Agenda-setting what you believe

Media is meant to be sensational, offering those stories and versions of events that we “apparently” want to see and read. Why? … ROI… it’s business. And sadly it works because we have been conditioned to expect the sensational. Media students would have learnt, early on, the 12 elements of what makes any story newsworthy and the holier than thou gatekeepers that dictate to us what is news. Newsworthy elements include: consonance, conflict, visual appeal and emotion. What about those stories that don’t make it to mainstream media simply because they’re not perceived to be newsworthy?

Another important aspect to bear in mind is objectivity…. a fallacy if you asking me. Francois Nel contends that journalists act merely as channels of information… relaying “facts” that are true, but (and I quote) … “that this process occurs objectively, is not”.

And here I just have to add the concept of “agenda-setting”. Why? “…because the media can influence what people think (and talk) about. That is called the power of agenda-setting” according to Mr Nel. Ultimately dictating to us what we should think and believe. Because what? We’re not able to do this for ourselves of course.

I’m not saying that we should not read newspapers or place a huge question mark behind every story. I’m saying that this should be done with due care and some detachment. Particularly where mainstream media is concerned. I’m saying that too often we simply swallow whole anything printed in black and white or coming from a reputable newsroom or broadcasting station. I’m saying that we should not believe everything we see and read, thereby not allowing anybody to dictate to you what to think and believe this is what life is all about.

What you see and read is but another person’s (just like you) version of “truth”. Question what you are fed. Consult as many sources as you can on a topic or idea and be bold enough to think for yourself. Alternatively, don’t bother and allow agenda-setting to think for you. Or hey, don’t even believe anything I’ve told you. Afterall, it’s just my subjective point of view.












Pics: http://is.gd/dGpQ9; http://www.buzzvines.com/files/images/270760.jpg)

It’s Allegedly Suspected

Alleged:
(of an incident or a person) said, without proof, to have taken place or to have a specified illegal or undesirable quality; represented as existing or as being as described but not so proved; supposed.

Suspected:
To surmise to be true or probable; imagine; to think (a person) guilty without proof; to believe to be guilty, false, counterfeit, undesirable, defective, bad, etc., with little or no proof.

No no… this is not an English lesson … I do have a point of sorts and by now maybe you smell where I’m heading.

It always amazes me how often I see and hear these two little words in media reports, followed by all sorts of statements, particularly with regard to a person. It also amazes me how often people regard what they see and hear in reports as fact… proven, discounting altogether these two little words that preceded some statement.

You hardly ever hear someone retelling a story and including these precious two words. For example, one may read “According to authorities, the suspected operatives were under heavy surveillance….”. The retelling of which will go more like “did you hear?! the authorities said operatives were under heavy surveillance ….” bla bla bla.

I allege that these suspected two little words should be noted with due care. I further allege that these words are suspected to be rather dangerous. I suspect that these words fail to reflect so-called truth and are more a buttered-up allegation. To me, alleged and suspected reveal vague reporting and whatever follows should not be regarded as fact, proven.

I think alleged and suspected are words we should be highly aware of. They simply point to someone’s concocted idea that carries very little or no proof.

(Pic: http://www.mediaphilosopher.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/truth-small.jpg)

Every day is a good day

Here I have to relay part of an email I received a little while ago. Maybe you’ve received it at some point as well.

It’s a story about the father of a wealthy family who took his son to the country (or rural areas in our case)… to show his son how poor people live. Upon their return, the father enquired “so, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” The son answered:

“I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. …..We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them. …. Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”

Perspective. A magical little something that can turn your world around in an instant. However, difficult to bear in mind when adversity hits you. I personally have my moments…. sometimes days… when the positive perspective goes out the door and refer to it as my mojo going on holiday. At these times I mull over my problems and patiently wait for my mojo to return. And when it does, I feel a bit stupid for succumbing to the blues. A good friend always reminds me that “we have to feel all our seasons” … our very own summers, winters, spring and autumn. And like all seasons, they come and go.

In this light, every day certainly is a good day. Boiling down to how you choose to see it… your attitude towards your seasons. I think the trick lies in not clinging to your summers or winters at length but to let them come and then let them go. And should the blues arrive, a magical dose of perspective has the power to make all the difference. To truly live is to feel all your seasons.

