"Journalism education, being heavily focusing on experiential learning and face-to-face interaction, is particularly challenged when it comes to remote teaching and learning. This manual aims to provide journalism instructors the resources to improve their teaching in digital spaces. The subject mat
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ter includes: planning a new online course from scratch or transitioning an existing face-to-face course to online delivery; strategies to curb academic dishonesty in online courses; creating a student-centered learning environment; ways to support diversity in the virtual classroom; the future of online journalism education, drawing on what the pandemic period has taught." (Short summary)
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"Ghana has made tremendous progress regarding freedom of expression and access to information since the inception of the Fourth Republic. Looking back to a firmly rooted history of democratic practice, the country has a vibrant and free media environment regulated by an independent body and supporte
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d by a strong civil society sector. The constitution includes legal protection for journalists against censorship and violence. However, the report expresses concern over a growing sense of insecurity among journalists regarding their safety, an increasing media concentration and commercial imperatives that may pose a threat to media freedoms and pluralism in Ghana. Media practitioners, government officials, media stakeholders, civil society organizations and researchers are invited to implement the context-specific recommendations that the report formulates in order to improve the state of the media in Ghana." (Short summary)
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"This article presents and discusses results from an exercise in comparative content analysis of news articles about issues of conflict produced by Afghan journalists before and after participating in an internationally sponsored training and mentorship programme in Peace Journalism. The programme w
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as part of a Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) project, intended to create community resources for resilience, in the information sphere, towards conflict issues contributing to recruitment by non-state armed groups such as Islamic State–Khorasan Province (IS–KP). Peace Journalism is familiar as the basis for media development aid in contexts of conflict; however, its use in an intervention aimed specifically at PVE is relatively new. The results showed that the programme was effective, it is argued, in terms of benefits transferred to and applied by participating journalists. A sample of articles after the training showed a markedly higher Peace Journalism quotient than a baseline sample of articles by the same journalists before it. This suggested that the training and mentorship had successfully stimulated and enabled journalistic agency, taking account of constraints imposed by media structures and wider political and social contexts. The latter have become steadily more onerous under the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) government, in power since August 2021, according to international monitoring organisations. Implications are considered, in light of the findings, for future media development aid to Afghanistan." (Abstract)
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"This chapter explores what educators can do to help students cope with trauma that they are likely to experience during their studies and in their future practice." (Abstract)
"Australia and New Zealand have reputations as countries prone to catastrophic and frequent natural and man-made disasters. Therefore, it is no surprise that antipodean academics want trauma-informed education for their journalism students. This study presents the Australian-New Zealand results of a
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2021 survey exploring educators’ attitudes toward embedding trauma literacy into journalism curriculum. It mirrors a survey from the UK-based Journalism Education and Trauma Research Group. The Australian-New Zealand results confirm that educators want more training to effectively embed trauma-informed reporting into their curricula. The discussion notes the availability of local, research-based teaching materials, and identifies barriers to implementation." (Abstract)
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"Literature notes that most journalists will witness trauma and human suffering during the course of their careers, yet journalism education is lagging behind in preparing students to cope with the effects of exposure to traumatic events. This paper examines the attitudes of journalism educators/tra
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iners toward trauma literacy through a questionnaire survey of 119 journalism educators globally. The findings show that a high percentage of educators have a good understanding of the risks that arise from exposure to critical and potentially traumatizing events but there are some barriers to teaching trauma including lack of knowledge/confidence, resources, time, and teaching materials." (Abstract)
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"This study appraises the mainstreaming and teaching of safety in journalism training institutions in Nigeria and interrogates the effectiveness of the safety measures available to safeguard the lives of journalists reporting from conflict areas in the North East geopolitical zone. In-depth intervie
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ws were conducted with 16 journalists representing a range of media organisations who had been reporting from the areas with the most volatile and prolonged conflicts. Mass communication curricula in universities and polytechnics across the region were also reviewed. The findings revealed that journalists in North East Nigeria are at high risk due to the absence of protective mechanisms and professional skills relating to safety. Journalists rely on their instincts and experience to manage risk, rendering them highly vulnerable in dangerous situations. These journalists endure multiple physical and psychological attacks from the security forces, insurgents and even community members that they cover. Recommendations reflective of best practice are offered regarding the mainstreaming of safety education in journalism training and the provision of safety mechanisms in order to reduce journalists’ physical harm and psychological trauma, increase their actual and perceived safety and security, boost their morale and improve the quality of their reporting." (Abstract)
