Newsroom and Video Production

Whether it’s crafted in writing, captured in photos or conveyed in video, the Newsroom and Video Production team produces creative and compelling news content that promotes the university among internal and external audiences.

We bring life to the institution’s many inspiring stories, produce a wide range of print and digital publications, and manage content uploads and updates on the main UCT website and the news, staff and student websites. We also curate content for the Campus TV platform.

In 2021 we continued to keep the UCT community informed of the latest developments around COVID-19 with tips on how to keep safe. The university introduced a hybrid model for teaching and learning in which some of the teaching and learning continued remotely, while some of the students attended in lecture rooms.

While we were still working and living under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic, on 18 April UCT was hit by a devastating loss after a large-scale wildfire destroyed several historical buildings on upper campus. That was one of the most challenging eras at UCT. The newsroom, video and web teams did what they do best; continuously sharing news and updates with the UCT community. Later in the year, we enjoyed some celebratory moments when UCT introduced the first graduation in-person celebration in December 2021. This was dubbed the Walk of Celebration and was held outside Sarah Baartman Hall. Though informal it was an exciting event. Graduates could invite up to three guests to watch them walk across a platform outside the Sarah Baartman Hall and have their name called out while the Vice-Chancellor and their loved ones congratulated and celebrated with them.

Content produced

• Articles: 448 daily news articles with 807 885 total views and 751 535 unique views
• Sliders: 65 sliders with 137 019 total views and 127 244 unique views
• Newsbytes: 33 newsbytes with 23 912 total views and 22 022 unique views
• Obituaries: five obituaries with 3 566 total views and 3 362 unique views
• In memoriam announcements: 20 announcements with 6 344 total views and 5 759 unique views
• Reflections: 8 #UCTFire Jagger reflections
• Story audios: 48 audio recordings were uploaded in 2021.

Photos captured

We captured 215 photo sessions and uploaded 17 photo essays, including:

• three on the UCT fire
• five on graduations
• one on the late Prof Stuart Saunders, former Vice-Chancellor
• one on the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

Campus Communications

We distributed a total of 298 email communications, amounting to 7 157 937 emails sent, and 19 SMS notifications sent to 218 157 recipients. In addition, we uploaded 259 of the email communications to the website, where they received 549 061 total views and 500 726 unique views over and above the number of views that were achieved by UCT staff and students who opened and read the communications through their UCT email address inboxes.

Campus Announcements

We distributed 75 announcements by email and uploaded 70 of those to the UCT News website, resulting in 92 332 total views and 82 589 unique views on the website.

VC Desks

From the Vice-Chancellors Desk, 91 emails were distributed and 75 uploaded with 192 356 total views and 176 411 unique views on the website.

DVC Desks

We distributed 36 and uploaded 33 emails for the year with 34 927 total views and 31 990 unique views on the website.

From the offices of the Executive; the Chair; Registrar; COO; Chancellor, and invitations

In total, we distributed 37 and uploaded 23 with 218 108 total views and 199 589 unique views on the website.

Videos

We uploaded 137 videos to YouTube in 2021, with 279 638 views translating to 15 931.4 hours of watch time on YouTube.

We also created 128 video pages on the UCT News site in 2021 with 44 610 total views and 37 968 unique views of the pages on the website (the UCT News site pages contribute towards the total number of YouTube views: because we embed the YouTube videos on the UCT News site, all clicks to play the video will play the video from the YouTube platform, delivered seamlessly to our viewers in the context of the website).

Campus TV

291 slides were uploaded to 26 screens across the UCT’s Campuses in 2021.

Publications

• Campus Life 2021
• Campus Guide (UCT maps)
• Transformation Report 2020
• Social Responsiveness Report 2019–2020
• Vision 2030
• CMD Annual Review 2020
• Year in Review 2020
• Teaching and Learning Report 2020

*We did not print any publications in 2021 as the lockdown presented a challenge in distributing hard copies. However, we saw this as an opportunity to focus on our digital versions and improving those, as well as an opportunity to reduce our unit’s carbon footprint.

Electronic newsletters

• UCT News: 10 editions were distributed and uploaded
• UCT Update: one edition was distributed and uploaded
• Next Generation Professoriate (NGP): two editions were distributed and uploaded
• New Generation of Academics Programme (nGAP): one edition was distributed and uploaded.

Feature pages

We produced 10 feature pages, which had more than 60 000 combined total views. These were:

• Remembering former VC Dr Stuart Saunders
• Parent Orientation 2021
• Updates on Campus Fire
• Graduation July 2021
• Women’s Month at UCT 2021
• College of Fellows 2021
• 2021 Retirees Recognition
• UCT Annual Awards 2021
• Chancellor’s Installation and Inaugural Address
• Graduation December 2021