Journalism at Rhodes

By Philippa Bradbury

Hello. My name is Philippa Bradbury. I am currently a first year student studying Journalism. I am a quiet, organised person who just wants to write and Journalism seems like a wonderful way in which to do this. Do any of you really know why you want to do journalism? Do you love writing, do you want a job that is different from the more mundane, 9-5 kind of jobs or do you just not know what else to do at the moment? Whatever one’s reason is for choosing journalism as a career, I’m sure the one thing we can all agree on is that it is a hugely competitive world out there and we need the best qualifications offered to us.

Or do we?

Most students, especially those of us who are in our first year of Journalism at Rhodes University, are waiting for the mighty cut at the end of the year to determine whether we are on the road to graduating with Journalism as a major or not. It is a hugely stressful time with exams looming and Journalism portfolios to hand in and the question on everybody’s mind is “What happens if I do not get in?” You might be a good, diligent student who works hard and hands his/her work in on time, all the time but that does still not guarantee you a place in Journalism 2. Herein lies the crux of our blog, “What the hell?!” We want to address the issue that not everyone needs to do a Journalism degree or to study journalism to embark on it as a career path because when we take the matter down to its barest, smallest form with no frills or fancies, journalism is about good, solid writing and not about your degree.

Being a Journalism student from Rhodes gives one quite a bit of prestige. I know for a fact when I visited the BBC in July 2009, the head of the Africa Section was an old Rhodent and most people, even internationally, have heard of the Rhodes Journalism and Media Studies prowess. On the other hand, most people have also heard of Harvard but that does not mean that everyone who does not go to Harvard is not as every bit as successful as those who do.
If you all manage to get into Journalism and remain there for the years to come then that is amazing and obviously an honour but for those who do not, what the hell, keep writing and make it another way.