The Wits Centre for Journalism (previously the Wits Journalism Department) rebrands. 

The centre was set up in August last year and continues to establish itself as a journalism innovation hub and resource centre for journalists, academics and media practitioners in South Africa and the rest of the continent. A new centre also means a new look,; WCJ proudly presents a refreshing logo that signifies the esteemed Wits brand: 

The new logo for the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ) features modern and organic shapes and lines that reference the original Wits Journalism logo, and the university's colours, but which offer a fresh and instantly recognisable brand based on the centre's initials. The WCJ logo focuses on a custom-designed sans-serif type at its centre, with a border that ambiguously references media – from a speech bubble or quote to a news frame, a key on a computer, or even the borders of a page. On the top of the 'j' is a stylised comma, which implies speech, text, and parenthesis: there is always more of a story to follow.

Since Wits launched a journalism programme around two decades ago, it has built up a reputation as a leading provider of quality post-graduate teaching, thought leadership and practical engagement. The new centre will continue these activities, expand its focus on the African continent and on digital media while growing its research output. 

The Africa-China Reporting Project together with China Dialogue hosted the Journalists Training Workshop on Africa-China Relations and the Climate Crisis. Through the partnership, journalists were awarded reporting grants to investigate issues related to the China-Africa relationship and the climate crisis to explore topics around:

• Climate impacts, mitigation and adaptation
• Energy access and energy transitions
• Just transitions and the social aspects of development
• Critical mineral mining, especially those related to the global energy transition
• Low carbon transportation and electrification

The workshop intended to provide further support and capacity building for journalists and professionals investigating, reporting and researching how China’s engagement in Africa is playing out on the ground and in the context of the climate crisis. See full workshop training video and individual session videos here.

This year's programme for the African Investigative Journalism Conference is packed with hot discussions, interesting work from across the continent, cutting-edge digital tools and plenty of opportunities to meet and network. A top range of speakers will tackle topics such as health, climate change, the environment, migrancy, gender violence, artificial intelligence for newsrooms, the Metaverse for journalists and Follow the Money – investigating illegal financial movements.

Registration is now open and space is limited.

Researchers from the Wits Centre for Journalism recently met with French counterparts in the beautiful city of Nancy to discuss literary journalism and the Anglo-Boer War of 1899. The workshop forms part of a French-South Africa project “A Centenary of (Post) Colonial Narrative Literary Journalism in South Africa and France”, funded by the National Research Foundation (SA) and Campus France.

The war was selected as the first project of the two-year research initiative as it was the first global news event in South African history, attracting numerous journalists and writers, and fuelling a global publishing industry. As Wits researcher Mfuneko Toyana quipped, these publishing efforts with their speedy production, international circulation, wide use of pictures and focus on celebrities, “were the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook of their day”. The Wits group included Toyana, Professor Lesley Cowling and doctoral candidate Lesley Mofokeng. They were hosted at the University of Lorraine by Professor John Bak, a leading scholar in the field of literary journalism, and doctoral student Indiana Lods.

From a media innovation and tech festival to journalism conferences, the Wits Centre for Journalism has a packed calendar lined up.

• African Journalism Educators' Network meeting: 13 September 2022
• SACOMM annual conference for academics in southern Africa. This year’s theme is Unravelling Big Tech: Power and the Global South, to be held at Wits University: 14 – 16 September 2022
• Jamfest will be held in hybrid form with the theme Unplugged (but still connecting). The virtual programme: 19 – 20 October 2022. The in-person programme: 24 – 25 October 2022 at the Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Braamfontein.
• The 18th African Investigative Journalism Conference for journalism training and networking returns in-person and will take place at Wits University: 31 October – 2 November 2022