The Student Fights for Education:The Revolutionary Transformation.

Photo credit:Twitter.

As a University student myself, I can be the first to account that I understand my fellow student's frustrations over high university fees.I am in full support of the #FeesMustFall movement since, I am currently struggling through paying for my fees at the University Of Johannesburg, as such I am not seeking any sympathy from anyone, I simply seek to bring to your attention seeing your single mother struggle to make ends meat in order for me to obtain my qualification is hard to witness at times, this is also one of the main reasons I do not take my education for granted.Therefore, imagine those students who are in a far worse position than I am, does the government expect money to be available buy oppressing the masses with high fees? I beg to differ.
Furthermore, take into consideration a young vibrant and intelligent male or female who comes from a disadvantaged background where even a computer is foreign to them when they come up to Johannesburg, and thus struggle to adapt  to university life, on top of the already grueling academic expectations, now they must struggle right through the year as they do not know where the money for their fees will come from, do the institutions of higher learning take this into account when hiking university fees?
Imagine excluding a potential breadwinner from obtaining an education that could break the poverty cycle at home.
The other day, as I was about to write my exam I overheard some of my fellow students saying "all those protesting are doing this for trend purposes" well, excuse since when did the fight for your education become about trends? this matter is bigger than any trend, if whites, coulards, indians, as well as other races outside of South African shores come to support the movement.I believe we need to re-evaluate our perceptions concerning race in South Africa.

High school pupils in solidarity with the #FeesMustFall movement.

 

 

 Nevertheless, as the above photograph illustrates this fight is not only going to affect the current generation of university students, but the coming one who if we do not continue the good fight will question us in future saying "why did you not fight when you had the chance"?
Honestly, as Khaya Dlanga put it on Twitter the other day "if we can justify Nkandla, we can justify #FeesMustFall" how long will government ignore the cries of the oppressed economically? public servants spend funds on luxury expenses, yet fail to pump capital into educating students? so the Minster of Finance would rather pump capital into nuclear programs which do not benefit us in anyway worse part its being given to Russia.
Do we have to be teargassed by the police to be taken seriously? how can South Africans produce Doctors, Lawyers, educated "politicians" to lead South Africa tomorrow.I am not in support of violent protests of any nature students should protest in a non-violent manner.
Excluding the black child from the education system entirely would make them underclass in society, in a way you are disempowering them
It is time our leaders take charge of the situation, and stop losing touch touch reality, how can Parliament continue as usual whilst students are outside fighting for their education?
To have Minister Blade Nzimande utter the words "students must fall" in a joking manner, suggests to me this movement is nothing significant to him.Is he not a leader of the South African Communist Party?
Ultimately, this is not the time for political mudslinging, political agendas must take a back seat this is OUR movement as students, this is a revolutionary period which requires extraordinary coalition, let us not loose touch of our objectives as students.
After witnessing police opened fire on unarmed students at UJ Soweto campus planted images of the apartheid regime, it ,made me realize that both generations are similar with struggles.
I for one can concur with the students anger over high university fees, had it not been for the grace of GOD, I might have dropped out university in 2013.
ALUTA CONTIUA.
 

Manufactured Intellectual:THE INSIGHTS OF A PR SCHOLAR.: MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: The Strategic Perceptions.

Manufactured Intellectual:THE INSIGHTS OF A PR SCHOLAR.: MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: The Strategic Perceptions.:                                         MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: The Strategic Perceptions. Dear Reader, I trust this edition of my blog find...

MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: The Strategic Perceptions.

                                        MEDIA PERSPECTIVES: The Strategic Perceptions.



Dear Reader, I trust this edition of my blog finds you well and in good health, with that said let me jump straight to the point of discussion.Over the past few weeks I have critically the way media operates and honestly this is the first time I have undertaken to analyse the media from a much more ariel perspective.This then brews an idea in me to pose the question: are we conscious of what we consume from the media? do we govern our lives according to the standards of the media? some of these thought provoking require considerate explanations one way or the other.

