The ANC cannot rest on its laurels of being the historic liberation movement
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.
Active citizenship on our terms
South African youth speak up via online media
The scourge of an unhealthy tax system
The burden of poverty: Ramaphosa’s government must decide who they prioritise.
Botswana court ruling is a ray of hope for LGBT people across Africa
“This decision is a landmark. It sets a precedent on which other African courts can rely”
Housing income threshold must rise!
Strengthen purchasing power of the people
Binyavanga Wainaina’s rich legacy of writing as event
The award-winning Kenyan writer and activist has died at the age of 48, his restless search for sense and voice incomplete but nonetheless comprising a body of significant work. It was in May 2012 that I met Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina for the first and, now that he is gone, only time. The Center for Historical Reenactments, a curatorial and artistic initiative by curator Gabi Ngcobo, was hosting an evening with the Caine Prize-winning writer at August House, then an enclave for artists...
Africa has lost Binyavanga Wainaina. But his spirit will continue to inspire
He may have died, but is here to stay
Paedophiles inflict life sentences on victims
Child Protection Week: The need for greater vigilance
In the dark: Eskom’s debt woes sit at R500 billion
Medupi and Kusile are weighing down taxpayers
Stuurman and Makhanda: Anti-colonial rebels raised on boer farms
Reading David Stuurman’s life as a labour history of the colonised
Trust in Presidency may be a game changer for ANC in 2019 elections
Ramaphosa may have rekindled loyalty to the party that brought freedom and democracy to SA
Academics have shaped Sudan’s political history, and may do it again
Academics take the lead
Election 2019: This time may be different
Factions within the ANC could destabilise whatever emerges from the election
Health and the battle for public opinion
Look beyond economics to understand democracy and human well-being
World Press Freedom Day 2019
“Nearly half of the world’s population lacks access to free information”
Our habits are destroying the environment
From sunscreen to plastic to e-waste, we need to be more conscious
The South African Communications Association partners with The Journalist
Establishing networks and rewriting history
The Making of the ‘White Karoo’
Where genocides of the indigenous and their violent subjugation are absent
Cents and Sensibility: Political parties funding secrets remain safe
Going into the voting station blindfolded
The South African Medical Research Council at 50
Overcoming the burden of history to becoming the patron of health research under democracy
Safa must level the playing field for women
It’s no secret that women’s football is the poor cousin in South Africa. It’s not looked after properly, from the juniors right up to the senior national team. "Women’s football is like a drug. We complain about issues around it but we keep going back,” said a club official, who agreed to speak to New Frame on condition of anonymity. He has been running a women’s football team for two decades. Like a drug addict, he will do anything to make sure he gets his “fix”, even though he knows the side...
Angela Davis, Palestinian rights and anti-Semitism
Ignorance whitewashes the historical trajectory of the Palestinian experiences of injustice
Human Settlements: Budget delays basic human rights
Failure by government to eradicate title deeds backlogs continues to deprive residents of security of tenure
Explainer: why South Africa’s energy generator is in so much trouble
“State capture” (patronage networks), corruption and poor management have led to over staffing and neglected maintenance, resulting in constant breakdowns
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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