Manifesto and media production proposal
Vision, and values
Zimbabwe and South Africa are similar in so many ways whilst being worlds apart. ZANU-PF has been the only ruling party in Zimbabwe, and the ANC has ruled South Africa since the end of Apartheid. South Africa is the protest capital of the world. People can voice their opinion in a democratic space. In Zimbabwe, people suffer under authoritarian rule that excludes public opinion and holds power within ZANU-PF. These are the two contexts I have experienced in my life. In South Africa, you can speak out without sanction from the government; in Zimbabwe, you cannot.
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I am a Zimbabwean and have no means to hold my government to account. Hopewell Chin’ono is a Zimbabwean journalist who was arrested for promoting a march to ‘save Zimbabwe’. Cecilia Chimbiri, Netsai Marova and Joana Mamombe are members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which is ZANU-PF’s main opposition party, and are in prison. The media cannot contest this space, nor can singular people. It is through education that young Zimbabweans can be the change of tomorrow and transcend this narrative.
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Sixteen years of life in Zimbabwe has moulded my belief in community development by communities. Where the government fails to act, people need to, this action may fail, but people will unite to contest government failures. When there is no action, there is a normalisation of failure and an erosion of the democratic process. A Democratic decline has taken place in Eastern Cape education reporting detailed by Vanessa Malila. There is always a solution to pursue, and positive action within communities reinforces a sense of community development.
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I aim to work towards bridging the digital divide. As a media practitioner, I have the tools to bring this conversation into a public context. Students deserve the right to adequate free education as promised by the ANC; it is in the interests of the public to work towards this goal.
My proposal
South African citizens need to challenge the democratic space; they need to widen its scope to include all South Africans. Education is the fundamental key to this process. Without adequate education for the youth, equity is a pipe dream. The education system in the country is sub-par; no-fee paying schools do not offer enriched schooling practice or promote employability after school (Babson, 2014: 149).
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With the onset of the pandemic (2020), no-fee paying students in Makhanda did not have the resources to continue learning online. Rather than being a journalist and indicating a remedy (Bro, 2018: 10) there was a need to act, students needed learning resources before they lost a year of schooling. In the pandemic, with the looming fear of not completing matric, Grade 12 students were prioritised. As a result, Makhanda schools have recorded the best matric results in the province and surpassed 80 percent for the first time in Makhanda's history (Westaway, 2021). However, much still needs to be accomplished by the Eastern Cape education department to enrich student learning.
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The difference between a private school, a fee-paying school and a no-fee paying school in South Africa, is extreme. All private schools in the town achieved a 100 percent pass rate. Fee-paying Makhanda schools, during the pandemic, had a collective pass rate of 98 percent (Westaway, 2021). Contrast this to TEM Mrwetyana, a no-fee paying school, which produced a 34 percent matric pass rate in 2020 (Westaway, 2021). My life has been an experience of private schools and their transactional approach to less ‘privileged’ communities. Interaction between educational institutions can be transformational for both parties and build communities together. I argue that private schools serve as a bubble that excludes their elite interests from the wider public.
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My questions to answer are as follows:
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Can SD cards, used as learner support material, improve education opportunities for students at no-fee paying schools?
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Can a constructive journo effectively work alongside organisations committed to citizen empowerment whilst fulfilling the role of a journalist?
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Can someone making a change on the ground encourage schools such as Kingswood, St Andrews, VG, PJ Olivier and Graeme to commit to transformational interactions with no-fee paying schools around Makhanda?
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Can a project, focused on empowering no-fee paying students, be implemented cross-faculty at Rhodes University to create the best learner support resource for students? What is the best 32GB learner support resource?
Normative approaches
Media production in the Makhanda SD Card Drive project (MSDCD) will be exclusive to the content I am to create as an individual media practitioner. At the end of the year, there will be two aspects to the portfolio I produce.
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The pursuit of journalism in a personal capacity will centre around education in Makhanda schools. Constructive journalism focuses on positive, inspirational and solution-based news. When issues arise in schools, I need to be present to document them.
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The MSDCD will require strategic communications to serve three purposes: to ignite citizen conversation around the unequal and inadequate basic education system in South Africa, to reach an audience beyond the inner city of Makhanda - 'the bubble' (will promote the digital revolution and digital inclusivity in Makhanda), and to encourage investment for the MSDCD.
