What should you expect from this blog??

The following information shall give a detailed report on the kind of blog that our group wishes to produce. Through an analytical conversation on each of our views, we came across that two of us were similar in ideas and one was completely different. So, in order to incorporate the similarities and differences, we have decided to start a blog which talks about issues we have as journ students, showcasing who we are as well as including the arbitrary thoughts we might have on a daily basis.




The current trends in the 21st century have been primarily to sell sex, scandal, and celebrity. This has become a culture that we relate to, and identify with as the young people in the global community. We have become a society of young individuals who cannot relate to other aspects of our world and engage with matters that affect the global society. After careful analysis, we came to the common conclusion that we do not want to be sucked into the same wormhole. We understand that this decision may not necessarily make the blog as popular; however it could change a few mindsets.

We would like to enrich the youth in a more positive way. We want to reach the young talented and willing to learn individual. We want the curious person, with ideas and an open mind. We want the person who is able to not only think outside the box, but tear that box to wide open. We wish to have an audience that is not afraid to speak its mind. This is their platform to shine. We want to tantalize the young individual who has a tiny voice and who is not afraid to use it. This should be for the young person who would like to learn whilst having fun.

One could conclude that the blog will be an extension of the “nerd” who loves having a good time. The blog cannot live up to its’ full potential without the “perfect audience”. These are the people who will ridicule popular culture, and critique politics. We are looking to target the individuals who read for fun, and listen to good quality music in their spare time. In essence we are looking to reach the future cream of the crop. These are people who would have great impact on the world. It should be stressed though, that this blog is not one that excludes others who do not meet the ideal above characteristics.

Our target market is very specific, as we would like to set a very specific tone for the blog. Although the blog will not discriminate against those that do not fit the description, we want to reach as wide of an audience as we can. We are not looking to target academics, but we are looking for innovative refreshing young people. An audience that is not afraid to dream and wake up to wake those dreams a reality.



When running through a list of the links that caught each of our attention, we all had something different. Siya was all for the specific blogs on dinosaurs (http://dinosaurs.about.com/b/) or werewolves (http://www.werewolves.com/). However, when it came to the more ‘required’ material, we found a number of websites and blogs that we could learn from, both regarding what and what not to do. The first negative one was http://binowski.wordpress.com/ a blog composed of a journalism student. However, it was bland and too much writing or commanding as it had tips on not what to do and a very long newspaper article, instead of a summarised version. Not very attractive. A fun, cheeky blog on being a journalism student and all the highs and lows was found at http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/students/. It is more useful to the student with many questions of their future as it answers a lot. On my quest to discover the world of journalism blogs, I found one by UJACS in Australia (http://uqjacs.blogspot.com/) dealing with journalism as a course which lead to me to the link http://www.10000words.net/ ‘where journalism and technologies meets’, a really interesting website on lists of tips and fun information for journalism students. Another blog (http://thepiratesdilemma.com/) which deals with pirating goods and where the world is going in terms of free or fake goods being distributed is a prime example of how we would like to include not only items relevant to our proposed blog, but also videos, pictures and links that interest us an individual. It is so difficult to use other blogs to describe the way in which we wish to present our blog. I don’t think that it is something that happens in a week, rather an idea that is built upon and mothered until it grows into something beautiful and mature.



The character of our blog is that of an informative forum where one can also get their fix of everything from advice to random information and laughter jerkers.

We aim to take a casual approach on serious issues because often the seriousness of issues makes talking about them such a taboo. So we seek to eliminate the seriousness of the issue without making light of it, of course, so that it can be easier to discuss. In a nutshell, our blog is a place where anything goes.

We intend to discuss burning topics which are in our national news, while remaining loyal to more close to Rhodes topics. We will have quizzes about anything from the JMS1 course, interracial dating, the lack of MacDonald’s in Grahamstown, DP's, partying, animals and just about anything. Our blog will also offer motivational pieces weekly; basically some wise words which are meant to give readers the push they need to get through the days ahead. We will also display works of art and showcase books which people can comment on, after reading of course. We will try out new places and recommend them, or discuss terrible places which are never to be revisited, not even to use the bathroom. Our blog will generally be a topic-driven blog, which will be personal or diary-like from time to time. At the end of it all, we hope to create a product which will keep followers constantly online to check up on any new uploads. We seek to entertain our followers and get a lot of feedback from them, but most importantly, we want to give them something to think about, something which they perhaps have never though about before. Our language shall be our own, representing who we are and were we come from. Each of us has different backgrounds, home languages and interests and these shall be evident and reflect the diversity of the South African youth and more importantly, that we can work together to create something unique.

Once our followers have joined cowANDchickenANDcoward*, they will find it difficult to remember what life was like before they clicked the "become a follower" button.



*subject to change