aim was and is to explore the meaning behind the lights and wires. To avoid at all costs becoming electronic ‘fish n’chips wrapper’.
Since then, we have chosen to rework this section of our website and in line with our updated approach it is called SPOTLIGHT. It is a name that evokes images of performers plucked out of the darkness of the stage and bathed in light so that the audience can revel in their artistry.
Spotlight will feature the artistry of our finest writers. Their brief will be simple. Don’t merely tell us what happened. Help us understand why.
If you have an idea for a Spotlight story please engage in the discussion or use the Contact Us page to write and let us know what you are thinking.
If we are indeed the end result of all the stories we’ve heard, as Tim Knight says, choose carefully. The Journalist is committed to help you make that choice and to shed light on the 21st Century clutter.
From the lioness’ perspective
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There is an old saying that it gets darker just before dawn. If current polls are correct, the 2018 Congressional elections in the United States may hand over the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party. Democrats have a knack for snatching losses from the jaws of victory, but also Americans are generally not an educated electorate. Compliant Republicans who, so far, have not stood up to Donald Trump’s demagoguery, may just win again. There are some polls showing a tightening of voter...
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With the Investment Summit that took place earlier this month and our new Finance Minister having delivered a tough Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), this is a significant time for the South African economy. It has been another tough year for South African business. The euphoria around the change of political leadership diminished rapidly following an announcement that the Constitution may be amended in order to allow for easier expropriation of property without compensation,...
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“I thought he would end up killing me”
Middle class black women from Soweto speak out about intimate partner violence
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The short answer is ‘no’
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Puff, puff, pass
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About Us
The Journalist is a ground-breaking media project that provides history and context for key issues facing South African journalists. The Journalist is an independent, not for profit organisation working with the academic community and a range of credible online entities to make knowledge more accessible to the wider public. We don’t only tell you what happened. We help you understand why.
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