Reimagining Through Crisis: How the Covid-19 Pandemic Changed the Fortunes and Futures of Journalism Schools and Graduates

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic changed the viability of the commercial journalism landscape, through wave after wave of retrenchments and, in some cases, wholesale closures of media outlets. For young students and aspiring journalists, this meant reconsidering their passions and adjusting their expectations. Journalism schools in South Africa have for years been the de facto “factories” that create credible graduates able to man newsrooms when they complete their studies, but the changed landscape and the country’s unemployment statistics make it necessary to reassess curricula shaped around this driving imperative. Particularly for programmes that were designed for the sole purpose of creating “newsroom ready” journalists, what happens when newsrooms can no longer take in that potential labour force? What have recent graduates encountered in the working world and how do these experiences speak to their formative journalism education? Through their experiences and an analysis of the curricula of the full-time postgraduate Honours in Journalism and Media Studies programme offered at the Wits Centre for Journalism, the cross-sections of industry and teaching will be explored in this paper.