Grocott's Citizen Journalism Centre launched

In the same year Nelson Mandela was released, as a first year journ student at Rhodes, I walked into the editor's office at the Grocott's Mail - SA's oldest surviving independent newspaper - and asked Jill Joubert (who had a lit fag perpetually hanging from her mouth) if I could work for the newspaper. For free. I needed experience, especially as only 80 of over 200 journ students would make it into second year.

Tonight, many years later, the mayor of Grahamstown cut the ribbon at the opening of the new Grocott's Citizen Journalism centre that will see the paper and its website open to the citizens of of the area... they will be able to directly impact the content of the paper, whether by submitting a story and pics at the 10 PC stations in their main street office, or via sending sms's and mms's directly to their uniquely 'home-developed' Nika Content Management System (that I had the privilege of test driving this afternoon) that will see the content delivered straight into the news editor's in-box.

This conference has been an incredible meeting of dynamic, creative minds from right across the world. And every one of the delegates seem to have their hearts in the right place.