'Springs Monster' - was the media fair?

Journalists' main goal is to ensure the right of citizens to truthful and important information, which allows them to form an adequate impression about social processes, their essence and importance, about the situation in the modern world. The journalist bears responsibility before the society in general, before the law and before the professional association. The social responsibility of the journalist requires that he acts in accordance with his personal ethical standards. However, there comes a time when the journalistic ethics are questioned, it can be a story published, a comment made or a simple status on social networks. Ethics can be defined as moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.

Recently a story broke about the tragedy which happened in Springs where it was alleged that a 35year old held his family hostage for years. Though the neighbours knew, no one was able to come forward and report what was happening in the house, until an 11-year-old boy ran away. The media covered a story in different angles, some speculated the mother did not want to tell the world of what was happening because she feared that without her husband they will be destitute. Social media also broke the story giving their views on what ‘might’ have occurred in the house. The name that was thus given to the ‘alleged’ man was “Monster” and his home referred to as the “house of horror”.

By so doing, the media violated the rights of the accused, they painted him as a ‘monster’ and referred to his house as ‘a house of horror’ whilst having no idea or concrete evidence about the living conditions of his home. The South African law state that the accused is not guilty until proven guilty. What the nation did was to judge a 35-year-old before he was even sent to court. They drew their own conclusions on the matter thus tempering with the case. For example, the case of Oscar Pistorius; when the story of Reeva Steenkamp being shot broke, everyone had their own assumptions the media houses even had sketches of what might have happened before Oscar was even tried. That caused confusion, not only to the citizens but the judge was also said to have been biased and misled by what he had seen or heard from the news.

City Press published a story on the 3^rd of June, titled “Neighbours of ‘Springs monster’ too scared to ‘interfere”. The story lacks evidence, it shows that there was not enough time to gather all the evidence. The only person whom the City Press relied on for information was a tenant who rented a back room of the accused. The information which they got from their source couldn't be verified by anyone. The wife didn't say anything, the police also had no comment and so neither nor did the social workers. In this case, then there is no telling whether the information brought forward was accurate enough. The neighbours didn't want to interfere, so the title suggests, they might have had an idea of what was going on in the house but since they did not even comment that makes one really doubt the credibility of the only source the City Press could find.

A 35-year-old was scrutinised, given names and might have lost any sort of respect he had. The accused was defamed. In media law defamation refers to “any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person. [It] may be a criminal or civil charge. It encompasses both written statements, known as libel, and spoken statements, called slander.” If not found guilty I believe that the accused has every right to sue the media, the media labelled him as a monster (someone who is a large, ugly, and frightening imaginary creature). Should he be not found guilty he still has to go back and right all the wrongs made by the media?

Everything was blown out of proportion by the social media. Citizen journalists had all the pictures and facts that they published before the “alleged” had even appeared in court. Some of the tweets read “#springsmonster. A 36-year-old man arrested for keeping a wife, 5 children locked in Springs upmarket house for years torturing and raping them”, “The Beeld newspaper must be congratulated for breaking that story in this monster in Springs who's been molesting his kids.” There is no way that one can be sure about what has happened in the house of horror because the people who experienced the living conditions first hand, were not able to comment. Whatever that is said by Dixon may and may not be true. Sometimes what you see is not what you get.

The new generation

Today's teenagers do not read as many books as a teenager even 10 or 20 years back used to. Why is it so? Is it because other forms of communication, learning and entertainment have taken over the ever popular "book" or is there some other reason? What do you think?

Other sources such as computer, cell-phone and television has replaced reading. Teenagers now spend a lot of time on the computer, chatting with friends online or going on the internet. Time is also spent on watching television shows, as well as text messaging. In Singapore context, teenagers nowadays prioritize studying, being "in" and getting the latest news and gossip instead of reading which most think of as a waste of time. Also, students' daily timetable are usually packed with activities such as school, tuition, other lessons, enrichment and co-curricular activities, so teenagers nowadays rarely find time to relax and do things they want to, like reading, hanging out and things like that. Even when they have the time off from school, numerous projects, assignments and homework have to be done during their so-called "leisure time", and teenagers would rather spend their time on the computer, television or cell-phone when they have the extra time off, because to them, those are their "leisure activities", to get in touch with their friends.

