Media School (Varsity Newspaper project)
The Media School is an organisation that receives resources from VARSITY newspaper,
supplemented by the newly-formed Community Development Forum. MS teaches journalism,
English language and 'life-skills' to roughly 150 learners in grade 9-matric in four Philippi high
schools. MS is supported by teachers in these schools and has received requests to expand to
other schools in the area although due to the constraints of a small volunteer pool this is not
currently possible.
The final 'product' of the MS program is a semesterly student-produced newspaper at each
school, although to get to this level learners are required to complete two curricula, one
introductory and one advanced, in which visual literacy as well as writing and photographic
skills are introduced and developed. Through this learners gain confidence in their ability to
write and pleasure of seeing their work in print. Their English abilities often show marked
improvement which impacts on their matric results across the board. Due to the strong
working relationships that the MS has with UCT's Film and Media Department, VARSITY
newspaper, TeamTalk Media and the South African Environmental Project (SAEP), learners
are exposed to a wide variety of activities beyond the scope of MS or school curricula. This
includes attending short courses at UCT in documentary and radio production, camps for
senior learners in the program, excursions to Cape Point Nature Reserve, tours of Bush
Radio, SABC and eTV (the former resulting in 5 learners being offered internships and
training at the station).
TeamTalk have also recently initiated a job-shadow program at their offices in the CBD, and
intend to become more involved in the MS, financially and in terms of their own staff
participation in skills sharing and development. The excellent relationship with SAEP allows
MS to tap into the skills and experience of a fully-fledged non-profit organisation, and means
that student-volunteers receive training and support as well as gain exposure to how
organisations beyond the scope of a university operate. Due to the relatively small size of the
MS, volunteers are required to commit to the project and to 'get their hands dirty'. The result
is that all who are involved care deeply about their classes and gain tremendous satisfaction,
as well as practical skills from the work that they do.