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editorial
An unexamined profession is not worth practising
Journalists function as the midwives and the grave-diggers of their time, said Gutzkow in 1838. More than a century later, the media has transformed into a powerful institution which accelerates the gestation period and hastens the death of news.
Events are born, orphaned and forgotten so quickly, that the media contributes to a "growing fictionalisation of reality", as Toffler calls it in War and Anti-War. Journalists, consumed by the task of keeping abreast with the times, are seldom afforded the opportunity for critical reflection.
The SJI was established with the purpose of providing a critical analysis of developments in the South African media. As students, somewhat removed from looming deadlines and impatient editors, we have the time to examine the implications of advances made in our media.
The importance of a critical media as a cornerstone of our fledgling democracy has been reiterated on many occasions. However, the need for impartial, independent criticism of the practice of journalism itself has received less attention.
Habermas, a critical social theorist from the Frankfurt School, says students form one of the few subcultures in society who can truly criticise social institutions because they "are freed from immediate economic compulsion". As journalism students from many walks of live, we are not yet aligned to any large media group, and can therefore circumvent the internal politics of the profession in an attempt to be as neutral as possible in our critique.
In the SJI, we have striven to be as thorough as possible. A wide-ranging selection of topics were chosen for discussion - from technical developments in the media to challenges facing art critics with the lifting of the cultural curtain.
It has been our objective to be critical, yet fair, while providing a fresh perspective on events that have dominated the media this year. We hope you find the magazine an insightful synopsis of the year’s news.
Liza Stewart - EDITOR
SJI 1995 Redaksie / SJI 1995 Editorial Staff
Editor / Redakteur Liza Stewart Assistent-redakteurs / Assistant Editor Pierre de Villiers Advertising manager / Advertensiebestuurder Marné Strydom Tegniese Adviseur / Technical advisor Kobus Louwrens Voorblad / Cover Francois Jordaan Ontwerp / Design Francois Jordaan Uitleg / Layout Marius de Jager, Johan de Meyer, Kobus Louwrens, Terry Nel Besturende redakteur / Managing Editor George Claassen
Artikel-redakteurs / Division
Editors
Writers’ Block Liela Groenewald Press-ups Helena Schutte Akkers
& Aikônas Terry Nel Features/Hoofartikels Liza
Stewart Profiel/Profile Johan de Meyer Foto-sintese/Photo-synthesis
Rudi Hofmeister
Lugverkeer/Airlines John Bailey Mark-Insig/Market Insight Thabiso Tserema Tech-note Marius de Jager Pers-pektiewe/Press-pectives
Liza Stewart Drawn
Conclusions Pierre de Villiers Media-onderwys George
Claassen Alumni Jeanne Venter
Thanks to: The Argus and Die Burger for their kind permission to use photographs; Hein de Vos, Dominic Barnhardt, Ronelle Burger, Luke Powers and Nolene Nel for their illustrations.
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