Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership invites anyone interested in studying media management to register for the Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management (PDMM). The PDMM is designed to prepare recent graduates and working professionals to fast-track their careers to management positions in the media industry.
Our intensive fulltime programme aims to equip tomorrow’s media leaders with the knowledge, understandings, work skills and competencies which they need to lead innovative media organizations as these grapple with unprecedented challenges and opportunities brought on by new technologies.
The course is pegged at the honours degree level and is the only formal media management qualification in Africa and the developing world.
The PDMM addresses key issues confronting media managers including questions relating to, among others, the impact of new technologies on traditional media, the critical role that leadership plays in charting a media company’s direction and strategy, the management of media people in changing times, understanding media markets, audiences and advertisers, and making creative content decisions for multi-platform media in a rapidly changing media eco-system. It also introduces students to the fundamentals of media economics, human resource management and distribution strategies.
Primarily designed as a professionally-orientated qualification, the PDMM’s location on the same level as an honours degree on the South African National Qualifications Framework means it can also provide a stepping stone to a masters-level qualification.
The PDMM covers these eight Modules:
– Media Management Contexts, Policy and Institutions
This module assesses the role of media in society and the critical issues media managers need to consider regarding democratisation, regulation, diversity and transformation. It explores the structure of media organizations, governance and the impact of external regulatory frameworks, investigating how these can be addressed through internal policy development.
– Media Management and Leadership
This module provides a firm grounding in leadership and management theories and develops the skills and attitudes required to effectively motivate and manage teams of media professionals in a way that promotes performance. The module also incorporates a focus on skills needed in the areas if change management, decision-making and strategic planning.
– Human Resources Management
This module provides an overview of the different theoretical and practical issues involved in human resource planning and development at a media organization. The module covers core human resource management functions and deliverables such as staff planning and policy development, job analysis, recruitment performance management, motivation and training and discipline.
– Media Economics and Financial Planning
This module addresses the economic fundamentals of running a sustainable media organization: budgeting; cost control; revenue generation as well as strategies for fundraising and accessing financial support. It provides participants with the financial planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting skills required to ensure an organization meets its fiscal goals.
– Markets, Audiences and Advertising
This module provides an understanding of media markets and the strategic and analytical skills needed in ensuring media products achieve optimum penetration in competitive environments. It covers the knowledge required to conduct, commission or analyse appropriate research and the fundamentals of positioning, marketing and promoting media products.
– Managing Media Content
This module introduces participants to different approaches to content management and provision in the print, broadcast, online and converged media sectors. The module investigates topics such as media product development, niche marketing, convergence and divergence, and programming trends emerging in the twenty-first media industry. It also explores strategies of how to match audiences’ content needs with the needs of advertisers.
– Circulation and Distribution
This module addresses the pivotal strategic role that a circulation department can play in a print media enterprise. The module is designed to enhance participants’ understanding of the imperatives driving circulation decisions, as well as introduce them to strategies for effective sales management and distribution, pricing, subscriptions and sales team training.
– New Technology and Convergence
This module explores different ways in which media organizations use emerging media to add value to existing products, increase their market share and attract additional revenue. It focuses on different models of convergence and divergence, online content provision and the use of cellular technology, as well as the impact emerging technologies are having on legacy media enterprises.
Interested students do not need to have a degree in journalism or management, but they must have a first degree and be able to show why they are interested in completing a media management course.
Deadline for 2016 applications has been extended, we will accept student applications until the 26th of February 2016.
Please refer to the course brochure for more information and do not hesitate to contact the SPI if you have any queries on telephone 046-603-8949. You could also email s.manneli@ru.ac.za or y.madzidzela@ru.ac.za. Our website is at www.ru.ac.za/spi/
Please note: internal applicants do not pay a registration fee; however, all external students applying for the PDMM 2016 need to pay an application processing fee of R100 into the Rhodes University account. Please read the Checklist section on the ‘Application For Admission’ forms carefully to ensure that your application is processed. The forms are available atwww.ru.ac.za.
Rhodes University’s Bank Details are as follows:
Rhodes University
First National Bank, Grahamstown
Branch code: 210717
Account code: 621 4550 3076
Ref: PDMM Application Fee
SWIFT CODE: FIRNZAJI
