In an effort to boost Football World Cup enthusiasm Rhodes University’s Muslim Student Association hosted a mini tournament featuring some of the university’s top teams.
Introduction to News
With regard to my news gathering efforts I have always attempted to stay hyper-local. Grahamstown residents can obtain information about stories that have broken at a national or international level from any number of different sources. However, they will be unable to get stories about Grahamstown from those same sources. When trying to pinpoint potential leads it was always a concern of mine to stay relevant to the locale within which I was working. A prominent news value by which I abide is “proximity” which dictates that one consider the stories within your area (Ansell).
I think another thing which I could have considered more highly but which I did take into account is “relevance”. I saw relevance from just the angle on ‘is it relevant to the society in which I am producing material?’ However, had I considered it in broader terms the parameters of the “relevance” stipulation in newsgathering could have further assisted me in newsgathering. Ansell maintains that you must question whether the piece “will fit thematically with other stories on the pages, or reflect the overall values of the publication” (200?). This would have been very useful to consider because provided the other students in the class were keeping their stories within the bounds of what the agency document (2010) allowed then my story would likewise be complicit.
My news stories revolved around sport and by virtue of this I primarily occupied the “entertainer” role as detailed in the agency document (2010). The entertainer role does hope to build community pride and I believe that through my stories this would have been achieved to some degree. The story focusing on the cup football tournament that was set up is a good illustration of people doing something for themselves and making something happen. Other people are able to take inspiration from it which I think is probably the most positive thing one can draw from a story of this nature. I did feel like the stories I chose gave me little chance to act in any of the other roles which were more geared towards facilitating change. However, my personal philosophy does not place a lot of emphasis on doing so.
One thing I was able to do in the piece about the football tournament was include what the agency document classifies as marginalised voices. Although I did not go seeking out marginalised voices, and don’t personally consider those that I found could be easily classified as such, they do fit the bill as Grahamstown is classified as a Christian town according to the agency document. In no way were the voices in the piece trying to push a Muslim agenda although one of the main elements of the piece was the fact that the tournament was hosted by the MSA.
In my second news piece, also about sport, I struggled, as I did in my first, to actively try and incorporate the stipulations of the agency document into my piece. My personal philosophy was adhered to but that was a simple matter considering it had been so carefully tailored to encompass all the elements I predicted I may encounter. What I was able to successfully do was include stories that were representative of all sectors of Grahamstown. There was a story featuring a prominent local school, a story featuring a township club and a story focusing on a Rhodes sporting event.
For the most part though, I can say that I struggled to address too many of the issues that the agency document binds us to addressing. I did include a story that was very development based focusing on the success of a township rugby team and covering how they were being rewarded by having their stadium revamped but for the most part the sports stories I covered did not lend themselves well to fulfilling what the agency document specified.
