Varsity to roll out journalism degree

MASERU – THE National University of Lesotho (NUL), with the help of the United States Embassy, is set to roll out a BA Degree in Journalism and Media Studies.
The four-year programme is expected to start in August next year at the university’s Institute of Extra-Mural Studies (IEMS) campus in Maseru.
The US government is supporting the programme through a M750 000 fund and will also offer technical support.
Rebecca Gonzales, the US Ambassador to Lesotho, said her government will equip the university with a state of the art media resource lab to ensure that media students have the hands-on preparation required to compete in today’s media industry.

Gonzales said the US is collaborating with both IEMS and the NUL Faculty of Humanities ‘‘to create a comprehensive degree programme and build a curriculum that fully utilises these technical resources”.
Gonzales said the US ranks freedom of the press as a crucial factor of democratic governance.
She said by fostering a free press, citizens are more informed, active and engaged in political decision-making and can better hold their governments accountable as well as enhance the shared principles of a functional democratic society.
“Media practitioners put their lives at risk with the intention of promoting transparency and accountability worldwide. In order to do so, we must train good journalists as every country needs those kinds of journalists,’’ she said.
Gonzales added: “This is true now that Lesotho (is) continuing the process of national reforms. Regardless of the communication model used, Basotho would continuously rely on journalists to investigate and interpret the stories and issues that affect their lives.’’
More than a year ago, the US Embassy began looking at how it could support press freedom in Lesotho and one way was to offer journalism training, she said.
“We are very pleased that NUL saw it fit to make this shared vision a reality,’’ she said, emphasising the need for research and investigation-based journalism.
NUL Vice-Chancellor Professor Nqosa Mahao said he met then US Ambassador to Lesotho Matthew Harrington two years ago to discuss issues that included the importance of the media.
‘‘We reached an agreement on the critical importance of the media as a tool of development especially in a developing country,’’ Professor Mahao said.
He said during the discussion, he told Harrington that Lesotho’s existing equipment at IEMS was “truly so rudimentary” that students were always asking him ‘‘how I expect them to be properly trained when we do not have the equipment’.’
Prof Mahao said Harrington immediately committed to assisting them build a fully- fledged Degree in Journalism and Media Studies.
“In the context of a liberal society, there is nothing that transmits information to the citizenry more than the media as a critical tool of building values in societies,” he said.