Lesley Cowling

Professor Lesley Cowling is Masters coordinator of the Journalism programme at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Her research focuses on the relationship of media to South African public life, with a particular focus on journalism forms such as long-form reporting, opinion, analysis and debate, and their role in creating publics. A related interest is in the ways the commercial features of the media intersect with the public interest role allotted to them in society. She has a PhD from Rhodes University, and has worked as a journalist, a soap opera writer and a media consultant.