The Wits Centre for Journalism offers programmes for aspirant and working journalists. Located in Johannesburg – at the heart of the country’s media – it is well placed to work closely with the industry and working professionals to ensure a rich and exciting centre of teaching, training, research and public engagement.

The programme offers two streams: a career-entry route for graduates who want to become journalists; and a mid-career route for working journalists who wish to develop their skills and knowledge. In addition there is a Masters option with specialisations in financial and investigative journalism.

Students will find the course a rich mix of practical and academic training, designed to give them both the skills they need to operate in a newsroom and the analytic and critical knowledge so important to good journalism. Students will find themselves involved in real, live, practical journalism, ”out-of-the-classroom” learning in a range of traditional and new media.

Mid-career journalists will find opportunities to upgrade their skills, and branch into new areas.

PROJECTS, AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

The Wits Centre for Journalism programme also hosts a number of projects, awards and fellowships that have a substantial impact on the South African media industry. These include Africa’s most prestigious investigative journalism fellowship and awards, Taco Kuiper, the Ruth First fellowship, the Justice Project, Journalism and Media Lab, Civic Tech Innovation Network, Africa Check, Africa-China Reporting Project, and Citizen Justice Network.

CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

We hold a number of annual conferences and workshops of interest to working professionals. These include the African Investigative Journalism Conference and Radio Days Africa, which draws radio experts from across the continent and globe.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS

Through partnerships with Media 24, Reuters, Primedia, Independent News and Media and others. There are a range of scholarships and internships available to students.