(Pic: http://reviveyourlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/glass-half-full.jpg)

Our greatest strengths are our greatest weaknesses

Jack of all trades but master of none. First thing that comes to mind when I thought of strengths and weaknesses.

Our strengths are unique little gifts. That something special about you that makes you you… makes you unique and stands out from the rest of your qualities. Your talents… your passions. It’s that thing you experience when you flow… your time-has-stopped moment when engaged in something you enjoy.

You are also not perfect. There’re those things that you simply don’t enjoy. Like I’ll admit, I’m no guru where numbers are concerned and they certainly don’t make me tick. I have weaknesses.

I’m not sure if there’s some invisible rule that weaknesses are the most terrible things one can encounter cos for some reason – we often spend too much time focusing on weaknesses. “If only I could be more like that” or “If only I was good at….”. “So from today, I’ll spend 1 hour every day working on …..”. Following a painful week or two of forcing yourself to do something you don’t really enjoy. So with all this focusing on what we’re not that great at, is born the Jack of all trades… master of none.

If only… if only we used that time to work on those things we’re actually passionate about. Our natural talents that stand out and didn’t require any effort it seems. We’d not only feel happy and great… engaged in what we naturally enjoy, but also become the master of our talents. Possibly without noticing.

We all have strengths and weaknesses and kindly excuse the cliché, but that’s exactly why no man is an island. If there was no such thing or concept as perfection…. would you still try that hard to be perfect?

Yes we should strive to live a balanced life which is why weaknesses are not to be ignored totally. Yet ignoring a strength in lieu of a weakness could be far more costly to that master in you.

(Pic: http://www.gurustump.com/media/images/jack_of_all_trades_1200.gif)

Xenophobia: No man- wot kine people?!

After hosting a most fantastic… er did say FANTASTIC!! World Cup event…. bragging about our unity n all… the wonderful Rainbow Nation …. it’s sad that South Africans have yet to handle their fear of the “other”.

Wiki describes xenophobia as the “ the uncontrollable fear of foreigners… manifest in … the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear of losing identity, suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence to secure a presumed purity”.

Locals claim unfulfilled promises post 94, lack of service delivery and unemployment as reasons for violence against foreigners. So that’s reason to throw someone off a moving train? How this seems fair escapes me. And of course, not forgetting, it’s selective xenophobia too. Yeah! Let’s not include those beautiful fair-skinned people… no… we don’t fear them… they don’t steal jobs. If you’re asking me, the real reason has more to do with that koeksister mentality I mentioned a little while ago.

Also, it seems our attempts at setting up little temporary camps and the like are not dealing with the actual problem - but only the symptom. Somehow- I don’t see how protesting and “blowing a vuvusela against xenophobia” is going to help. I think we’d do much better at attempting to change the perceptions and relations of the “ingroup”. And here we might consider more (if not vigorous) education, interaction and sharing information on the various cultures.

I have many foreign friends and acquaintances whom I’ve come to love and respect. Wonderful, hardworking people that South Africans can learn so much from if they only took the time. Quite honestly, my life would sadly change if they were to just "go home" as some insist. South Africans should not blame their own laziness and inaction on foreigners. Let’s not allow that koeksister mentality to reign. I reiterate, blaming your circumstances on the “other” is nothing but a cheap copout. Also, would our wonderful World Cup even have been possible without everyone in SA's contribution?

Just glancing at South Africans amazing achievements to date, why are we finding it so difficult to handle this issue? We’ve already proven we can do anything we set our minds to.

(Pic: http://vocabmadeeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/xenophobia.jpg)

Try a cliché

… or not I’d suggest. Here I’m steering towards those advertising clichés we’ve all come to know so well. For example…

“Order now and you also get….”
“As seen on TV”
“The lowest prices in town”

Advertisers have long since made use of platitudes and clichés to drive campaigns. I personally doubt these are as effective as they once may have been. Today’s consumer smell sweet talk a mile away. Recall Cluetrain?

Platitude is defined as "a flat, dull, commonplace, or trite remark uttered as if it were true and profound". Cliché is a phrase that is used excessively and has become a bit meaningless and even irritating to many. Why persist? Is it not high time we at least attempt to be a bit more creative and innovative? And if that is seeming like mission impossible, what about just being a bit more genuine?

Note to PRP’s: check out the July/August briefing by trendwatching.com titled Innovation Insanity for some inspiration on doing things differently.