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"This study aims to investigate media intervention in the extractive sector, like media training for journalists, and investigative reporting in the sector, to improve innovations designed to drive transparency and accountability. It also aims to understand the experiences of journalists and media o
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rganisations in the overall mission to ensure a more transparent extractive sector. The research employed a combination of methods - key informant interviews with 10 media organisations and CSO stakeholders, an online survey for journalists, and focus group discussions with newsroom managers selected from the media institutions identified by respondents to the survey. Findings revealed that Nigerian journalists had attended media training in the extractive sector, and this training has impacted their delivery and reportage, improved wide-range and sophisticated viewpoints that can direct their reporting methods and choices. Their capacity is built in utilising critical thinking to assess news sources, information, and the motivations of individuals and advancement in journalism. Journalists and media organisations continue to demand more collaborative and action-oriented processes to advance their reportage and generate more impactful stories, especially in the extractive sector." (Executive summary)
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"Drawing on interviews with 10 U.S. student journalists, we introduce an ethics-of-care approach for trauma-informed journalism pedagogy. We express grave concern for mental health in journalism programs, offering an empirical snapshot of students’ traumas and coping strategies. We confirm that st
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udent journalists, like working reporters, are traumatized by professional norms, high demands, poor boundaries, safety concerns, and ethical-professional responsibilities. Participants coped through emotional distancing, saving face, and relying on peers. We offer interventions based on student support needs and changing news values, including faculty affirmation, financial support, counselor support, diversity training, newsroom debriefings, emotional leadership, and reporting protocols." (Abstract)
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"The question at the core of this discussion paper is what are the implications for African journalism schools of the international crisis facing journalism and the specific needs of local audiences? More specifically, what are the implications in terms of curriculum, target groups and modalities? O
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r more simply put: what, who and how should journalism schools teach in order to remain relevant? The paper will then take a step further and consider the argument for journalism schools taking on a wider view of their function. Are there additional roles they can or should play in safeguarding and building healthy public information systems, beyond the traditional function of producing the next generation of journalists? In countries where there are few active media institutions, those that do exist would seem to have a particular responsibility to look beyond their comfort zones. That becomes especially necessary where those comfort zones are in decline." (Introduction)
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"The research data reveal that Sudan at the time had at least 10 media-related laws in place that do not meet international standards. At the same time, the country had the benefit of an infrastructure of 30 institutions offering media education and training. Sudan has an opportunity to restructure
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its media system to align with international standards on freedom of expression and the press, the safety of journalists, as well as pluralism. To support this, the current report has formulated recommendations for stakeholders’ consideration. These possibilities for reform cover independent media regulation, the promotion of media pluralism and the improvement of the economic playing field." (Short summary)
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"Malawi has seen an exponential growth of its media, both in quality and quantity. For example, there were only two broadcasting stations at the start of the 1990s, while Malawi has increased this over the years to 57 radio stations and 14 television broadcasters. Although the plurality of Malawi’
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s media greatly increased, the functioning of the media has still been affected by arrests of media practitioners, outdated laws and other constraints. This report offers an extensive overview of the status of the media in Malawi, based on an assessment of the UNESCO Media Development Indicators (MDIs). It analyses the legal and regulatory framework, the plurality of the media, safety of journalists and other relevant media development indicators, while at same time providing relevant recommendations for all stakeholders involved. The recommendations cover a large number of issues, some notable ones focused on: the conception of self-regulatory systems; the safeguarding of journalists; the introduction of a code for the regulation of advertisement practices; the reform of outdated laws relating to media practitioners." (Short summary)
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"Although some planned reforms announced since 2017 concerning the rights to freedom of expression and others are yet to be finalized, the report finds that the media environment has improved considerably since the new government came into power. In the context of a rising internet penetration rate,
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reportedly from 17% in 2015 to 51% in 2022, direct censorship of the internet has ceased and online information is better accessible. Journalists generally rate their current situation as relatively safe. Public trust in the media has generally improved since the new democratic dispensation. Although there is a slow pace of legal reform, there is however cautious optimism about government’s commitment to repeal laws inherited from the previous regime." (Short summary)
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"1. Government should implement the Access to Information Act 2016 speedily and fully. This would help realize the Right of Access to Information and promote a culture of transparency, openness and accountability among public officials.
2. The Information and Communications Act should be revised to
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ensure that the Communications Authority is truly independent from government, following the guidelines set out by Principle 17 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa.
3. The Books and Newspapers Act of 1960 should be revised and registration of publications should be allowed for administrative purposes only.
