JournalismIziko is a news site run by students enrolled for the Journalism Programme at the Durban University of Technology. It further aims at giving them confidence with their writing and broadcasting skills so that when they exit their final year of the National Diploma, they may be able to fit into the challenging and demanding profession of journalism. JournalismIziko is a project initiated b
y one of the lecturers from the Journalism Programme, Maud Blose who is holding a Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism, which she acquired from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Blose mentors students and invests her extra time after lectures working with the students who write and broadcast for the site. The students working for the site are volunteering their time when they are off their lectures. The site has five sections headed by the students. Maud Blose is the Chief-Editor of the site working up to being a gate-keeper, ensuring that everything that goes out online is of quality. The sections comprise Current Affairs, Features & Reviews, Entertainment, Sports, and the Multimedia section which specialises on all the technical know-how within the newsroom. Students who have been serving at JournalismIziko have had some of their work published by other external publications. Others are working with public relations companies as their skills cannot be ignored. The site allows students to showcase their journalistic skills. Some are specialising in news writing, others have chosen to focus on radio broadcasting and there are those who are interested in working with visuals, working hard producing television news packages. JournalismIziko, it is where journalism is brewed! It is where journalism students are groomed and at their exit level, they will be of good quality and add value to the media industry. When students leave for the industry, it is hoped that industry personnel would not have to start from scratch teaching them backpack journalism skills when employing them. The industry will build up on a good foundation that had been laid by JournalismIziko
