DUT Journalism boasts first female graduate from its Masters programme

NDUDUZO NDLOVU

Journalism programme conferred its Masters Degree to the first female candidate since the inception of this programme, when Melissa Mungroo obtained her Masters Degree in Journalism at the Fred Crookes Sports Centre, Steve Biko Campus in Durban recently. Mungroo is excited to be the first female to be conferred with a Masters degree in Journalism at DUT, and to be the first person in her family to obtain a Masters degree. “I hope my achievement spurs other young women to pursue their degrees and make a success of themselves. I plan to pursue my PhD in the future looking at gender construction in media particularly in literature and movies,” she said. Her study focused on the First Things First campaign and the responses of firstyear University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) students to the campaign posters. The campaign is a project of the Higher Education and Training HIV and AIDS Programme (HEAIDS) that emphasises counselling and testing to reduce HIV and AIDS prevalence amongst students. The campaign posters encourage students to get tested and know their HIV status. Journalism Masters programme first female

graduate, Melissa Mungroo. “The majority of participants understood the campaign messages, which they cite as ‘get tested’ and ‘know your HIV status’. The findings indicate that students accepted that the posters encourage them to test for HIV but that stigma, personal fears and the social environment could deter them from testing,” said Mungroo. According to Mungroo themes generated were gender construction, peer pressure and sexual identity; stigma attached to HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) and alternative media for HIV and HCT awareness. “Themes were indicative of what students found to be important factors that future HIV programmes could reflect on and incorporate into their campaigns,” she added.

She added that she is also currently working on publishing her Masters research in an accredited academic journal and plans to contribute towards knowledge production.