4. The regulation issued by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) for licences to be required for anyone uploading videos on social media should not be approved.
5. The Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, which provides for the obligation to license social media platforms and blogs and heavy fines for offenders, should be withdrawn.
6. Measures to prevent concentration within and between different media sectors should be strengthened, and transparency of ownership should be ensured in media legislation.
7. The government should provide a conducive atmosphere in which community radio can thrive. Donor organizations and government both at national and county level should work together to establish a support fund for community radio." (Key recommendations, page 15)
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"L’État peine à protéger les journalistes. Les attaques contre eux sont fréquentes et leurs auteurs sont rarement traduits en justice. Une insécurité qui renforce la précarité des journalistes, par ailleurs peu rémunérés, pas toujours formés, et souvent contraints d’exercer simultan
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ment d’autres activités professionnelles. Cette étude présente des éléments à la fois quantitatifs et qualitatifs significatifs : Le réseau de la téléphonie mobile se démarque par sa pleine expansion qui, de 6 % en 2006, atteint aujourd’hui près de 95% de la population. De deux chaînes en 1986, la Télé Haïti et la Télévision Nationale d’Haïti (TNH), le pays est passé à environ 150 chaines aujourd’hui. En 2016, l’organe de régulation a recensé 697 stations de radio sur la bande FM dont 350 illégales. Dans le département de l’ouest, le cadran est saturé à hauteur de 158%. De nombreux facteurs concourent à entraver l’accès à l’information de tous les groupes sociaux. L’absence de statut légal place les radios communautaires dans une grande précarité. Des organisations de la société civile travaillent activement à rendre visible les groupes marginalisés et à élargir leur accès à l’information." (Résumé exécutif)
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"In a country like Ethiopia which is rich in languages, politics, cultures, and values and which experiences an exponentially growing population, media and the access to plural information is crucial for peace and development. This study finds, however, that the number of media and the diversity of
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their contents have not grown commensurate with the country’s character, while public trust also remains low. The independent journalism and media self-regulation are also in their early stages. This country report formulates data-driven, context-specific, and actionoriented recommendations to the government, journalism schools, civil society organizations, development partners and the media to achieve a strong Ethiopian media landscape that is supportive of freedom of expression and journalist safety, as well as conducive to the development of free, independent, and pluralistic media." (Back cover)
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"Prior research suggests that climate stories are rarely reported by local news outlets in the United States. As part of the Climate Matters in the Newsroom project}a program for climate-reporting resources designed to help journalists report local climate stories}we conducted a series of local clim
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ate-reporting workshops for journalists to support such reporting. Here, we present the impacts of eight workshops conducted in 2018 and 2019}including participant assessments of the workshop, longitudinal changes in their climate-reporting self-efficacy, and the number and proportion of print and digital climate stories reported. We learned that participants found value in the workshops and experienced significant increases in their climate-reporting self-efficacy in response to the workshops, which were largely sustained over the next 6 months. We found only limited evidence that participants reported more frequently on climate change after the workshops}possibly, in part, due to the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the news industry. These findings suggest that local climate-reporting workshops can be a useful but not necessarily sufficient strategy for supporting local climate change reporting. Further research is needed to illuminate how to support local climate reporting most effectively." (Abstract)
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"Covering stories of tragedy and trauma is commonplace for journalists. To date, no organized or consistent approaches for teaching journalists about the impacts of trauma on their own lives, and the lives of those that are impacted by tragedy, have been developed. Journalists are left on their own
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to recognize, understand, and report on both individual and community trauma. Despite the fact that the field of trauma studies is driven by scientific research on psychology and neurscience, journalism programs do not integrate current scientific knowledge about the impacts of trauma. The field of journalism can benefit from helping those in the field become more trauma-informed in their reporting and better understand the impact of vicarious trauma in their own lives." (Introduction)
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"The book traces communication in Nigeria back to pre-colonial indigenous communication, through the development of telecommunication, broadcasting networks, the press, the Nigerian flm industry (‘Nollywood’) and on to the digital era. At a time when Western voices still dominate the academic li
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terature on communication in Africa, this book is noteworthy in drawing almost exclusively on the expertise of Nigeria-based authors, critiquing the discipline from their own lens and providing an important contribution to the decolonisation of communication studies. The authors provide a holistic analysis of the sector, encompassing print journalism, broadcast journalism, public relations, advertising, flm, development communication, organisational communication and strategic communication. Analysis of the role of digital technologies is woven throughout the book, concluding with a fnal section theorising the future of communication studies in Nigeria in light of the digital media revolution." (Publisher description)
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