Embracing digital transformations: Dr Job Mwaura joins the WCJ and continues AoIR leadership role

The Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ) is pleased to welcome Dr Job Mwaura, who joins us as a Research Associate. Mwaura’s appointment follows his success in securing the prestigious Centennial Wits Postdoctoral Fellowship, standing out amongst 29 highly competitive candidates.

“Dr Mwaura brings a wealth of experience and passion to his new role,” says WCJ Director, Dr Dinesh Balliah. “His research primarily focuses on digital transformation and its impacts on society, the economy, and the environment. We are excited to support his work as he seeks to uncover opportunities for enhanced efficiency, cost reduction, and creating more equitable and inclusive communities driven by digital innovations.”

Click here to read the full article.

Media Workshop: Forensic DNA and DNA Profiling for African journalists

Do you want to know how forensic DNA profiling works, and how DNA profiling is used by forensic experts in Africa?

The Wits Centre for Journalism and Wits Justice Project, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and DNA for Africa, will host a free two-hour online workshop about forensic DNA in Africa, how the science works, and how DNA profiling and DNA databases can be used to aid humanitarian efforts and criminal justice investigations.

Click here for details and to register.

WCJ Webinar explores research report on climate change journalism in South Africa

Lecturer and coordinator of the mid-career master’s programme at the Wits Centre for Journalism, Dr Enoch Sithole, recently released a research report titled Climate Change Journalism in South Africa: noticeable improvements, less than adequate. Dr Sithole investigated climate change journalism and overall communication of the climate crisis by key stakeholders (policymakers, scientists, NGOs, the private sector and the media) in 2021-2022, and made a number of recommendations on how this could be improved.

In this #WCJWebinar, he is joined by award-winning environmental journalist and editorial director at The Continent, Sipho Kings, to unpack these findings and discuss the next steps needed to improve climate reporting in South Africa.

Click here to watch the full webinar.

WCJ hosts workshop on how children engage with the media as part of Child Protection Week

The WCJ was recently joined by Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), the South African National Editors' Forum, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Press Council of South Africa, to unpack MMA's new research paper on how children engage with news on social media, conducted by Phakamile Madonsela and Aislinn Delany. 

The paper set out to answer five questions: What does the social media diet of children (aged 13 – 17 years) look like? To what extent does news feature in their social media diets? If it does feature, what is the quality of the news they are consuming? To what extent do children possess the required skills to identify misinformation and disinformation in news on social media? How can social media platforms positively influence children’s engagement with news?

Both the recommendations outlined in the report, as well as feedback received from learners during the workshop, show us that journalists need to better represent and include children and their issues in the media.

View the full report here. 

WCJ hosts discussion on editorial policies and state capture

Code For Africa (CFA) has conducted new research on the impact editorial policy has in tackling media capture. The findings will be released in an upcoming report that highlights the importance editorial policies have in upholding journalistic ethics and ensuring transparency.

CFA partnered with the South African National Editors’ Forum to launch the report at the Wits Centre for Journalism on 5 May, followed by a panel discussion with Qaanitah Hunter, deputy editor for politics and opinion at News24; Phathiswa Magopeni, chief operations officer at the Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism and Chris Roper, deputy CEO at CFA. The event was moderated by Katy Katopodis, director and co-founder of Nala Media.

Click here to read the full article.

Educators should contextualise universal journalism values in the African context

Over 100 journalism educators from across Africa have over the past two months shared their views on what excellence in journalism education means. The consultations are part of Unesco's International Programme for the Development of Communication to promote excellence in journalism education in Africa, facilitated by the WCJ in collaboration with Rhodes University.

Click here to see a snapshot of the outcomes.

Upcoming short courses and certificates at the WCJ

The Wits Centre for Journalism has a number of exciting short courses coming up in June and July, giving you the perfect opportunity to upskill, take a refresher, or transfer your existing skillset into journalism and media. These courses are facilitated by leading industry professionals like Charles Leonard and Phillip Mogodi.

Upcoming courses include: 

• TV / Video Journalism (14 to 28 June)
• Radio / Audio Journalism (3 to 14 July)
• Introduction to Financial Journalism (begins week of 17 July)
• Creating the Media (begins on 17 July)

Click here for details.

The WCJ congratulates Media Monitoring Africa on its 30th anniversary. MMA has been a partner of the WCJ through the Reporting on Children course which is offered annually during the second half of each year.

• Freelance photojournalists worldwide are invited to apply for the Eyewitness Photojournalism Grant from Pulitzer Center and Diversify Photo. Grantees will receive US$3,000, and will also be mentored by other visual storytellers. Deadline: 30 June. Click here for details.

• The WCJ’s Africa-China Reporting Project invites photographers and photojournalists to submit images that best depict their interpretation of “Africa–China” for the upcoming ACRP Photo Exhibition. First place wins US$1,500 and a fully paid trip to the next AIJC Conference in November. Deadline: 3 August. Click here for details.

• The Fund for Investigative Journalism invites journalists around the world to apply for its next round of grants, to assist in producing high-quality, unbiased investigative stories that have an impact. Grant types vary. Deadline: 5 September. Click here for details.