Tag Archives: history

After so many milliniums we still haven’t learned anything

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This has probably, so far, been the two worst weeks of my life this year. Knee-deep in deadlines. Which was interrupted by what even I hoped to be a nice social event. But alas, closing in on the weekend of this second week of hell, I’m exhausted and absolutely drained of energy and motivation to do anything.

As I was doing the dishes I let my mind drift off for a bit, thinking about how we humans let ourselves end up in a situation like this. Wondering why we willingly put ourselves through this kind of hell, again and again.

This reminded me of that we still live in an extroverted world and that it’s getting worse thanks to social networking services.

It seems the favourite stereotype is the person that is full of energy, never sits still, surrounds him/her-self with people, goes to social events, stays connected online, etc. In other words, this is what normal should be like.

While if you are the person that likes, and needs, some quiet time, not afraid to say no to a party now and then, might not spend all his/her time online, etc, ie an introvert; is a boring person that needs help to get out more and become more active.

Of course it’s very easy to only blame this on introvert vs extrovert stereotyping and social network services, but if you think about it, this is not a new problem. The delusion that you need to move fast to get things done or else you’ll always be last or come short of life is an old idea that seems to not want to die.

Yet we still continue to make the mistake that the person with the most friends, whom is always lively and makes quick decisions is the most successful person.

There is a fable written by Aesop, which is believed to have lived between 620 and 560 BCE. A fable most of us, hopefully, know as The Tortoise and the Hare. Where the proverb “slow and steady wins the race” comes from.

After so many years, decades, centuries, even millenniums, we still don’t get it. We try to juggle 10 to 20 balls in the air at once. Those who try to avoid doing that, not wanting to have up to 20 balls come crashing down on them like a ton of bricks, are told to do so, because it’s expected of them, or else their weird, boring and lazy.

We have one life and it’s important to make the most of it. But we need to stop living as if everyday we wake up is the last day on this earth.

It seems as if we’ll never learn from Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. Our fear of missing out on things will be the death of us.

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Australia has a history of undercover reporting

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I often mention here [on this blog] and on Twitter how I wish I had more time on my hands, doing more of what I really want to do, read more of what I want to [and should] read and write more of what I want to [and should] write.

Again that became very obvious when I wrote about my experience with an Australian senior journalist assuming undercover reporting is something you would only find in fiction.

NYU’s Undercover Reporting database is one of many things that is on top of my list to sit down with, a cup of coffee, and read thoroughly.

The lack of time to do such things became apparent when it wast pointed out to me by an academic from NYU that Australia actually has some history of undercover reporting.

And at least one known recent event where this has been applied.

Which I feel strengthens my criticism of how journalism is often viewed, treated and taught in Australia – at least [so far] in my experience. Because I was being polite to only refer to the Australian journalist that I have talked with as a senior journalist, leaving out the fact that this person is also an academic.

This also raises the issue the quality of journalism degrees in Australia. Is it this bad across Australia in general, or is this just one-off incident, where someone responsible for future journalists not knowing the history of [undercover] journalism in Australia?

If you are an aspiring journalist reading this, trying to get into the field by freelancing or you have just started your journalism degree; what you must do is to read publications about journalism from around the world. Don’t rely only on information from within the country, or even the area, you are in. Read about journalism from different academic institutions, think-tanks and other journalists around the world.

As a journalist it is not only important for you, but for your readers, that you have a very broad knowledge of what is going on in the world, even if you are writing for a local paper. Not to mention, that you know the history of the field you are working in.

Knowledge is power!