A season journalist, Carl Peters obtained his Degree of Master of Journalism at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) 2022 Spring Graduation ceremony held at the Durban Exhibition Centre on Friday morning, 30 September 2022.
Peters (52) from Manor Gardens in Durban is currently the Sports Editor at the Witness Newspaper since 2017. He has over 28 years’ journalism experience, having previously worked as a news reporter and then sports writer for Independent Newspapers for 22 years, specialising in soccer for the Daily News newspaper for the most part.
His dissertation titled: When the ink runs dry: The future of KwaZulu-Natal print media in the digital age focuses on the decline of newspaper sales as influenced by the digital media. He chose this topic after observing that the newspaper industry has been going through a particularly challenging time for over a decade for various reasons, but primarily the spread of digital media. Peters believes that this study sought answers to the problem in order to help alleviate the tough work environment being faced by journalists, especially in KwaZulu-Natal.
Obtaining a Master’s degree, is a wonderful achievement for Peters ‘old’ brain, as he said.
“As they say, you are never too old to learn new things. While it was no walk in the park, it nevertheless brought an interesting distraction from my normal work and added a string to my bow, as it were. My family was thrilled for me when they heard that I would be obtaining my Masters’ degree. They always seemed to know that I had it in me, but were nevertheless chuffed with the outcome,” added Peters.
The father of three and husband to the DUT Publications Officer, Mrs Waheeda Peters revealed that his journey with DUT (then ML Sultan Technikon) began in 1992 when he enrolled for his National Diploma in Journalism. After 20 years of graduating with National Diploma in Journalism at DUT, in 2015 Peters decided to return to the University to complete his BTech in Journalism. A year later, he then felt the need to further his studies to a Master’s level.
“There was one year during the Masters’ degree project where I de-registered for work purposes, and another year was affected by COVID-19, that’s why I took so long to complete it. The institution has been close to my heart, considering it’s also where I met my wife, Waheeda, initially. Ironically, she is currently employed by DUT in its Communications department,” stated Peters.
One of the biggest challenges he faced was to write in the academic style after practising news style of writing for so many years. However, Peters managed to push as his eyes were on having an incentive of having the Master in Journalism qualification. He expressed his appreciation to his family, colleagues and supervisors, especially DUT’s Professor Surendra ‘Colin’ Thakur for the tremendous support.
Peters plans to continue working as a journalist, but he would also like to look into lecturing opportunities. He feels he can be of benefit to students and young reporters, having been a tutor at DUT at one stage. He hopes that this degree will back up his feeling and prospects.
To aspiring journalists, Peters advised them to “never stop learning, in and outside the lecture hall”.
Pictured: Master of Journalism, Mr Carl Peters.
Photographer: Vusi Dlamini.
Simangele Zuma
