WHY-WHY-WHY-WHY-WHY-WHY??????

Lumko Jimlongo
References:formerly at WSU in Eastern Cape now with (Sabc news)

Books: Your very own Dr Saleem Badat’s “Black Man You Are On Your Own.”
I have not yet had the opportunity to read it but from the extracts I have come across- it is long overdue especially given the apparent loss of identity from today’s generation of children of the soil.

Pass times: Not much time for that I’m afraid. So I guess I’m researching the
next story



1.I would like to believe that it was curiosity and the very naïve notion of saving the world through creative means and wanting to be the voice of the voiceless. I thought it would be the perfect platform for me to write about people in need and get government to account etc. Needless to say, that is an objective I still hold but now it has been coupled by the realisation that – with it, comes a lot of red tape and gate keeping which makes it just a tad more complicated than I had originally thought it would be.

2.Being a man who has worked in broadcasting throughout my rather short career, I feel already my response to this one is of a biased nature.
But seriously though – if we are to look at it from an environmental perspective - then maybe it should die.
But with my environmentalist hat now off, I feel one can’t run away from the fact that newspapers have a history that dates back hundreds of years but with the advent of radio and TV, their circulation started to decline. This just meant that people did not have to rely on print as the only source of news anymore (especially talking of breaking news where information is just simply conveyed in a more speedy manner via broadcasting.)

I also wish to differ with the view that these so called “more affluent” platforms do not infiltrate to the marginalized.
I just think that multi-media is a way, more accessible than print media.
Print to me is more discriminatory as I am sure the illiteracy levels nationwide will attest. Add to that, multi-media stories make use of the visual element as well, in a way that bridges any communicative gaps that the written word could promote.

Back to the question of the assumed 'affluence' of non-print media: I would like to think that you may have conceived of this from an online perspective? That is to say, you access multi-media stories via the internet only? Not necessarily so. One doesn’t have to have a high-end laptop to access this content. It is a fact that, communities in East and West Africa are accessing the internet via mobile phones: this has penetrated internet usage into rural communities at a rate faster than your average suburban home with your PC scenario.

3.Well life would be rather plain without the odd bouts of delusions of grandeur so I guess I’d like to see myself in a managerial post somewhere.
Seriously though, all I wish to see my response to question one, moving a bit closer to being a reality.

4.Why it hasn’t been done already is a question I would rather be asked.
If we are to prioritize the issue of language amongst students and encourage them to learn at least one African language – then it should be a matter of priority that this is encouraged.