MAKING A CASE FOR CAMPUS JOURNALISM

F.J.A.Macale
Truth is a
contested notion.
Contradictory, conflicted and ambivalent.
We question the truth…
and the authority of those who claim a hold on it.
Today is an age of
post truths.
The rise of wikipedia and the death of the encyclopedia.
Today is an age of
post modern assumptions.
The waning of modernity and its emphasis of conformity.
Truth resides in the
beholder.
It became a matter of practicality and justification.
Truth is political.
Making people accept what is true is a function of power
(Hu)man is doomed,
or maybe not.
(S)he has to deal with the world in a subjective lens.
Truth is our claim,
but what is true?
Is there really something true.
Truths from all directions.
Ergo, there is no such thing as today is an age of fake news.
But, it is always an age of
deeply wired tendencies
of people to believe.
Herd animals, we are.
The world is flat.
Only that today we have the internet and its trolls to
propagate modern day versions of such.
The gullible man, easily
predated by opinions of those
in power.
And by those who hold the might of the pen and
write with barrels of ink.
Effective journalism opens up
alternative perspectives
and versions of truth from that held by the powerful.
The former is vested;
the latter is disinterested.
The former operates to
preserve power;
the latter may
speak truth to power.
Ideally, the two should be
antagonistic, contradictory
and dialectic.
This is the essence of journalism.
“I may not agree with what you
are stating, but I will defend to
death your right to say it.”
Voltaire
Power shakes in the presence
of strong public opinion.
Great ideas are like seeds.
Journalism is a pointed dagger,
not just some bladeless and
neutral craft.
Hold onto its power, others are already tapping on it.
What kind of a nation which
opinions are molded by trolls
and FREE FB posts?
We are such a people.
What kind of privilege is
accorded to the youth?
The answers make a case for campus journalism.
 The world is yours, as well as
ours, but in the last analysis, it is
yours. Young people, full of
vigour and vitality, are in the
bloom of life, like the sun at
eight or nine in the morning. Our
hope is placed on you…the
world belongs to you. The future
belongs to you.
Mao TSE TUNG
Power resides at the hands of
those who speak and
hold the pen that writes the
news.