The scope of constructive journalism (CJ) is largely undefined; however, it is an essential cog in the practice of journalism. Walter Williams stated, “I believe the journalism that succeeds best is… constructive” (Bro, 2018: 1). Cathrine Gyldensted introduced positive psychology into journalism to create a field to 'move the world' (Bro, 2018: 10). Gyldensted's view was that CJ "investigates opportunities, looks at dilemmas from all sides, and indicates remedies" (Bro, 2018: 10). There is a need to be constructive in a South African (and Zimbabwean) context as we seek to re-establish society and transcend post-colonial structures (discussion will follow in section 4).
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Issues arise in CJ with the theory of pro-active neutrality that "prescribes no chosen solution and favours no particular party of interest" (Bro, 2018: 9). I am focused on the Schools in Makhanda and am undertaking a solution (MSDCD). In essence, undermining constructive journalism, but consider a different view - "journalists help society act upon, rather than just learn about its problems." (Bro, 2018: 7). Action journalism, explained by Jacob Riis, focuses on societal problems (Bro, 2018: 5-6). He viewed this action through "supplementing municipal agencies and charities by helping collection, coordination and distribution of material, manpower and economical support" (Bro, 2018: 6).
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Investing time and effort into children in the education system provides essential feedback. Furthermore, it has driven community funding for the MSDCD. Positive action (in the public’s interest), followed by a positive community reaction, not underpinned by neutrality, should not alter the constructive nature of this journalism. The MSDCD focuses on enriching learning opportunities for students. Strategic communication defined as "communicating purposefully to advance (the organisation's [in this case MSDCD's]) mission" (Holtzhausen and Zefrass, 2015: 4). Constructive journalism has raised issues with the longevity of movements as they gain popularity then decline (Bro, 2018: 5). Strategic communication in the MSDCD could promote the project whilst the project enriches student learning processes and promotes the digital revolution. Considering the project is entrenched into UCKAR (committed to community engagement), one can argue the framework fosters longevity.
The context I am working in:
On a global scale, the media fails to carve out a democratic public sphere (Hackett and Carroll, 2006: 2). Capital-backed influential individuals assume the power of large media corporations, and journalism does not voice a diverse set of public interests (Hackett and Carroll, 2006: 3). The issue at hand is that a capitalist society measures monetary gain. Media companies are viewed as businesses; in this context, journalism needs to make money, not serve the public (Hackett and Carroll, 2006: 3).
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Consider a South African context, a transitional capitalist society still attempting to transcend Apartheid structures (Wasserman, 2020: 452). SA media has been a key social and political actor backed by constitutional guarantees of free expression (Wasserman, 2020: 451). The media has promoted democratic debate and, through investigative reporting, held political power to account (Gupta leaks) (Wasserman, 2020: 451). Despite these overarching positives, the media in SA is accused of serving elite interests (Wasserman, 2020: 451). Considering the country's racialised history, and the lack of societal transformation, these interests are highly contested in society.
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Journalism in the Eastern Cape largely fails to hold public officials accountable (Malilia, 2018: 6). Episodic reporting in education has normalised corruption whilst ineffectively informing citizens of maladministration (Malila, 2018: 2). Fifty-three percent of schools without water and 73 percent without ablutions in SA are located in the Eastern Cape (Malila, 2018: 6).
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Makhanda is an education town, St Andrews, DSG, Kingswood Rhodes etc... beautifully built into her streets. When studying at St Andrews, schools such as Khutliso Daniels lay beyond my knowledge of the town. No-fee paying schools are located on the outskirts of Makhanda, living 'outside' society. Divided by location, reinforced through the digital divide, in a province that incapable of raising public concern when the government fails to enrich learning experiences. It is in this context that I will be conducting my media work.
Target audience
The target audience will predominantly centre around people invested in the education system in Makhanda. Firstly, school networks in Makhanda will be targeted. This aims to renegotiate the relationships between schools, and constructive journalism will provide tools to encourage transformative community engagement. Positive news on communities may promote the readership of people invested in Makhanda’s no-fee paying schools.
The Makhanda community must be a specific target audience as they funded the first delivery of the cards. People want to know whether their money was well spent and they will only reconsider investing if they feel the project is succeeding.
In driving the MSDCD, there is a need to distribute this information across South Africa. In the Eastern Cape (EC), the failed tablet project makes the context I am working in hyper-relevant. EC School stakeholders must know of the economic viability of the MSDCD and how this resource may benefit their children. Public discussion needs to follow the tablet projects failure, so similar overspent projects remain contested in future.
The South African community must remain consistently engaged. The Daily Maverick has published a story and serves as a powerful and trusted Media institution that could provide roads to funding opportunities. In my attempts to challenge the tablet project, support from a broader South African public may raise public discussion.
