Introducing the SPI scholars

By Ettione Ferreira

The Sol Plaatje Institute for media leadership introduces the new Primedia and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) scholars for 2014:

The 2014 Primedia Scholars

The Primedia scholarship encourages students to focus on digital media advancements during the course. This year Primedia chose these four PDMM students:

Lengwadishang ‘Lee’ Ramphele

Lee received her BA (media and communications) at the University of the Western Cape in 2004. In 2011 she started working for a community radio station, Phalaborwa FM as the program manager. “Being awarded a scholarship to study the PDMM is a dream come true. I have always had the urge to study further but never got the opportunity…My biggest aspiration is to get a job in one of Primedia’s radio stations,” Ramphele says.

Neo Khoza

Radio broadcaster at Rhodes Music Radio (RMR), Neo, has a BA in journalism and media studies from Rhodes University. She proclaims that she wants to become a developmental journalist and use radio as a tool to tell the stories of people who need it. She also wants to be a media leader who, in her words, “shape current media content and hold media accountable to those ideals that make it a vehicle of social change and upliftment.”

Qama Qukula

Cape Townian, Qama, completed her undergraduate degree last year at the University of Cape Town, graduating with a BA in film, television, media and writing. She is interested in television production and programming mainly and wants to use the PDMM course to prepare her for the media world. She wants to tackle pressing issues in the country through television and explains, “I aspire to generate unique local television content that unapologetically addresses the complexities of race and sexuality in our country, as well as the notion of body politics.”

Sithandwa Ngwetsheni

Sithandwa finds herself close to home as she comes from Port Elizabeth. This B.Journ graduate specialised in radio and according to her, “radio production is my first love because it allows me to create and to escape into other worlds.” She wants the PDMM course to help her understand the business side of media organisations. She wants to empower the youth of today and help them connect, breaking down barriers. Sithandwa emphasises the importance of education and helps children from Nathaniel Nyaluza High School with their school work and life skills.

The 2014 OSISA Scholars

The OSISA scholarship for SADC women leaders focuses on the empowerment of women. Meet the three scholarship winners: Baboki Kayawe

In 2009 Baboki graduated at the University of Botswana with a degree in media studies. She then worked for a daily newspaper, Mmegi to start off her career in journalism. She is also part of the World Association of Newspapers and Publishers’ empowerment drive which focuses on women in the media in Southern Africa. It is here that her interest in media management became promonent and she decided to do PDMM. She was a suitable candidate for OSISA with her focus on women in the media. “I hope to learn a lot from PDMM on media convergence and divergence…” she says.

Chisomo Ngulube

“Journalism is an exciting profession, more often not too predictable,” Chisomo summarises her interest in media. She lives in Malawi and graduated with a BA in journalism in 2003 at the Polytechnic. After which she worked at Nation Publications Limited, one of Malawi’s leading media organisations. She then became sub-editor at the sports desk. This position saw her making history as the first woman to work for the sports desk of the newspaper. She also obtained a Post-graduate diploma in Media for Communication in Development, from the University of Malawi. She found herself in broadcasting after moving to Television Malawi. She became a member of the editors group, Women’s Edition. She finds herself now in the chief editor position and wants to build on her managerial and leadership skills within the media industry, thus making PDMM the perfect choice. Her strong background as a woman making history landed her the OSISA scholarship for SADC women leaders.

Inutu Himanje

As Head of Production and Operations of TV2 at Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) Inutu supervises a team of television producers, graphic artists, editors and cameramen. With a journalism degree from Zambia and her M.A. in international journalism at City University in London, she is well equipped for the journalism world. However, this does not give her enough for her role as a manager. "So far my media training has focused exclusively on journalism, but I need to develop knowledge and skills in other areas of management," Inutu says. The PDMM course will help Inutu and the others understand the role of a manager in the media environment.

For more information about next year’s PDMM course email l.snam@ru.ac.za

Evaluation of a scholarship programme

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) invites applications from suitably qualified consultants who will carry out an evaluation of a scholarship programme that has been funding the education of Southern African media leaders and managers at a leading South African university.

