I recently completed a course in search engine optimisation through GetSmarter, which offers an online platform for short-course training from the University of Cape Town. My statement of results is in, and so is my certificate. My pieces of paper made me happy. As did the 10 weeks of being a student again (one of my most recurring dreams is that of returning to university). I’m a serial over-achiever in exams, motivated to learn and…
In mid-August I spent two days at the Menell Media Exchange Conference in Johannesburg. The meeting, organised by Duke University, aims “to create and support a sustainable and robust media community in South Africa and beyond, through programs, fellowships and conferences”. This year’s event was around the theme of Truth & Trust and is well-documented in stories, videos and podcasts by student journalists covering the event (Friday and Saturday), and I am not going to…
Life lessons learned in primary school stick in the mind. It’s important to looks after books, for instance…
There are different kinds of editors, who do different things to text. Here’s a quick guide to the main ways something you write might be changed…
We have been fully supportive of our municipality in its efforts to stave off the day when the dams run dry. But now I have had enough.
When I was a full-time journalist, I kept an eye on news and views about my industry – and did more of that as the years wore on and it became apparent that my industry was in Big Trouble. Now that I am a freelancer and am able have a bit more of a flexible approach to how I use my working hours, I have a bunch of feeds I use to keep an eye…
When a friend shared an article entitled Carmageddon is Coming on Facebook, I read it with interest, and some irritation. The sub-heading of the article says humanity is “on the cusp of the fastest, deepest, most consequential disruption in transport history”. Writer Angus Hervey lays out what he thinks is going to happen to the transport industry over the next few years, courtesy of three technological waves: • Our ability to summon a car and…
