By Cassy van Eeden

It’s a hotly contested topic. One that is being debated about in both university departments and company boardrooms.

Pembroke says that the journalism skills that were once only required in media companies are needed by everyone. And although traditional media have stopped hiring, “there will be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs around the world for journalism students with the right content marketing skills”.

Does this mean South African academic institutions should start preparing students for this content-centric future?

We’re aware of the debate

In his blog post, Pembroke mentions that the University of Canberra is the first university in the world to offer a journalism degree with a content marketing major. He argues that others should follow suit.

Jude Mathurine, senior lecturer and head of programme at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, agrees.

He argues that a journalism degree that prepares students for content marketing “permits students who want to diversify their capabilities to improve prospects of employment in the non-traditional media sector to do so”.

But our curriculum is already responsive

Most higher learning institutions are aware of the shift in the industry and that, when it comes to traditional media, there is very little opportunity left for new journalism graduates. As a result, journalism departments are having to adapt to ensure graduates have a fighting chance at joining the workforce.

“We are finding that we have to adapt and change our curriculum every year to keep up with changing technology and market needs,” explains Anton Harber, Caxton professor of journalism at the University of the Witwaterstrand. “We are increasingly having to teach a form of entrepreneurial journalism on the assumption that fewer of our students will go into established newsrooms and are likely to operate more independently.”

We’ve always been about content

As Professor Lizette Rabe, chair of the University of Stellenbosch journalism department, explains, any journalism qualification is content-centric. “Journalists of course do learn about content as they are the original content providers.”

“Teaching journalism means we teach students to produce content, understand audiences and produce material that serves [an] audience,” says Harber. Isn’t this exactly what content marketing is all about?

Mathurine explains that digital journalism skills, which are a fundamental part of any journalism curriculum, are already preparing students to become content marketers.

We’re working on it

The convergence of journalism and content marketing studies is tricky. How do you merge two totally different degrees offered by two separate departments?

“So many fields are becoming blurred,” notes Dr Christine de Meyer-Heydenrych, head of the marketing management department at the University of Johannesburg. “Marketing cannot be a standalone field anymore and needs to be incorporated and integrated throughout the entire organisation and in various fields.”

As Rabe points out, content has always needed journalism, that’s nothing new. The development here, rather, is that journalists are now more likely to cross the line between journalism and content marketing and less likely to end up in newsrooms.

What are your thoughts? Do you think journalists need to develop content marketing skills? Sound off in the comments below.