“You have in you so make use of this great opportunity”.
These were the words of encouragement by Professor Ahmed Bawa, DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, during the orientation of first-year Journalism students at the University’s City Campus this week.

The enthusiastic student journalists were given sound advice by Prof Bawa, other speakers and respected journalists who highlighted what the role of a journalist entailed and that with hard work and passion, they would become the best they can be.

Prof Bawa said there were approximately 91 000 candidates who applied for study at DUT and only 7200 could be and were accepted, adding that the Journalism students should consider themselves “deserving” for getting placement into the programme and University.

“By choosing this course to study to become a journalist, you are choosing the path of courage. You cannot be swayed by power and money, you need to stand up for the truth and what is right. You are going to have to work hard to achieve what you want to achieve.

It is an opportunity to grow emotionally, socially, intellectually, so you have to make sure that you use the three years of study to the best of your ability. You should also be orientating yourself to do your Master’s or PhD degree. The responsibility is yours,” he added.

Also giving insight into their course was DUT’s Associate Director: Journalism and Level 1 Co-ordinator, Advocate Robin Sewlal, who spoke about the role of journalists of gathering news and current affairs material in the public interest for broad audience consumption.

He added that journalists could enter exciting media channels which included radio, television, online, newspapers and magazines in beats such as arts, business, court and crime, culture, health, human rights, fashion, labour, politics, sport, technology and travel and tourism. He said that editorial positions also offered exciting career development potential.

Awarding winning journalist, Nivashnee Nair from The Times newspaper, gave her input of how she had to learn the ropes of reporting through knowledge gained from DUT. “A journalist’s most important tool of the trade is knowledge. It is knowledge which taught me the angle of a story. It is knowledge that allowed me to obey the media laws when writing a story.

It is knowledge that gave me the confidence to submit a story which I could stand by. And where did I acquire that knowledge? Right here at DUT. You have to learn to be a journalist as it is far more than writing skills. You have to know the basics, and right here is where you will learn how to be a journalist,” she said.
In conclusion at the orientation, students were then taken on a walkabout tour of the city campus and given their timetable details as to when their first lectures begin.

-Waheeda Peters

Pictured: DUT Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Ahmed Bawa, addresses first-year Journalism students on making the most of their academic studies at DUT.