when one plus one equal less than two...

This is a conversation between journalists. If you are not one, please log off immediately.
If you are, please read on and maybe we can help each other out.
The last time I was in the newsroom - in 2006 - I was not aware of the way the craft has changed. I understood the usual refrain that newsroom have become too junior and blah! blah! blah!. If and when I needed to work on the story, I would call the reporter concerned and we would work through the story together. I still believe that you do not teach someone by doing their job but rather you as the Prophet says, you lead them to the threshold of their minds ...
The young minds that I had to work with were a marvel. Namhla Tshisela stands out for me as one of the best budding journos in this country. There may be a scores of Namhlas that I do not know but I do not believe we are short of talent.
But we are short of the work ethic. Again let me clear. I have done almost everything that has to do with newspapers. I have also been on the PR side, newspaper management, writer and so on. Now that I am on the receiving end of bad media, I realise that there is something lacking in our journalism and something drastic needs to be done.
I get asked all sorts of questions by various journos. There are times when I am completely stumped by the questions. I ask for time and reply in due course. But that is exciting. It teaches those of us on the other side to really interrogate the information we want to pass on to writers. But the converse should be true. The other side should interrogate us and I have been thoroughly taken to my limit by clever and thorough questioning.
But I have been allowed to go scott-free as well by lazy reporters. You almost want to ask them to ask certain questions. But no, they are in a hurry and will not be bothered to probe. There is a tinge of sadness because I believe spokespeople want to talk some more and expand on their subjects.
And then there is the type that will have you do all their work. For example you send out a press release about an arrest and that suspect will appear in court on this day. Halfway through the day of the appointed day, you get a call from a journo sitting in the office. "Did the so-and-so appear in court today?"
That I believe is laziness of the worst kind and I do not take kindly to it. Whatever happened to people going to court or cultivating sources within the court system? For crying out loud, journos should get out of the office and go there. I should not be doing the work. Or you get asked whether you know lawyers involved in the matter and what might their contact numbers be? Why should I have those number? What then is the work of a reporter? To get all the information without lifting the proverbial fingure. I think it is unfair. But above all, do you think I protest too much? Awe! Goba msenge zidl' imbuzi.

Clawing back our future

It has been two months since I joined the men and women in blue. OK, maybe I should say they have paid me twice already. I love it.
If a few months ago you would have suggested that I will have a rank and work for the SAPS, I would have told you to have your head read. Today I wake up and wade through the traffic to Pretoria where I get a chance to do what I love and get paid for it.
I speak for the new unit the Hawks. Off course there are those who hanker for the past and will tell you about how good the Scorpions were. They certainly gave a good account of themselves and arrested a lot of people through the media.
This is exactly where the Hawks will differ. Our duty is to make sure that culprits are brought to book. Not through the media if we can help it but through thorough and effective detective work without jeopardising anything.
But you are always judged in relation to this old unit. We hope very soon South Africans can judge us with the results that should start showing soon. There have been a few and more is yet to come.
Meanwhile, some of us will wake up everyday, go out and try to make a difference. That much we owe to our kids.