This week we lost a Cadet. No he didn't pass on but his sudden departure left us all stunned. Family commitments apparently tore him from the programme but I was amazed that, in spite of sitting at his side for many hours on a daily basis, he had not said a word about leaving until he was already gone. This cadets leaving affected me even more than it might have normally because I, myself, encountered a speed wobble this week. In spite of knowing just how lucky I am to be here I also have a different view to most of the cadets. I don't have a journalism background and my interests lie primarily in science writing and photography. I had really hoped that we would be covering more of these topics and be given a little more room to explore our own particular passion. I have been bored with the hard news angle which seems to be the focus of most of our assignments and writing tasks. After much talking to people and mulling it over I realise its just part of the process of learning... I just wish I could carry as much passion into these areas as I do into my photography.
There are some perks to being a cadet journalist though. For a start we have access to twitter and facebook (sssshhh!) which apparently is like gold here at the paper... The thing is, apart from it being a great way to pass time, these sites are valuable resources. I for instance found out about the earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Chile this weekend as it happened while sipping drinks with my feet dangling in the water at a popular Blouberg restaurant. I therefore don't understand why the news house would have these sites blocked, yes, yes, bandwith blah blah blah... but if it facilitates coverage of news, surely you are just holding your own publication back by blocking these sites? Weird...
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