Anticipation mounts on the South African Rhodes University campus as construction of a new high-tech media training facility comes to a close. After its expected completion in November 2005, the complex will house the universitys entire Department of Journalism and Media Studies, and provide a spatial hub linking media training institutions from across the African continent.
Essentially, the idea of the hub will be to provide a common ground technologically for collaboration in areas of expertise of the participating institutions or programmes. These long-distance collaborations will be possible with the newly converged teaching facilities, IT enabled conference rooms, the post-graduate media lab, and the many flat-screen panels to showcase cutting edge work being done with the African Media Matrix, as the facility has come to be known.
The Rhodes School of Journalism has a high level of expertise in areas such as Cultural Studies, New Media and South African Media Policy, and hopes the communication capacities of the new building will allow the creation of a deepened well of knowledge and training resources for the continent. One example of the collaborations made possible by the construction is the joint Masters of Arts to be offered by Rhodes School of Journalism and Makarere University in Uganda, where a strong Environmental Journalism program is being developed. There is no limit as such to the number of participating institutions, but the scale and intensity will be determined by capacity, resources, and the degree to which the network enriches its participants’ core business, says professor Guy Berger, head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University.
All this differs from the current situation at Rhodes School of Journalism where the five specialisations (New Media, Writing, Editing and Design, Photojournalism, Radio Broadcasting and Media Studies) are instructed in separate buildings scattered across the Grahamstown campus. The sheer pressure in balancing our work within currently severe space constraints, makes it difficult to concentrate energies on developing structural relations with other teaching institutions and media elsewhere on the continent, urges Berger. Rhodes journalism students should feel more of an identity with the media situations in other parts of Africa.
In addition to combining learning resources from across Africa, the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies will begin integrating theory and practice in areas of both old and new media. Students will be sensitised to understanding and making media in a holistic sense, said Berger. They will be able to work with designers and photographers and new media producers who output content to web and cell phone.
Beyond advantages the facility will provide Rhodes journalism students, innovative new solutions to economic and epidemic problems facing Africans could result from the new communication abilities. There is a huge amount South Africa has to learn about experiences with small-scale publishing, and successful communications for the development of HIV prevention. Sharing pedagogical wisdom would be valuable. The new facility will be a symbol of hope and of a long-term commitment to journalisms role in the continents revival, notes Berger.
Professional African journalists would also benefit from the expansion of Rhodes high-tech capacities. Projects such as Highway Africa, the African Economic Editors Forum as well as African Economic Editors Network have attracted many mid-career journalists to visit and undergo training at Rhodes School of Journalism. As a result, the school runs approximately five short courses a year for media managers and leaders on both the editorial and business sides, covering both print and broadcast. In addition, each year two or three short courses in ICT use, reporting ICTs, and economics journalism are provided to professionals in the field. There is also a part-time MA programme, where mid-career journalists train at Rhodes on six occasions over two years. Those experiencing these opportunities will have their time enriched by the new facility, says Berger.
The 615 journalism students, staff and professionals training at Rhodes Journalism School will enjoy the state of the art facility thanks to funding by leading South African media and entertainment corporation, Johnnic Communications. The companys CEO Connie Molusi, himself a Rhodes School of Journalism alumni, has contributed 4.6 million Rand (US$715,000) towards the media matrix. The grant is part of a long-standing symbiotic relationship between Johnnic and Rhodes School of Journalism. Rhodes has been the main source of recruitment for us. Most of our journalists are graduates of the universitys journalism school, said Molusi.
Over the years, those graduates who have joined our company have risen to top positions in editorships and management. The company offers internships linked to scholarships, and also visits once a year to interview, adds Berger. Johncoms heavy investment originally persuaded the University to give the go-ahead for the new building. Other donors and the university itself are covering the balance after the Johncom donation. The cost of the completed facility will be 24 million Rand (US$3,7 million). Rhodes University is working on a "rolling" strategy that will mark the launch of the new African Media Matrix in a number of ways, commencing in December and running through 2006.