The Rhodes Journalism Review is a specialist magazine for journalists aimed at heightening their contribution to democracy and development. It is based at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University and has been publishing since 1990. The writers consist of practitioners in the field, media experts, academics, monitors and researchers. The Rhodes Journalism Review takes a strongly interventionist stance, setting agendas and promoting debates on critical media issues for journalists. It communicates successfully with striking and highly accessible design. The magazine is an integral part of the School of Journalism and Media Studies’ education of its own students and its extension and outreach to the wider world of journalism in South and Southern Africa, and into the rest of Africa. It has been used alongside training and conferences such as the annual Highway Africa conference and the Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute, and it has been taken to four world summits as part of the Rhodes University presence with staff and students participating and reporting on these issues from an African perspective (Racism summit in Durban 2001, World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002, World Summit on the Information Society 1 in Geneva 2003 and the World Summit on the Information Society 2 in Tunis in 2005).

The editorial board consists of members of the School of Journalism and Media Studies drawn from all the various centres and units in the School so as to ensure that this wide variety of expertise and contact with various social actors is inputted into the editorial mix of each edition.

Problems and issues RJR seeks to address
Rhodes Journalism Review seeks not so much to document the passing events and controversies involving journalists and journalism but rather to explore in a more sustained and issue-based way the methods, mechanisms and mindsets involved in a journalism that is more responsive and responsible in relation to its social and political role in democratic countries. We seek to put into practitioners’ and educators’ hands a tool for critical thinking, analysis and altered practice. This is done by commissioning a wide variety of points of view and experts on multiple subjects and by looking into and reporting on innovative practices and ideas which lend themselves to being more widely disseminated.

RJR staff
Editor: Anthea Garman (Prof)
Designers: Brian Garman and Kim Mathurine
Subediting and proofreading: Gillian Rennie
Administration and Finances: Belinda da Lange
Web management: Thomas Kapena