Wits Radio Academy 3.61

Based at the University of the Witwatersrand, the academy aims to make a special contribution to the development of radio in South Africa and beyond, with a particular focus on community radio.

The academy is based in the Kagiso Media Training Centre, which it shares with the university's campus station, Voice of Wits 90.5. On the edge of campus, and in the heart of Braamfontein, the centre is within easy reach of the major radio and other media groups that have made Johannesburg the country's - possibly the continent's - media capital.

The academy and station are institutionally separate, but work closely together: the station speaks to the campus and the surrounding areas, while the academy works with, through and alongside the station to offer training and other services to the broader industry.

Teaching focuses on thoughtful engagement with ideas and issues, while also emphasising the practical skills that practitioners need. Students on the Wits journalism programme produce news bulletins for the campus station, and some later move into internships with major radio stations - a first step into a career. Short-term courses are also designed to include practical work through the station and with other partner stations. Internships in other fields are available.

The academy aims to serve all sectors of the radio industry: community, commercial and public. Although it grew out of the journalism programme, it offers courses in all fields, from marketing to management, presentation to programming.

Based at Wits, the academy is well placed to bring the intellectual resources of one of the country's pre-eminent universities to bear on the challenges and opportunities facing radio in the 21st Century. In concrete terms, this means researching areas like the factors affecting the provision of news on local radio, or the ways in which radio stations are - and can - use the Internet. The academy finds innovative ways of making this research available to the industry and broader public.

The academy has an advisory panel, consisting of eminent people from a range of sectors of the industry.

Funding support comes from the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) and Kagiso Media, while a range of other partners have supported particular projects..