Media forms and platforms
The website Sebeza will be my personal output of information. I will collect my year of work on the website providing stories on the MSDCD and education. The website will be built around constructive education stories. It will include a section of reportage in which I include articles I have published relating to issues in education around Makhanda. To promote readership, I have highlighted Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok as social media platforms to promote Sebeza. I have signed up to Twitter as a platform to open dialogue about my reportage as well. These platforms have no relation to Sebeza, they are my media outlets, but I aim to promote the readership of the Makhanda community I have connected.
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The MSDCD needs a collection of official pages. A website needs construction, and Social media platforms need to be established. Strategic communications will provide a valuable tool for promoting the webpage and can be undertaken through various social media platforms. RUCE is an important UCKAR platform that is now accessible for use, the MSDCD, established through Service Learning, is in the interests of RUCE. It will not be possible to produce media for this outlet continually. RUCE has a wide readership if important stories can be communicated through this platform.
The project
The first project I am invested in is the MSDCD. To date 440 of 520 SD Cards have been distributed to matric learners in Makhanda’s six no-fee paying schools. A community funded project means a community investment, and it is of utmost importance that this project remains documented for said investors to see.
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A website focused on multimedia storytelling needs to be created; this will be the predominant site for people to view how the project progresses. Social media platforms need to be established for the project, and in this space, it will be necessary to focus on strategic communications.
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The project is situated in education and focuses on no-fee paying schools in Makhanda. However, the target audience (discussed in section 5) will aim to encourage wider community involvement.
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The MSDCD is created to provide learner support for students, and this is a goal that is soon to be accomplished. It is essential to follow up with students, and questions could include: is the card working? Are there issues? Is this a practical resource? Communication networks are established to acquire this feedback. Stories must follow; who has used the resource? What has it done for them?
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If the project is to continue beyond 2021, it is necessary to find funding. Strategic communications will follow constructive journalism if the project is working. This communication will need to be purposeful and must promote learners’ interests in an inadequate school system. After all, why is the resource necessary in the first place?
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Sebeza will be my personal media output. Although I remain entrenched in the MSDCD, I am still a practising journalist with an invested focus on education in Makhanda. In 2021 I have covered UCKAR protests on the historic student debt and a story on learners who were not provided scholar transport for Grocotts Mail. Understanding the issues that learners in Makhanda face builds an understanding of the education systems. If my journalistic practices speak to learners, I may better understand how to implement the MSDCD.
Research approaches and techniques
The effectiveness of the SD Card in education will be established through a survey of the learners. The Vulindlela project has JMS3 students working with learners and parents to get feedback; this is an important focus group for Vulindlela and MSDCD. As a journalist, I am an observer, but I do not have comprehensive communication networks. These networks will be instrumental in my work this year as I build my relationship with learners in Makhanda. The MSDCD is looking at meeting with teachers who may provide meaningful feedback on the cards and may promote the interaction of teachers at different schools.
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My sources will range to incorporate people with an investment in education in Makhanda. It will centre around people who experience an issue when I’m reporting. However, representative opinions from teachers will inform our work on SD cards. This will be supported by learner feedback to provide comprehensive views of SD Cards as a learner support tool.
Storytelling stratergies
Storytelling, centred around the education of Makhanda’s no-fee paying matrics and the SD card, provides a fresh angle that is not being discussed. My approach will centre around constructive journalism and focus on a deliberative process as I tell learners’ stories. This may change to a representative process if the success of the tablets can be shown or there are failures in Eastern Cape education projects. The story of the SD card ends when the 2021 matric results are released. It has already begun but will only ultimately begin when the remainder of the cards are distributed (in the next two weeks). The release of an opinion piece challenging the unsuccessful tablet project is in the works and will be followed with a comprehensive story on the MSDCD once delivery is complete. Public deliberation will be a crucial aspect of my approach. The societal problem lies in the education system, and the community needs to have a say in how best to approach this issue.
Budget evaluation
Currently, A budget is not necessary as the cards for matric learners have been funded for 2021. Resources may include printing for surveys in six schools, replacing lost or damaged cards, and funding an SD Card Drive in 2022. Strategic communications through RUCE could prove helpful in this context. It is not an expensive project and successfully acquiring funds entrenches the interest of funders in the project.
Evaluation
The critical question is whether an SD card provides adequate learner support? There is pressure on the project to promote learning and improve results. The grade 11s of the 2020 pandemic, which remained unprioritised during the closure of schools, are now in matric. This could negatively affect the 2021 matric results as students try to catch up on missed learning opportunities. A survey may inform spin-off interests such as digital literacy but the SD cards primary function is learner support.