An intimate farewell was held at Rhodes University's Africa Media Matrix (AMM) building on Tuesday for Professor Guy Berger, who was head of the journalism department for 16 years, starting in 1994.
An intimate farewell was held at Rhodes University's Africa Media Matrix (AMM) building on Tuesday for Professor Guy Berger, who was head of the journalism department for 16 years, starting in 1994.
He is leaving Rhodes to take up a post as the Director for Freedom of Expression and Media Development at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in Paris.
At the farewell tea, Berger said his final goodbyes to colleagues and Rhodes Vice-Chancellor Saleem Badat, who credited Berger with turning the Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies into one that boasts an international reputation. "Were it not for his contribution, we might not be standing in this very building," Badat said.
Berger was instrumental in securing funds to construct the first-class AMM building that has contributed heavily to the department's success. Under his leadership, the journalism department has raised in excess of R60 million in funding for various projects.
The current head of department, Larry Strelitz, said it was Berger's boldness and constant energy that allowed him to do a great deal of valuable work for the journalism industry, especially on a local scale.
Berger also ensured that South Africa's oldest independent newspaper, Grocott's Mail, stayed out of the clutches of big media corporations, by overseeing the newspaper's acquisition by Rhodes University in 2003. Berger also chaired the newspaper's board from 2003 until early 2011.
He has published many academic articles and books, and wrote a long-standing column for the Mail & Guardian.
He also implemented several projects while at Rhodes, including the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership, the New Media Lab and the very successful Highway Africa conference, which he has left as a legacy to the school.
The latter is a partnership between the Rhodes Journalism School and the SABC and, over the years, it has become the largest annual gathering of African journalists in the world.
Berger reflected on his time at Rhodes, telling of how he spent 1 030 days incarcerated during apartheid when he was still a junior lecturer. He laughed as he recalled, "I felt quite bad because I left about 150 unmarked essays for my fellow lecturers to take up."
Berger said he would miss Grahamstown, but also that it had a way of drawing one back. He described how studying at Rhodes had led to his lecturing there, before eventually heading the journalism school.
For now he plans to make a permanent move from Grahamstown – the place he calls home – although he said he has not ruled out an eventual return or a possible retirement to the City of Saints.