Furthermore, having observed the media whether be it print, television, radio, as well as digital media which includes your News24 which has become a sensation even though it took a stance earlier this month to remove the comments section from their news website.Digital media in it's process has enabled there to be the birth of the Digital Leader like myself, I however, understand in that regard that society might have certain perceptions about the media, perhaps some individuals believe the media should be ''Public Relations Officers" and speak well of the country even though there are images which contradict each other, others feel the media can be somewhat biased at times, some also believe the power should ultimately rest with the receiver of the message  thus , allowing everyone to have a fair share of the action regardless of their viewpoint.

In saying this, I remember the grueling photographs I saw from Times Live which were taken by photographer James Oatway, when a man by the name of Emmanuel Sithole was brutally attacked during the xenophobic attacks which took place in April against my fellow African counterparts therefore, I believe such images needed to be exposed to us in order to illustrate the harsh realities of South Africa thus, the publication was correct in doing so.

Therefore, as The Strategic Media Observer I see the media being scrutinized for simply delivering messages which are thought provoking and strike quite a great debate amongst the public as well as Media Practitioners who represent various media agencies.

Even with the recent Fifa Gate scandal since at the beginning there was  an evasive correspondence from the footballing governing body but suddenly through media it has emerged that Fifa General Secretary Jerome Valke is the main culprit in the allegations after it was revealing he sold World Cup tickets at inflated prices and even before the allegations were confirmed via his suspension he himself got angry when asked about his involvement in the whole scandal.

As I conclude this edition of my blog post, remember that it is only the beginning of this particular series and as The Strategic Media Observer I have taken it upon myself to have a continuation of this discussion with you the reader and again inforgraphics will most certainly be available the next time you visit this site  however here are 7 tips on how The Strategic Media Observer conducts his media monitoring:

1. I regurlary make sure I visit a minimum of 5 media platforms daily whether be it print or online.
2. I pay close attention to what people on the ground are talking about for example the recent spate of gang violence which has crippled the community of Etwatwa in the East Rand.
3.I lookout for leading Journalists such as Billy Cooper from media 24.
4.I establish what type of content can be able to drive business.
5.I analyse the future of Native Advertising
6.I regularly engage with Social Media Influencers such as Rich Simmonds on Twitter.
7. Lastly, I stay true to my brand ideology hence I only engage in matters which will ultimately place the ''The Strategic Media Observer" brand in high esteem online and in real life.

That's it from me until next time

Stay being an authentic brand.

AKA AT HIS LEVEL BEST.

South Africa's finest Rapper AKA real name Kiernan Forbes is arguably at the prime of his career ever since I purchased his debut album Alter Ego in 2011 to his  latest 7 month old LEVELS which I strongly believe is a classic and far better than the other Hip Hop albums released last year and even those coming this year.Over and above that I can further add that during the success of his latest project LEVELS AKA managed to stay at the number 1 spot on I Tunes South Africa for several weeks undisputed without any competition until of course when Cassper Nyovest came into the picture and this I believe made things interesting and the whole industry took notice of both of them.                           

ABOVE: AKA'S LEVELS ALBUM COVER.

ABOVE:AKA'S ALTER EGO ALBUM COVER.

                                                                                             



                                                                                               

With that being said AKA also managed to rekindle his relationship with Head Honcho a clothing label/brand that contributed to his success in the past.He became the Brand Ambassador for Head Honcho offering a wide range of items from men to women this was a range huge success since all the clothing items from men to women this was a huge success since all the clothing items were practically sold out in every store they were sold.

ABOVE: Photo of AKA'S clothing range

To be quite frank and honest AKA is one of the few artists in this country who is coloured/blacks who can appeal to different markets in the music industry whether be it Black, White,Indian AKA is your man and, this is attributed to his performance at Jo-burg Day Music Festival last year which was organised by 94.7 Highveld Stereo.The video of his performance will justify this in the embedded link shown under




Since one of his ambitions is to conquer Africa AKA has done a great job in ensuring this becomes a success making tracks with the likes of Sarkodie from Ghana whom he featured on a track with J Something from Mi-Casa , Ice Cream  who featured him on a track N Word remix he also worked with Burna Boy from Nigeria and more recently Tresor.This proves he is on the path to being a continental force and hopefully the whole world.

