These instructions are intended for first- and second-year students: if you are in first year or second year, then these words of wisdom are for you! All students registered for a three-year BA or BSocSci with Journalism, or the four-year BJourn degree, are expected to complete “vac work” in the first half of the year (in other words, during the April and June/July holiday periods).

The onus is on you to locate, and apply to, the media organisation of your choice. We strongly recommend that you organise your vac work as soon as you can within the first term. This means locating the media organisation, contacting the editor or manager, explaining what is required of you to the person concerned, and confirming the dates when you will be in attendance. Do not leave organising your vac work till June: if something goes wrong, you may have too little time to change direction. Media organisations are approached for vac work experience by students from a variety of tertiary institutions, and you may be disappointed if no space is available at short notice. If you are not sure where to start looking for a host organisation, The Media Lists are a useful resource.

Why vac work?

This work experience is useful for three reasons. First, on a practical level, it orients you to the industry in which you may one day work. It enables you to get industry-related experience which you can use to inform your choice of career within the media. It is also a chance to develop a network of contacts, and to make yourself known to potential employers or colleagues. Second, perhaps more importantly from a teaching and learning point of view, it provides opportunities for you to reflect on the theoretical and media production work that you encounter each year at Rhodes. For example, at second year your shadow week reflection forms the basis of your Media Institutions course assignment. Third, your vac work is a significant element of your yearly portfolio, which you submit when you apply for admission to the next year of study. So, if you are in JMS 1 and wish to continue to JMS 2, or you are in JMS 2 and apply for JMS 3, etc, you need to present your vac work as part of your portfolio. The effort you put into your vac work report tells your teachers how committed you are to your chosen degree.

What is vac work? Where do I do it?

Vac work is a period of a minimum of 40 hours, spent at a media organisation of your choice. The media organisation could be a newspaper - Sunday Times or the Daily Sun are good examples of commercially-owned newspapers, but you could also consider a community paper such as Talk of the Town or TygerBurger; other news organisations are entirely digital, like Daily Maverick, while a news agency such as ANA collects and distributes news to sell to other organisations. It could be a television production company, for example Penguin Films, or one of the many radio stations of the SABC, or a private or community radio station: RSG, Jacaranda FM and Ukhozi FM have all hosted students from JMS. Magazines such as Getaway or Destiny, the communications division of the local government or an NGO such as Greenpeace: all provide experiences that will be useful and interesting. You must apply your mind to finding a reputable media organisation that fits your interests and career plans.

A tip: Bear in mind that smallerorganisations can be moreaccommodating of newcomers thanlarger ones. They are often short-
staffed and may welcome extra hands
on deck. So, don’t be afraid that your
local community paper will not be
“good enough”: you may end up
having a more interesting time than
you would at a more prestigious title.

Ideally your vac work should take place within a single week (in other words, a “normal” work schedule of eight hours a day for five days), so that you can form a coherent impression of the institution’s work rhythm. If you live in a remote area, and have difficulty with the costs involved in carrying out this field work far from home, you may choose to work for campus or Grahamstown media such as Activate, The Oppidan Press, Grocott’s Mail, Radio Grahamstown or RMR during the course of the year. Many students work for the student press, our community radio stations or Grocott’s Mail in addition to doing their vac work. This is of course your choice. Any and all media that you produce during the course of the year will help to bolster your portfolio. Students who do a variety of media work are at an advantage in their applications, but only work from the current year will be considered in that year’s portfolio.

What am I expected to do during vac work?

First year

At this level we do not require you to be actively involved in the production work of the organisation you join – this can be onerous for the organisation to arrange. Rather, you are expected to observe and reflect on the processes that inform the production of media at your host organisation, and to write these up as a report. You will include this report in your portfolio.

This is the basic requirement. Any media that you produce and include in your portfolio is a nice “extra”. You will write a letter to your host, to explain our policy and what we expect from you. The person who oversees your shadow week needs to be aware that the School does not expect them to provide you with practical assignments, although you can participate in these if the opportunity arises. He or she also needs to know that they are expected to fill out an evaluation form in which they assess your participation and performance. A draft letter and the evaluation form can be found below. Please amend these as necessary.
NB: you need to have completed your vac work in order to be considered for JMS2: your reflection, and your host’s evaluation form, are required for the portfolio.
Second year
The requirements are the same a above: However, the reflection now carries additional significance, as it forms the basis of your Media Institutions course assignment in the second semester.

Last Modified: Fri, 06 Mar 2020 09:11:16 SAST