Since this is my first blog I would like to introduce myself. I am Myrna Lemmen, 20 years old and I study journalism for almost three years now. I wanted to become a journalist when I was about 15 years old. My mother always told me that I should work for the police because I find equality, rights and justice very important. When I was very young I already paid lots of attention to these things; for example the fact that I thought the coke should be equally divided among my sisters and me, I went quite far in that. I don't do that anymore, but I still have the same values and I consider myself an optimistic and romantic journalist.
In the last three years I learned a lot about journalism by studying it in Utrecht. The most important thing is that my romantic view of journalism that I had drastically changed. Journalism is hard work and most of the time you’re in full speed trying to make your deadline. Yes, you meet interesting people and you write about things that matter, but it’s rushed, there isn’t a lot of money, there’s competition and your freedom is not always that broad. Besides, the image of a journalist nowadays is that it is an annoying person who tries to trick everyone to get some information.
I don’t like to rush, I really don’t like deadlines (though they keep me going), and I hate to stalk people. Does that make me a bad journalist?
I was kind of stuck before I came to Rhodes. What am I going to do as a journalist?
Coming to Rhodes gave me lots of new perspectives about journalism. In the JDD course we studied about alternative media and to find the ‘gabs’ to bring the important stories out there. It reminded me of my old ‘romantic’ view of journalism. That was very interesting to hear. It made me see that there are a lot of differences in journalism between the Netherlands and South Africa. For example in the Netherlands journalists have more freedom to write about whatever. And the politics in the Dutch media are very irritating and it doesn’t improve journalism. ‘What will sell’ instead of ‘what is the most important’? It seems like we’re heading that way in the Netherlands. Newspapers don’t sell; television and internet are the new things. Sensations will sell! I think that in South Africa sensation also sells but because it is a new democracy and a developing country journalism plays a very big role in South Africa. Maybe even more than in the Netherlands, though I will never say that out loud. What I learned in the JDD course is that journalism plays a big role to develop a country like South Africa. There is a lot that needs to be done in this country and journalism/ media can, I believe, help with that. I found it very interesting to see that the status of the country makes the status of journalism.
There are a lot of challenges for journalists in this new democracy of South Africa. The world of journalism in this country is definitely not perfect, but it is very interesting and there are a lot of opportunities. And it is probably a country for optimistic and romantic journalists like me. There is a lot of need for critical journalists ‘that find the gabs and seek for alternative ways’. Journalism in South Africa is so much more than just the information role and entertainment role. I am not judging Dutch journalism; there is definitely a big need for critical journalists. But it has a whole other meaning and a different level because we cannot compare South Africa and the Netherlands. South Africa’s journalism has got my attention and I hope through Rhodes I will learn more about it. I’m glad that I signed up for this exchange programme since I hoped to get new perspectives about journalism. I've got them.
