Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA)

Application Deadline: 12 mid-day (Southern African Time) on 18 November 2016.

The Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership at Rhodes University in South Africa, in collaboration with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), invites applications for 10 postgraduate scholarships from Southern African women media leaders who wish to study media management at the SPI in 2017.

 Applicants should be women who are already practising journalists or are working in various fields of the media industry in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Successful applicants will register for the SPI’s intensive, one-year-long fulltime Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management (PGDip in Media Management), the only formal qualification in media management in Africa and the developing world. The PGDip in Media Management is pegged at the honours degree level. Candidates must already possess an undergraduate degree from a recognised university in order to pursue postgraduate study. The OSISA scholarships cover:

 The full cost of tuition

• Accommodation and meals in one of Rhodes University’s residences
• Course materials
• A monthly subsistence allowance
• Medical aid cover
• Mid-year media management internship costs.

 Employers of the successful scholarship applicants or the scholarship winners themselves have to cover their travel costs to and from Rhodes University, including during the University’s holidays, to encourage greater ownership and appreciation of the scholarship programme by the beneficiaries and their media organizations.

 The PGDip in Media Management, popularly known as the PDMM, equips participants with critical knowledge, understandings and work competencies that emerging media leaders need to perform more effectively, strategically and ethically in their organizations and to fast-track their careers to management positions.

 The programme combines rigorous theoretical and practical grounding. It has a mid-year practical media management internship and a comprehensive reflective academic portfolio at the end of the year.  It is composed of eight compulsory modules covering media management contexts, policy and institutions; financial management and media economics; management of media markets, audiences and advertising; management of media content; management of circulation and distribution; media management and leadership; human resources management for media; and management of digital and social media and media convergence.

Application details and procedures:

Only women candidates who are already working in the media industry in the 10 Southern African countries of OSISA listed above are eligible to apply for these scholarships. Candidates should already have an undergraduate degree in any discipline from a recognised university.

The application deadline for these scholarships is 18 November 2016.

 Students wishing to apply for these scholarships need to:

• Complete the Rhodes University’s standard Honours Application form (available at www.ru.ac.za/applying/  under the section ‘Postgraduate Studies’  which must be submitted directly to the Registrar’s Division at Rhodes University and a copy emailed to Wendy Dyibishe ([email protected])  at the Sol Plaatje Institute.

• Submit a detailed Curriculum Vitae, including contact details, to Wendy Dyibishe.

• Submit certified academic transcripts of ALL tertiary qualifications. These are sent to both Wendy Dyibishe at the SPI and to the Registrar’s Division at Rhodes University; and

• Submit to the SPI — through Wendy Dyibishe at [email protected] — a 1,000-word letter of motivation which explains why the student is interested in doing the PGDip in Media Management, how the course will assist the student’s career and why the student believes she qualifies for the OSISA scholarship.

 Only short-listed candidates will be contacted after the applications close at 12 mid-day (Southern African Time) on 18 November 2016.

• OSISA is an African institution committed to the creation of open societies through support for democracy, human rights and good governance and it works in Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the OSISA SCHOLARSHIPS 2017 FOR AFRICAN WOMEN MEDIA LEADERS