Rhodes University School of Journalism & Media Studies About Us
About
The School
In its more than 40 years of existence, the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) has become internationally renowned as Africa’s pre-eminent media education institution and one of the finest in the world. A large part of this success is due to the holistic education JMS provides, combining media theory with hands-on application, imparting insight, knowledge and world-class skill sets. This integration of intellectual study and media production produces graduates that not only have the technical abilities to contribute to various media industries from the get-go, but also have the wherewithal to apply their minds to the bigger picture of the constantly developing role that media plays in society and its socio-economic context. In short, JMS graduates exude both an evolved level of thinking and superb technical prowess. It is no wonder then that some of Africa’s most respected media scholars and industry practitioners are JMS alumni, working in and out of newsrooms and institutions around the world, from major publications and respected broadcasters to start-ups and new forms of media production.
We offer six qualifications:
- a BA majoring in Journalism and Media Studies (three-year major)
- a Bachelor of Journalism (four-year degree)
- three types of post-graduate diploma (in Journalism and Media Studies, in Media Management and in Economics Journalism)
- an honours degree
- two types of Masters degree (one in theory course work plus thesis, another in coursework plus practice-based thesis), and
- a doctorate
We operate from the purpose-built Africa Media Matrix on Rhodes University campus with seminar rooms, laboratories and studios housed with the building.
CueMedia is a School journalism project involving daily online news, radio and television programming which runs (funding permitting) during the annual National Arts Festival.
Grocott’s Mail, the oldest continually produced newspaper in the country, is owned by Rhodes University and housed within the School. The newspaper (online and on paper) offers vac work and internships to students as well as collaborations on special projects.
The Highway Africa Centre is dedicated to the development of African journalism and hosts the largest annual media conference of journalists, editors and media managers on the continent.
The Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM), is a governance monitoring organisation whose activities feed into the curriculum offered to students on issues such as national, provincial and local government reporting.
The Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute is the School’s media management training arm, providing a postgraduate diploma in media management and short courses in various facets of media management and journalism.
The South African Reserve Bank Centre for Economics Journalism aims to improve financial, economic and business journalism in South Africa and on the continent. It offers a postgraduate diploma in economics journalism and short courses.
Africa Media Matrix
VISION STATEMENT
The School of Journalism and Media Studies strives to contribute to the commitment expressed in the South African Constitution to “heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights, [and to] lay the foundations for a democratic and open society”.
Our vision is informed by the following understanding of the media:
The media constitutes one of the powerful institutions that mediate our relation to, and experience of, the world.
The nature of such mediation is conditioned by the media’s particular political, economic, technological and historical contexts.
Consequently, these mediations contribute to the production and reproduction of the dominant relations of inequality that structure social life, and are implicated in questions of gender, class, culture, race, geography, sexuality, etc.
The School aims to produce self-reflexive, critical, analytical graduates and media workers, whose practice is probing, imaginative, civic minded and outspoken. Such graduates are equipped to act as thoughtful, creative and skilled journalists and media practitioners, who are able to make meaningful and technically proficient media productions.
The School seeks to make valuable intellectual contributions to the broader African media environment, to research, and to facilitate the integrated and ongoing education of media practitioners.