Background

To date the scholarship programme, which has targeted women, has funded around 20 media managers from across Southern Africa since its inception in 2006. Most of these managers today occupy mid-level or senior positions in their media organizations, contributing to staff diversity and transformation of how these media institutions are managed and led. Some of the beneficiaries have gone on to do further studies in media management and/or in journalism.

Terms of Reference

Suitably qualified and experienced consultants are expected to cover the following broad areas, although some of these do overlap:

Assess the impact of the scholarship programme on beneficiary media managers’ professional careers and on their organizations;

Assess the effectiveness of the scholarship programme in empowering beneficiary media managers to become better skilled and knowledgeable managers in their organizations;

Assess the relevance and utility of the programme to the beneficiary media managers and their organizations; and

Make appropriate recommendations on how the programme could be strengthened to better fulfil its key objective of mainstreaming women into leadership positions in the region’s media.

Scope of Work

It is anticipated that the evaluation will involve a fair amount of interviewing a representative sample of the scholarship beneficiaries, primarily using electronic and/or telephonic communication, and interviewing in person the key implementers of the project at OSISA and at its partner university. Using the Terms of Reference above, the appointed consultant will deliver an interim report by no later than 31 March 2014 and a final report by no later than 30 April 2014.

Candidates

Candidates must have a thorough understanding of the dynamics and complexities of Southern Africa’s educational and media sectors and ideally should have conducted a similar evaluation for a reputable organization, preferably an international non-governmental organization. Candidates will have postgraduate-level education and experience in research in the social sciences. Candidates should send their applications, which should include a detailed CV and a motivation on how they will approach the evaluation, their methodology and the expected consultation fees, to benedictk@osisa.org, with a drop copy to s.mbengashe@ru.ac.za. Applications close at mid-day on 28 February 2014. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

SPI reflections on 2013

Words: SPI Course Coordinator Linda Snam Editing: SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa

2013 has been an exciting year for the SPI. We started off in February with the arrival of PDMM students and, in no time, the year is soon coming to a close. We had an eclectic mix of students that kept us company throughout the year, and during every vacation period we would feel the quiet that we feel right now with everyone heading back home.

We knew who the perennial late-comers were and those who always came to class on time and, as colleagues, we at times would joke about how, each year, each PMM group of students is so different from the other.

We wish all the members of the Class of 2013 real success in their careers in the media industry and we would like them to keep in touch with the SPI, regularly updating us on their successes and challenges in the real world of work.

We also look forward to welcoming the new 2014 PDMM students, who will be joining us shortly (how time flies!) in their quest to learn new knowledge, understandings and skills on how to become better media managers and leaders.

Below we capture some observations from a few of our current 2013 students on what the PDMM meant to them:

Zimbabwean student Robin Tatenda Chaibva says the highlight of the PDMM for her was the way in which the course encouraged students to reflect on the kinds of leaders they would like to be. Robin has a Bachelor of Science degree and she created a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog called “Concrete Jungle” before she started the PDMM course. Her blog has been ranked in the top five of the Zimbabwe Fashion Week fashion awards.

MTN scholarship winner Mike Moodie says he decided to do the PDMM because he wanted to learn about the business side of media. So far, he says, the PDMM has given him a good understanding of the industry. Moodie completed his mid-year participant observation at the Media24 publication Men’s Health and has described his experience as “the best”.

PDMM student Babalwa Nyembezi spoke about her time as a participant observer at Primedia in Cape Town and Johannesburg. She has been invited to return there to work for them again. “Who knows what can happen when you do this course?” she said. Babalwa was awarded the prestigious scholarship from Primedia to study the PDMM.

We welcome applications from anyone who already has a degree – any degree really – who is interested in studying media management at the SPI next year. The applications are still open until the end of January next year. For more details on how to apply, please go to our website at http: //spi.ru.ac.za. Also, don’t hesitate to contact me, Linda Snam (l.snam@ru.ac.za) should you have any questions/issues regarding the application processes, procedures, requirements, etc.

