With the holistic and multifaceted study of issues pertaining to media and citizenship as its raison d’etre, the JMS Mellon Humanities Focus Area has fast become a prolific generator of relevant discourse spanning the complete audio-visual spectrum, from international discussion and global dialogue, to dynamic exhibitions, public lectures, podcasts and a blossoming online presence.
Verashni Pillay, Demelza Bush and Craig McKune have won the CNN Multichoice Africa Journalism Award for digital journalism; and received their award at a gala event in Lusaka, Zambia for the video "Leasing Scams: A Dummy's Guide.", which was created to explain the complex leasing scam investigation done by McKune.
Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Communications Studies at Leeds University in the UK, Dr Katrin Voltmer, is currently visiting JMS as guest of school’s Mellon Research Group, which focuses on media, citizenship and democracy – presenting various seminars to staff and postgraduate students on Media and Democratisation.