His music videos are also a marvel to watch one of my personal favorites is by far Run Jozi which was shot in black and white in the middle of Johannesburg he even manged to close the Nelson Mandela Bridge during the shoot which I believe was quite very impressive from him.

AKA has also won numerous awards over the years and recently won a total of 4 awards at the SA Hip Hop Awards to add to the 2 SAMA'S 6 Metro's  3 Channel O's he already holds.I t is safe to say that AKA has hits only on LEVELS from Congratulate, Run Jozi, All Eyes On Me which also was number one on Channel O 's Top 30 count down, Pressure ft Reason, Kontrol ft Da L.E.S, to mention but a few and plus his album has only 11 tracks which does not bore the listener since I personally listened to it and I have to say the man has grown musically after sampling a few house music classics!!!!  

ABOVE: AKA AND CASSPER NYOVEST MAKE PEACE. photo by his Facebook account.

I believe his so called beef with Cassper Nyovest was a mere publicity stunt which did more good for him as it meant more publicity for him...DORI!!! be sure to follow this man on twitter @akaworldwide                                                           

AKA'S accolades.

                                                                                           
                                                                                           

New Age ANC Meets Social Media

The  African National Congress has entrenched its self with the new age, after embarking on the #AmandlaChallenge, that saw a Social Media phenomenon which appealed to people from all walks of life.Furthermore, I honestly believe this Social Media campaign changed my perceptions regarding the way political parties communicate with citizens for the first time I felt part of something meaningful and I am in charge of a campaign run by a political party which then made me realize how the African National Congress has moved away from the traditional norms of doing things.                                                                                         
However,this campaign was also ignited by the fact that the ANC hosted its 103 year birthday celebrations in Cape Town.Meanwhile,it kept us as the public on our toes and ended up taking selfies/pictures showing my admiration for the party.    

                                Record label owner/ musician Arthur Mafokate who already accepted the                                                                           #AmandlaChallenge during the ANC's birthday celebrations in Cape Town.
   
  Billed as the biggest Social Media campaign by a political party in South Africa which swept across Twitter,Facebook as well as Instagram an example can be given by the following link.I can further attribute this to the trends  on Twitter I observed #AmandlaChallenge again since various media personalities accepted the challenge it went viral instantly since I myself hoped I contributed immensely on the whole campaign.           
                                                              

Terry Pheto with a fellow ANC supporter during their birthday celebrations in Cape Town source: Sowetan Images.

THE DIGITAL TRENDS THE AMANDLA CHALLENGE SHOWCASED.

 Given my observations the #AmandlaChallenge followed five digital trends namely:''Future demands Smart PersonlisationSmart Personlisation,tailoring,4ts techniques,tools,technologies,terminologies,building multi- dimensional profiles'' again this can be used to rank key influencers for example, using celebrities as part of your campaigns as highlighted above.Another one is value evidence strategic planning this can be given by using all social media networks effectively hence it became the most successful social media campaign on the South of the equator.Lastly securing a reputation for content leadership I can safely say it then ignited people's hopes regarding the African National Congress.
                                                                                                                                   

                  OVERALL IMPRESSIONS ON THE MEDIA CAMPAIGN.                                    

   I can safely admit now that Social Media is effective when handled correctly more especially by a political organization which then must also accommodate the youth, this proves that the New Age ANC does not bore people  and I take it this maintains relationships with me the consumer of their product.
                                                                                                            

I further realized that even though during last year when the ANC was going through an image reputation crisis with the Nkandla saga which I personally think was one of the worst PR nightmares I have ever witnessed in my entire life.Again this brought back support and ignited the party's followers and it was evident during their birthday celebrations in Cape Town last month.

DJ Sbu shwoing his support towards the Amandla Challenge /goo.gl/olMwTw source:Sowetan

Ordinary citizens like this father and son showcased the success of this campaign. source: Twitter

                                CONCLUSION

I conclude this by making this personal statement:without Social Media the audience can never be fully satisfied,I trust that Social Media influencers such as Era Baloyi,Khaya Dlanga,Justice Malala, Fikile Mbalula, and Berry Bateman all have an impact with regards to the sucess of this kind of Social Media campaign.