MEDIA
by Judith Pillay

Grahamstown has a long history of pioneering South African journalism and this tradition continues today. The Graham’s Town Journal, published as early as 1831, was the first independent newspaper published outside of Cape Town. It progressed to eleven other newspapers countrywide, including the Johannesburg Star. The Graham’s Town Journal merged with Grocotts Mail in 1920 to form what is now South Africa’s oldest family newspaper. The bi-weekly paper was sold in September 2003 to a company which will work in conjunction with the Rhodes Jouralism and Media Studies Department.
  East Cape News is a Grahamstown based independent news agency that supplies homegrown news to newspapers and radio stations countrywide as well as locally to Grocott’s Mail.
  The Rhodes University Department of Journalism and Media Studies continues to set the pace in the media world. Through teaching, research, public debate and policy development, the department stresses the role of a diverse and independent media in empowering our nation. It also provides students with hands- on training by involving them in comprehensive media coverage of Grahamstown’s various festivals. During the arts and science festivals, the student-based Cue and SciCue newspapers provide daily coverage of festival events and program reviews. Cue TV is available via a MultiChoice satellite broadcast, and through satellite linkups it is now possible to take the arts festival to viewers across the African continent.
  The Department is also responsible for the production of the prestigious Rhodes Journalism Review, a magazine that is aimed at working journalists of Southern Africa. The Review enjoys a wide international readership and relies on contributors from the industry who discuss current media issues and engage in theoretical debates that underlie the practice of journalism.
  An equally vibrant student media venture is the popular local campus radio station, RMR, Rhodes Music Radio. RMR caters for listeners who enjoy entertaining, funky music coupled with current affairs programming. The station can be heard on 89.7 FM during term time.
  Radio Grahamstown, a community-based radio station broadcasts from studios in the old St Aidans Building. Found on 102 megahertz FM,the station’s signal reaches the entire Makana region.