During the year that is closing, we also educated and trained more than 160 people from the African media industry through a range of our media management short courses. We have repeatedly trained on-site as well at the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) in Johannesburg and at the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation in Victoria, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

We will conclude the year with an on-site training course in digital media management at the Zambia Institute of Mass Communication in Lusaka. The experience that the course delegates take out of these courses is tremendous, they keep telling us in their feedback. They also benefit from a rare networking opportunity with and sharing work experiences with course attendees who come from different African countries and varied media institutions.

We are grateful to OSISA for its generous scholarships support for 20 PDMM students from across Southern Africa over the past five years, to MTN for supporting 20 students for the PDMM and 130 course short participants from the South African media in five years, and to Primedia for sponsoring five scholarships for PDMM students in the past two years.

We are also grateful to Media 24 for lending its support to the South African community print sector by sponsoring 12 participants to attend a short course customised for this key sector at the SPI this year.

All of these sponsors have made a huge and positive difference to the lives of so many media people, and the SPI thanks each and every one of these sponsors for their generous support and keen awareness of their corporate social responsibility and corporate social investment.

The research arm of the Institute launched a new media book at this year’s annual Highway Africa Conference. This event was well attended, with some of the book’s contributors talking about the chapters they wrote for the book.

All in all, a very exciting and yet still challenging year. We now look to the joys and the unknowns of 2014!

 Linda Snam is the SPI Course Coordinator, Marketing and Communications Officer. She can be reached at l.snam@ru.ac.za; telephone 046-603-8949; telefax 046-603-7257.  Editing by SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa (f.mdlongwa@ru.ac.za).

Rhodes journalism graduate pays it forward

By Annetjie van Wynegaard

Rhodes University journalism alumnus Kgaugelo Pule returned to the institution this semester to participate in a five-day short course, known as the Essentials of Broadcast Management (EOBM), that is run by Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership. The course was held from 21 to 25 October. Pule is Head of News at Unisa Radio, where she oversees and trains the news team and division. She teaches and trains 12 students on how to compile news scripts, edit audio using various editing software and write articles for two students’ online platforms. Pule says her biggest achievement has been teaching non-journalism students radio production for Unisa Radio’s human story feature – go to http://unisa_radio.podbean.com/ for a sneak preview.

We caught up with her for a Q&A on her life, journalism future, and advice to current students.

Q: What was it like to come back to Rhodes University and be in the classroom again?

A: It really felt surreal to be back at Rhodes again. It was great touching base with a few of my friends and lecturers.

Q: How did you find the Essentials of Broadcast Management course? How has it informed your area of expertise at Unisa?

A: The course was good and I thoroughly enjoyed the presentations. It has helped me tremendously because at Unisa I and my two other colleagues started the online campus radio station in 2010 with little knowledge about how well established radio stations run. So starting one from the ground was challenging as Unisa has never had a campus radio station. So we had to build in structures and policies and get students to know about their station and how they can tune in via their mobile devices.

Q: Tell us about your journey after Rhodes. How did you get to where you are today?

A: After Rhodes I went to Media24 and worked as a multimedia content producer, and then Unisa called me to start up the radio station, together with the student news agency. This journey has been roughly three-and-a-half years. During this time at Unisa I’ve gone to wear many hats – first, as internal communication officer, and then as the campus news head where I focused on training students who were studying communication science. My journey at the station has sadly ended as I’m now heading up the social media strategy at Unisa, but will very much be part of the radio station. I intend on doing my MA about the station, God willing!

Q: What are your hopes and dreams for the future? Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time?

A: Well, as I’ve mentioned, I’d like to complete my MA and perhaps go into brand leadership or online reputation (management). I’m still young and on a journey, so wherever God opens (career paths) I’ll go.

Q: Why have you chosen this particular career path?

A: I specialised in radio in my third year, then went on to do new media as part of my fourth year, so I wanted to do anything related to radio and new media.

Q: What advice can you give to students who are studying journalism right now? Any tips of the trade you’d like to share?

A: Hmmm... Do as many internships as possible during vacation work. Those opened up many opportunities for me.

Q: In your opinion, what can journalism schools do to prepare students better for the industry?

A: Prepare them to be multi-skilled and creative so that they can wear many hats wherever they go.