This is how social media images of a country inform one’s perceptions, and then stick like glue in this instant-info “Gutenberg Galaxy” of ours. You scroll through Google News, Facebook and Twitter, and powerful impressions of countries impinge on your subconscious without you being able to question them. Then you “form” an unmediated and indelible […]
Media
Posted inEquality, General, Media
Is psychology serving humanity?
By Suntosh Pillay Do we have the intellectual courage to ask what is “post” about “post-apartheid” South Africa? This question was, interestingly and perhaps not coincidently, raised at two separate conferences happening at the same time in Durban last year September. At the Steve Biko National Conference, Veli Mbhele raised this provocative and necessary question […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Parliament: Where rationality goes to die
The events in Parliament at the State of the Nation were nothing short of appalling. Much time will be spent analysing how this could have happened, what we do now and, what this means for the future of our democracy. That is good and timely. Parliament has been decaying since its democratic rebirth, hollowed out […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, General, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
In 76 countries, love is still a crime
Where are the gay couples in Valentine’s Day advertising? February 14 is another reminder that even the most intimate aspects of our lives continue to be controlled by enduring social, religious and political forces that are reticent to fully embrace sexual and gender diversity. While most criticism is against the commercialisation of love this time […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, Media
The dream of Jormungand – Japanese anime and wish-fulfilment
The more I see of Japanese anime, the more I am impressed by, and the better I understand the way that many of these popular movies address serious issues. A while ago I wrote on the anime series Psycho-Pass and its pertinence for the question of societal control, and I have just finished watching another […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
In defence of journalistic objectivity
The appearance in public of senior editorial members of the Independent media group in ANC garb has occasioned a vibrant if sometimes bitter debate about independence and partisanship. What set off a lively and sometimes-acrimonious debate was an article by Daily Maverick writer Marianne Thamm, who raised the idea of journalistic “objectivity”. She wrote: “The […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Sony cashing in on Kim Jong-un
This is a movie producer’s wildest dream. Make it look like you pissed off one of the most popular “love-to-hate” dictators in the world because you did a comic movie about having him assassinated by two United States late night talk show clowns. Have it leaked that his country, North Korea, hacked into the Sony […]
Posted inEquality, General, Media
Africa, the dark continent?
By Matthew de la Hey “The world is like a Mask dancing. If you want to see it well you do not stand in one place” — Chinua Achebe Do they know it’s Christmas? Well of course they do. They’ll probably go to church, and then spend the day with their families. I find the […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Why Zuma’s resignation is true if we say so
How do you get more than 350 000 visits to your website in just a few days? Claim that the South African president has resigned. Siyathokoza Khumalo created an online media frenzy with a blog post on November 3 facetiously titled President Jacob Zuma has resigned. Social media went nuts and the hashtag #ZumasResigned is still […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Beyoncé, ‘Girls’: The new prophets of self-obsession
I don’t like Lena Dunham, but I have my reasons. Dunham is the writer and creator of Girls, one of those “edgy”, sometimes-women-are-naked shows on HBO. Girls follows the lives of four young (and almost permanently and perhaps proudly unemployed) New Yorkers as they navigate the melodrama of their loveless love lives and self-induced trauma. […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
JSE launches petroleum jelly exchange
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange today announced it would launch an international petroleum jelly market in what is set to be the largest soft paraffin futures exchange in the world. This as growing volumes in the trade of multi-hydrocarbons followed in the wake of Jacob Zuma’s presidency in 2009. The market for petroleum jelly, the JSE […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Media, News/Politics
Numsa: Is this the left’s moment?
The announcement that Numsa would form its own socialist party should come as no surprise. Numsa’s battles within Cosatu (most notably with its historical rival, the Jacob Zuma-aligned NUM) and the ruling alliance (particularly with the Zuma faction, ostensibly on questions of ideology) have served as a generous forewarning that this was coming. Further, in […]