Research Areas
Research undertaken by MA students
JMS staff list with areas of expertise
MA and PHD supervising areas of JMS Staff
African Media
While African Media might seem a broad area, it describes the vast gap in research into the media on the continent. Of particular concern are sub-areas such as:
- African media history
- The practice and politics of media production
- Media, democracy and development
Although these areas all overlap in some way, their delineation in this way identifies their focus—as micro or macro concern. African media history, for example would refer to key historical narratives of African media, based, in part, on selected country case studies or specific conjunctural moments: such as during times of extreme political repression; military rule; transitions to democracy etc. The practice and politics of media production could encompass detailed analysis of news production in print and broadcast newsrooms across the continent, detailing how internal and external forces (power of various kinds) shape news production. Media, democracy and development broadly relates to the different normative roles that the media can play—and the kinds of identities they enable in relation to broader political and social practices. All of these sub-areas are necessary for building a composite picture of African Media—so that we can better understand and potentially shape the kind of media that is most needed on this continent to enable the development of critical, open, and participatory democracies.
Journalism education
Journalism education is being debated internationally with considerable urgency as it confronts the challenges to conventional journalistic practice (e.g. commercialisation, shifts in technology; and audiences). Universities have the responsibility to develop appropriate interventions into the teaching of journalism. It is both necessary and important that African centres formulate their own answers posed by the international debates. Rhodes Department of Journalism and Media Studies is strategically located to play a leadership role in this process by encouraging research into appropriate curricula, pedagogies and materials into journalism education within a democratic frame. Currently journalism and media studies centres are being established at tertiary institutions across Africa. The lecturers bring with them knowledge and experience of local contexts but lack more rigorous theoretical frames in which to locate their ideas. For these lecturers, the MA would provide the opportunity to combine these two sets of knowledge and create new knowledge through their research that would benefit journalism across various African sites.
Recent Rhodes graduates now working in tertiary institutions, e.g. Makerere University, Uganda; University of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa; Evelyn Hone College, Zambia; National University of Science and Technology, Bulowayo, Zimbabwe, to name some.
New Media
While research within the School of Journalism and Media Studies has included areas of New Media, there are significant gaps in this research area, especially when considering the impact of New Media on the African continent. Much of today's research has focused on the medium, especially the Internet as a technological tool as well other ICTs. This has meant a gap in focusing on the impact of New Media on people and its community of users (especially African journalists). Areas which would be of value to research include looking at the impact of New Media (as a type of journalism) on the profession, on consumption, representation and access. While Africa's ICT and New Media connectivity and access is limited in many ways (beyond that of infrastructure, but including education, ideology and skills) the value of carrying out research on New Media is that it opens the way for changing perspectives and encouraging best practice as well as demonstrating the importance of understanding New Media as a concept, theory and medium for journalism and media in Africa.
Tabloid Journalism
The rise of tabloids has been greeted with ambivalence or hostility by many mainstream media professionals. However, neither they nor media commentators have yet asked the more fundamental question: Should the popularity of tabloids not be cause for a thorough re-examination of the dominant paradigm of journalism and the role of the media in post-apartheid society? Student research could address this question in a range of different ways.
Tabloid Journalism Questions.pdf
