You do not pick fights with people who buy ink in barrels. This saying used to ring true when printed newspapers ruled the news roost. But, with bandwidth having replaced the aforementioned barrels, is there still a future for journalists in the traditional mould?
This issue was further compounded when Media24 recently announced that it intends closing the printed editions of five of its newspapers, which include Rapport, Beeld and City Press and the printed edition of Soccer Laduma, while the digital editions of Volksblad and Die Burger Oos-Kaap will also be no more. The Daily Sun, City Press and Rapport will henceforth be only digital publications. This scenario is not exclusive to Media24.
Hundreds of jobs are at risk, and wordsmiths are uncertain if there will still be workshops with the forges and anvils they need to ply their trade. Prospective university students who are keeping their head on a swivel looking for career opportunities might think journalism as a vocation is no longer a viable pursuit, but Prof Lida Holtzhausen, director of the School of Communication at the North-West University (NWU), says that it is a profession that should not be discounted.
On the contrary: “Looking at today's changing media landscape, one may assume that the days of journalism are numbered. However, this cannot be further from the truth. Although technology has been disrupting the way in which news is published, quality journalism, no matter how it is shared, is more important in the world – and in South Africa – in 2024 than ever before. Journalists are the custodians of quality information in a post-truth world in which the battle against mis- and disinformation and news fatigue is fierce and sometimes – as was the case during the Covid-19 pandemic – even a matter of life and death. In fact, the critical role of traditional journalism was foregrounded during the Covid-19 pandemic, as research shows that audiences returned to reputable news organisations.
“Quality journalism, in essence, is about the verification of information. This is why we believe journalists as professionals, together with academics and scientists, are custodians or protectors of quality information. For young people who are networked and connected to local and global issues via social media platforms, journalism remains a career that allows socially, politically and environmentally conscious and creative individuals to express the challenges of our complex world through written text, in various audiovisual formats and through digital shortform storytelling.”
In 1959, the NWU in its former guise was the first university in South Africa to offer a degree in Journalism, and in the decades since has adapted to reflect and provide for the evolving media landscape. A live online platform, threestreamsmedia, provides students with the opportunity to do real stories in real time, gain valuable work experience and build their professional portfolios, and the School of Communication has well-established links with the journalism industry, for instance with the National Press Club and the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ). This enables the School of Communication to continuously adapt its journalism education to reflect the latest trends in the workplace and to continue to produce journalists who are making their mark in the industry.
Cornia Pretorius, Journalism and Media Studies lecturer in the NWU’s School of Communication, a former print journalist and editor of the Africa edition of the online publication University World News, says that parents of prospective Journalism students should be informed of what the profession entails: “Being a journalist is not easy – never was, never will be. Be aware that journalism no longer entails merely writing articles. Writing remains a core skill, but the industry also needs researchers, fact-checkers, videographers, social media managers, subeditors, website managers, data specialists, graphic designers, sound engineers and search engine optimisation specialists. All these jobs are critical in the process of producing quality journalism.
“Journalism is also an industry in which graduates can become self-employed and be entrepreneurial, whether they live in Butterworth or Springbok. The NWU has student media platforms – radio and online news publications – where prospective journalists can hone their skills. The academic practitioners who teach Journalism at the NWU are also always willing to link students to opportunities to job shadow by tapping into their professional networks. One of these opportunities that the NWU and the School of Communication have created through a partnership with the organisers of the Momentum Aardklop arts festival, hosted annually in Potchefstroom, is to use a group of students to help with the coverage of the festival. The ‘Aardklop NWU Nuushonde’ (Aardklop NWU Newshounds) are willing to sacrifice their September/October breaks to create visual and written content across platforms – another chance to gain work experience and build their professional portfolios.
“Students who use the opportunities that come along during their studies and who shadow working journalists in the industry during holidays walk into jobs once they graduate because they have experience. What is critical is that parents encourage their children to constantly look at job advertisements to gauge the requirements, to follow journalists on social media and engage with news, to be critical thinkers who are allowed to ask questions and to job shadow. The bottom line is that there are jobs and opportunities for Journalism graduates who go the extra mile and not fulfil only the most basic requirements of a degree.”
The duo from the School of Communication describes a journalist as “someone with the assertiveness of a pit bull and the kind-heartedness of a Labrador. Journalism is an attitude, a fusion of curiosity, creativity, a can-do problem-solving mindset, hard work, determination and a public service orientation.” And, as long as there is news to be reported, the NWU will keep producing the newshounds and watchdogs who help to safeguard South Africa’s democracy.
Prof Lida Holtzhausen
Cornia Pretorius
