BUEA UNIVERSITY`S JOURNALISM DEPARTMENT GROWS TALLER

Undoubtedly, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC) of the University of Buea is one of the institution’s flagships. One of the reasons for this is that the department has been noticed in the public domain, and the other is that it is felt outside of the institution through the quality of media professionals it has trained over the years.

From the perspective of professionalization of university education, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication of the university could be said to have been ready before the country`s higher education system opted for the BMP (Bachelor`s, Master’s and PhD) programme which aims at arming university students with professional skills and thereby preparing them for the job market.

The success of the department can be partly attributed to the broad but deep course content that was put in place from the department`s inception with the principal initiator being its pioneer Head of Department, Dr. Enoh Tanjong, who is today an Associate Professor and one of three Vice Deans in the Faculty of Social and Management Studies (SMS) of the university. In fact, on account of his considerable input into making the Department what it has become, he has earned himself the nickname of "the Pope" of the Department. When Prof. Enoh Tanjong was promoted, Henry Muluh took over as Head of Department. After a number of years in that position, he handed over the command baton to Dr. Che Tita. Even so, the good quality of JMC products has continued to be seen and acknowledged despite the changes.

One of the factors making for the triumph of the Department has been the resources it has at its disposal. So not surprisingly, for years now it has been running a newspaper (The Chariot), a Campus Radio (Chariot Radio) with a Television component attached to it. In fact, Chariot Radio is one of the stations one often hears in Buea and beyond and much to its credit, a medium of information broadcasting for the university community and beyond. Often, even the university`s administration sends information to the radio for broadcast.

Apparently, conscious of the aphorism that the sky is the limit, the Department is always on the look out for more resources to beef up its data base. That is why recently, it was handed five video cameras by a human rights NGO (WITNESS). Again, the deal was negotiated by a member of the department`s teaching staff, Eileen Manka`a Tabuwe Akwo. On the occasion, she cautioned the students to make good use of the equipment and hinted them that more was likely to be donated in the future. The Head of Department, Dr. Che Tita, saw the cameras as coming to consolidate the skills of students and urged the latter to realize that today`s job market needed not just professional people but also people with specialties. He pointed out that such being the case, the new cameras had come to boost skills in camera handling and directing.

This inward-looking approach on the part of lecturers of the department is nothing new because only a year ago, Dr. Che Tita was also at the origin of a large consignment of books being donated to the Department from the United States. The books cover the major disciplines in the department such as journalism, mass communication, media studies, publishing, public relations, advertizing, marketing and research. As might be expected, the donation has proved to be of invaluable help to both students and lecturers.

There is therefore no doubt that the University of Buea`s Journalism and Mass Communication Department has stood the test of time.