Symposium on African Journalism Education

in the Post-COVID-19 digital era
(Online) March 30-31, 2023

In West Africa, journalism serves as a catalyst for promoting good governance, equity, and sustainable development (Dunu, 2013). In addition, journalism has performed key roles, by redefining the political and economic landscape in many countries (Aresse, 2016).

In essence, journalism has become an essential professional field for the development of the African continent. Notably, journalism education has promoted classroom learning, newsroom practice, and research-focused reporting in several African countries (Hochheimer, 2001). However, there have been several issues negatively affecting journalism education, such as funding, infrastructural development, and publishing policies. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped these challenges negatively affecting journalism education in sub-Saharan Africa (Nyarko, & Serwornoob, 2022; Chibuwe, et al., 2022).

No Fees

The Centre for Media and Communication Research (CMCR), Pan-Atlantic University in partnership with the African Journalism Education Network (AJEN) invites journalists, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, scholars, and practitioners in West Africa to participate in thematic areas affecting journalism education in the post-COVID-19 digital era. The symposium is scheduled to be held online from March 30-31, 2023. Importantly, there is no registration fee for this event.

Objectives

Equally important, the core objective of this event is to promote an agenda to enhance the quality and learning experiences of journalism education in West Africa. This event will provide a theoretical and empirical framework for explicating the potential place of journalism education in African society. Some of the sub-themes of this event are:

● eLearning practices and challenges for African journalism training
● Journalism theories and newsroom realities in Africa
● Journalism training and digital research tools for learning
● Indigenous languages and African journalism training
● Infrastructural challenges and solutions for African journalism training
● Rethinking journalism courses in the post-COVID-19 digital era

Language and Publication Opportunity

The languages for this event are English and French. Authors can present their papers in French or English. Some of the papers might be considered for publication in a highly indexed journal.

Researchers and practitioners are invited to attend, or submit an abstract of 300 words as a presenter on or before January 25, 2023. The abstract can be submitted using this link. Authors will be notified by January 30, 2023, about the status of their abstract. Full papers are expected to be submitted on or before March 25, 2023.