Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism

Purpose:

The Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism comprises three modules that form the core of the qualification that is, Journalism (including the fundamentals of Photo Journalism and Internet Journalism), Radio Production Practice, and Television Production Practice. This qualification will provide learners with the foundation to engage professionally in the practices of journalism, as well as radio and television production as they apply to broadcasting. Learners will learn the theoretical principles and fundamental skills of these sub-fields and the learners will learn to apply various tools and techniques in their procedural practices. These core modules are supported by various other modules such as Media Law, Media Skills, and Media and Globalisation - that build fundamentally relevant knowledge and skills for working in the world of media, broadcasting, and communication. Learners will learn to work critically, creatively and ethically in the analysis, interpretation and synthesis of communications - their own and that of others. They will develop sensitivity towards and awareness of social, economic, cultural, and political trends as they apply to local, national, and global issues. Underpinning the core of the qualification are modules that build on the wider knowledge such as Project Management and Finance in Media, which extend the learners' knowledge and skillsets in the broader business and interpersonal contexts of media broadcasting. All this is set within a Work Integrated Learning framework. Throughout the qualification, the knowledge and skills will be directed for application within the context of the workplace. In the final year this will be consolidated by practical experience in the industry so that learners are able to internalize the knowing, doing and being of a broadcast journalist.

Rationale:

This qualification is a specialization in broadcast journalism focused on preparing learners for the future of the job and consumer market arising from the 'disruption' being brought about by digitalization of the media industry. Digitalization and multimedia are changing the shape of the field of broadcasting. The boundaries between the device, the medium, and the mechanism have blurred. There is no longer a clear distinction between Television and Video, or between music streaming and Radio. Thus, one needs to take advantage of the changes. Complete digitalization is a certainty. As devices proliferate and content and creativity are democratized, the challenge lies in making better quality and more meaningful content that will be readily and easily shared with a wider audience. Production can be planned to meet the demand from users increasingly moving away from traditional patterns, who want access exclusive content when and where it suits them. "Technology is not a threat, new media doesn't replace the old, and it just gives a new framework to pull it through and creates more places for it to appear. First, it replicates old models in new ways but then it transforms them" (Goodwin, 2016). This qualification is part of the process of transformation. Journalists no longer have a monopoly on determining what news gets to the people. People are actively creating the news for themselves. Through this qualification, journalists will be able to determine how and with what kind of storytelling the issues and events facing society are effectively disseminated in the digitalized world of the 21st century. Learners will have a range of career options from general practitioners to specialists in a particular sub-field of broadcast journalism. They will be able to work operationally in the field, or, using the spectrum of knowledge in the different sub-fields, be able to move into business and strategic management within broadcasting. The Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism enables learners to develop a depth and specialization of knowledge, together with practical skills and experience in the workplace which will enable them to enter a number of journalistic career paths and to apply their learning to particular employment contexts. It also enables them to articulate to further learning pathways within the NQF. The institution has conceptualized the overall Bachelor's qualification within a Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) framework making provision for all four modalities of WIL in relation to the teaching, learning, and assessment strategy of the qualification and the associated practices.