SPI runs third in-house management course for SABC

JOHANNESBURG – Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership has just completed a successful in-house course in broadcast management for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in Johannesburg – the third course specifically run for South Africa’s public broadcaster in the past two years.

The July 8-12 course in the Essentials of Broadcast Management (EOBM) included delegates from the SABC’s regional stations. Howard Thomas, one of the SPI’s trainers on the EOBM, said: “These staff members are always appreciative of this type of training as it brings them together to exchange experiences with people who are closer to the head office and who have crucial knowledge of the operations and audiences of regional stations.

“With broadcasting expanding at an exponential rate, there is a developing shortage of skilled staff in all areas. The SABC is fully aware that as much as people need specialised skills and training, this training is of little effect without the context, the big picture.

“The EOBM does precisely this. In just a week, delegates get a clear picture of the context, the environment and the landscape of the media and how broadcasting fits into all this. Through the various modules of the EOBM course, delegates are given the crucial pieces that complete the jig-saw puzzle.”

Professor Noel Pearse taught modules on leadership and management and human resource management; Dr Mashilo Boloka focused on the emerging regulatory environment for the broadcast sector; Thomas lectured on advertising and marketing, as well as programme management; and Jolyon Nuttall took the SABC staffers through strategic planning and managing the budget. Professor Franz Krüger examined the role of editorial independence and media ethics in shaping credible content for a media company. Most delegates praised the EOBM course, saying it had given them key insights which they would use to improve the management and operations of their work places.

One delegate commented: “This course will enable me to do my job better because I now understand what is happening in the broadcast sector much better.”

Another said: “I now have a deeper knowledge on managing people, the marketing segments, behaviourial changes and egos and in how to deal with the performance of individual staff.”

In the past two years, the SPI has run a successful EOBM for the SABC, as well as another management course, the Essentials of Digital Media Management. Both were held on location at the SABC’s headquarters in Johannesburg.