Some of the winners and runners-up of the inaugural Khulani! Youth Journalism Awards are from left Refiloe Phoku, Lunga Sidelo and Anzelle Botha with Khulani founder, lecturer and undergraduate Coordinator, Jude Mathurine (back).
Khulani! is a website and feature syndication hub, which mentors and supports first-year students that are enrolled for a compulsory Writing for the Media module to produce publishable and professional online feature articles.
Over half of the stories published had already been republished by online content partners, including Health for Mzansi, MyZA, and GoodThingsGuy under a Creative Commons license.
Most content partners published more than one article. Student work included articles about youth “side-hustles”, sport, sexuality and careers, inspirational heroes and informative “how-to’s”.
The brainchild of lecturer and undergraduate coordinator, Jude Mathurine, the Khulani! project is working to change media representation of youth, one article at a time.
With 39% of the country’s population aged 14 to 35 (Stats SA 2011), Khulani! addresses the diverse interests of young people sadly overlooked or misrepresented in mainstream media.
The editorial process is managed by Mathurine, who curates, copy-edits, promotes and networks student work with assistance from Corporate Communication lecturer, Cindy Preller, and Digital Assistant, Thandile Nkoyi, a recent graduate of Mandela University.
Khulani! Also pioneers radical transparency through an online tool to help students disclose how Ai (artificial intelligence) contributes to various stages of story production, from ideation to editing.
“Every article on Khulani! features a disclosure, called the Ai-Plus Report Card,” said Mathurine.
“In line with the SA Press Council’s guidance note on Ai, this makes sure that students who use Ai are using these tools for planning, research or fact-checking, and are using the tools mindful of its opportunities as well as limitations, in line with acceptable and transparent norms.”
“By expanding stories and building audiences, Khulani! sets a precedent for youth-driven reporting and building student competence in the best use of Generative Ai for digital journalism. We are excited about the opportunity to continue this important work—fostering more empowered student writers and advancing AI-driven youth journalism,” said Mathurine.
“We are looking forward to releasing the AI-Plus report card tool to bloggers and other online sites that want to use it,” said Mathurine.
Khulani! Is supported by a university Teaching Development and Innovation Fund (TDIF) grant. – ENDS
Explore student work at https://khulani.me/