As technology is advancing at a rapid speed, reading is often replaced with similar activities such as listening to the radio and watching the news  broadcast on television instead of reading from the newspapers. But by hearing, or looking, we might not learn as we will by reading. As we read, we pick up unfamiliar words along the way. And knowing how to spell the unfamiliar words, we can check for it's meaning on the dictionary. But by hearing or watching, sometimes, pronunciations of the reporters or dee-jays might not be correct and when we hear an unknown word, it might not be convenient to check the meaning on the dictionary as well. Therefore, I think that reading is important and more effective for learning.

In my opinion, reading is still important to teenagers, even in today's context, and good reading habit should be emphasised. While many might think that reading is useless and a waste of time, reading is actually a meaningful activity that can expand our creativity and also, let us get in touch with not only our friends, but the world as well. Reading does not have to be the boring activity which many students dislike, but instead, reading can be fun too. By first choosing the books or reading materials you are interested in reading, we can then slowly learn to gain interest from reading all sorts of books, essays, and articles. Reading can also be fun when done in a group, or after reading the same article or book, friends can get together to discuss about the happenings and their feelings. Interesting activities can also be organised by the school to promote reading.

A Quote

I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle should be backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch and you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities. You become a little baby, you go back into the womb, spend your last nine months floating... and you finish off as an orgasm. 
- George Carlin

The common mistake

All my life i have referred to myself as average, compared myself to the rest of the world, thought of myself as minor and have missed a lot of opportunities because of the fact that I kept on telling myself  'it's not possible'. Until recent, i discovered that as i was busy comparing myself to the rest was shunning the awesomeness in me. All of this time i have settled for less than I deserve, allowed judgement to rule my life. Now it's time I reclaimed the power invested in me. I am doing all of what i thought I could not do, chasing the negativity out of my life and opening room for positive things!|

Taking risks

"The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it but it is too low and we reach it"
Michelangelo

We need to take risks to achieve greater heights, sometimes being too careful is what hinders us to accomplish all that we need to. Being safe and cautious sometimes can be dangerous, by taking risks you might achieve even greater than anticipated.Safe is always a better option yet sometimes as an individual you have to break out of your shell. Safe is comfortable and being too comfortable for a person is never a good thing. Comfortable is for people who believe they have achieved all they could and they need nothing more. But, for someone who still needs that beautiful house and a car, a family and a good salary... Contentment is a no go area for you.

Take risks, explore, throw yourself under the bus, do all you can to help you become a better you.

Quote

‎"Artists are some of the most driven and courageous people on the face of the earth. They deal with more day to day rejection in one year than most people do in a lifetime. Every day, artists face the financial challenge of living a freelance lifestyle, the disrespect of people who think they should get ‘real’ jobs, and their own fear that they’ll never work again. 

Every day they have to ignore the possibility that the vision to which they have dedicated their lives is a pipedream. With every passing year, many of them watch as other people their age; achieve the predictable milestones of normal life - the car, the family, the house, the nest egg. But they stay true to their dream, in spite of the sacrifices. Why? Because artists are willing to give their entire lives to a moment - to that line, that laugh, that gesture, or that interpretation that will stir the audience’s soul. 

Artists are beings who have tasted life’s nectar in that crystal moment when they poured out their creative spirit and touched another’s heart. In that instant, they were as close to magic, God and perfection as anyone could ever be. And in their own hearts, they know that to dedicate oneself to that moment is worth a thousand lifetimes.” - David Acker

Never give up!!!

We live in a world where inequality is a big issue... Inequality in status being the main factor. The clear distinction between the poor and the rich, race issue. Not all of us are blessed to have cars, live in mansions and all .. yet, if you can start appreciating your life with everyone and everything in it, that will do you good. If we were all the same then life would not be as interesting as it is. Appreciate your life with the little you have and you will never go wrong!!