Rhodes University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS) is compiling a book in celebration
of its 50-year anniversary. By reflecting on the school’s five decades of teaching, research and
media-making, the book will focus on JMS’s contribution, historically and in the contemporary
setting, to journalism in South Africa.
We are inviting written (200-500 words) and photographic proposals around the following themes:

1. Apartheid and the beginning of resistance in the 1970s
2. The state of emergency, increased resistance and international pressure in the 1980s
3. Peace negotiations and democracy in the 1990s
4. The dawn of the internet/ information age in the 2000s
5. The influence of social media on journalism from the 2010s until present.
6. Looking to the future. The state of journalism to come.
   

We are looking for personal narratives but also essays or long-form articles exploring the contextual
and political situations the School lived through, and think pieces articulating the future of
journalism and journalism teaching.
Proposals should be sent through as a single Word document with a short bio and some examples of
your work. If you have accompanying photographs or illustrations, please send them to us.
Email proposals to: jms50@ru.ac.za
Use the subject line: JMS50 book proposal
Deadline for proposals: 22 January 2024
Please note that submissions are unpaid.
About Rhodes JMS:
Established in 1972 the School of Journalism and Media Studies has made a name for itself as
offering a practice-based approach to media-making together with critical intellectual thinking and
research. It is internationally renowned as one of Africa’s pre-eminent media education institutions
and one of the finest in the world.