Revisiting South African Journalism Education in the Post-apartheid Era

As elsewhere in the world (Frölich & Holtz-Bacha, 2003; Murray & Moore, 2003), journalism in South Africa is still, after decades, trying to find its niche within the university scholarly environment. Since the turn to democracy in 2004, journalism and journalism education have experienced profound changes. Technologically, reporting has moved from a position where conventional printed media, radio and television dominated, to a landscape where the internet and satellite technology enabled all those with access to the internet to be a ‘journalist’ of sorts. The political landscape transformed almost beyond recognition, and so did the need for a new approach to journalism education. The Cold War ended, Communism was no longer a threat to the West and South Africa moved into the continent to re-discover its African roots.