Or… here’s a cliché for you: “ Flattery will get you … nowhere”.

(Pic: http://www.adliterate.com/archives/Cliche%20Jpeg.JPG)

Mother Tongueszz

I dunno bout you but I love mixing my languages during speech …bietjie English here… bietjie Afrikaans there…. And mind you… I do know I am not alone here.

English is my first language, Afrikaans my second. I also speak Xhosa and a tiny bit of Chichewa (Malawian language). So deal is this- if I know you’re say Afrikaans or Xhosa first language – I’ll make the effort to speak to you in your language… and most probably do the mixing thing where translations evade me. We live in a country with 11 official languages and countless more being spoken beyond that 11. If you’re Afrikaans speaking- I see an opportunity to brush up my Afrikaans. Similarly, if you’re Xhosa speaking – I see an opportunity to improve my Xhosa skills. So why am I telling you all this?

Recently I was told by Mr Anonymous that it’s disrespectful and seems pretentious. Mr Anonymous‘ view is that I should just speak my first language… finish en kla. It shook me a little cos never has it occurred to me that the next person may consider this disrespectful and if Mr Anonymous thinks so… are there others who think or feel the same way?

In the TEFL industry (teaching English as a foreign language) – it is common practice for non-English speaking students to do a course and simultaneously live for a period of time in an English speaking country. The idea being that one learns much better and faster being immersed in that culture or area where the language is spoken … having many opportunities to speak and practice the language out of class … facilitating learning.

Personally, I think Mr Anonymous is a bit of a doos. Why can’t I mix my languages and why can’t I make the effort to speak to you in your mother tongue when it’s different from my own? I don’t intend any disrespect but have certainly become a bit more aware of people maybe thinking like Mr Anonymous. So now I’ve flippin started asking people if they consider it disrespectful. What I do consider disrespectful is when you’re sitting and chatting and people within the conversation starts speaking a different language others in company cannot understand. If you’re not part of the conversation and maybe passing by - it doesn’t count… here I make reference to speaking within the same company… what should be considered one conversation.

With 11 official languages to deal with already – maybe a better understanding of sensitivities will help us to actually communicate better.

Please comment your views or experiences regarding etiquette when conversing in different languages. Much appreciated. Dankie ne.

(Pic: http://www.humba.co.za/services/images/sa-languages.jpg)

Feelings follow behavior

A coupla months ago, Rita and I were involved in an accident…. Rita is my little car. On that day, I had a major “Where is Dr Crombie?!” –moment.

In a nutshell, a taxi cab (not minibus) decided it could squeeze between the gap of parked cars alongside the road and the bumper to bumper traffic where Rita and I was sitting. So taxi dude, convinced he’s Michael Night, lands up scrapping and denting Rita and then became lodged between the parked car and Mercedes in front of me. I got out after a few minutes (we need to register you know) and here’s where the real shocker was. The Mercedes driver, taxi dude and I now all standing there assessing the damage and looking at each other. Mercedes dude breaks the ice and ever so calmly asked taxi dude “…OK.. so what happened?” and not… “are you f*@^$n stupid?!!! “ or “can’t you see where you going” … and stuff the like you know. It certainly was the first accident scene I ever saw where tempers did not flare. Despite the circumstances, taxi dude…Mercedes dude and I calmly exchanged relevant details… no swearing… no accusing… just getting the relevant done. And that was the “Where is Dr Crombie!!! –moment – recalling his concept of being “emotionally hijacked” … fellow management students might remember this from our Emotional Intelligence lecture.

So pondering on whether feelings follow behavior or behavior follow feelings – I think there are times that we succumb to both. However, feelings that follow behavior are… I dunno shall I say… healthier?

To be emotionally hijacked is allowing your feelings to run away with you… acting based on your emotions. Problem is… feelings come and go. They’re like energy currents that pass through the body. Happiness now… doom and gloom later. Is it wise then to act based on feelings?

Back to my accident – later at the police station I learnt Mercedes dude is a psychologist… explains a lot. Evidently, by managing his emotions appropriately, we were all able to rationally sort out what needed sorting and got things wrapped up within no time. I think there is some profound wisdom in learning how to manage fickle emotions and letting feelings follow behavior instead. In this way, we’re far better able to channel our energies for appropriate and productive use, and not run away with every train that comes along.

Manage your emotions… don’t let emotions manage you.