Learning Is Tough - Take It

I REFER to Robin Tyson’s comments on apathetic newspapers (12 September 2012).

As a final year media student, I was shocked to read the response The Namibian newspaper editor gave. Instead of admitting the setbacks, you try to defend your publication of outdated stories as news. My worry is is this the kind of environment you are creating for us future journalists. That it is OK to bring your late stories as the media is facing difficult challenges?
What happened to the spirit of learning from our mistakes and trying to do the right thing? If a story is late, then leave it, go and look for something that people will call news. Mind you, people buy these newspapers because they want to know something new they have not heard, not what they have already seen or read on other social media that have already reported such stories.
The story of Benson, instead of a front headline, could have come in form of a feature story or congratulatory message from your newspaper since people already knew that she had won, as  there were already SMS texts congratulating her
. You are one of the first to break the Benson story, OK good, but what about other outdated stories that we continue to see in most local newspapers?
My point here is we as media practitioners and students should be there to strive towards perfection, don’t wait for a car to come to you, don’t wait for technology, utilise what you already have, after all you have always done it, why should you relent now?
I rest my case by saying don’t change the definition of news, stick to it. If anything, improve, try to change, cover stories on time, that’s why you have reporters from around Namibia. As Tyson said, the most important letters in the word ‘NEWS’ are the first three.

Mwale
Windhoek

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