By: Siyasanga Tyali
They could have chosen to go to any institution of higher learning in the world, but this year’s MA students chose the out of the way, relaxed but prestigious Rhodes University. The JMS alumni and events officer, Jolandi Snyders, titled them the “ardent Africans”.
Sarah-Jane Bradfield, Sharon Karamangi, Ntombomzi Mbelebele, Jolly Ntaba, Sihle Nyathi, Loisa Mbatha, Phillip Santos, Stanley Tsarwe and Duncan Collins have all made it to this year’s Masters of Journalism and Media Studies class. This year’s nine MA students were selected from 33 applicants. In making the selection, Professor Jeanne Prinsloo explained that they selected these students purely on academic merit.
South African-born Sarah-Jane said one of the reasons she chose Rhodes University was the fact that she couldn’t think of any better place to study than right here in the Frontier country. “After my BA I spent some time at Stellenbosch University doing Honours in Politics but realised how much I missed my hometown and the study of Journalism, so I decided to return and tackle the last year of a BJourn and then the big MA,” she said. Moving further north, the Zimbabwean-born Sihle Nyathi decided on Rhodes University because she views it as having the best journalism school in Africa.
Stanley Tsarwe, who is one of the students funded by the Knight Foundation, said one of the reasons that attracted him to Rhodes University is the fact that this university has a number of research areas supported by international funders. He explained that, for instance, the Knight Foundation has a very interesting focus on new media and media technology. Stanley aspires to contribute to the use of new media technology in Africa.” New media technology will provide a good platform that easily evade media censorship and provide a good platform for access to news” he said.
“Since I’ve been to Europe my main interest lies with Africa now, and I’d love to get as much travelling and journalistic experience in our neighbouring countries as possible,” said Sarah-Jane when asked about her plans when finished with her studies.
Most of the students studying towards a Masters in Journalism and Media studies at our JMS School are on scholarships which vary from the UNESCO peace/conflict scholarship, Beit Scholarship, Knight Foundation and the South African Reserve Bank.