Journalism education in a pressured democracy context: The case of Ethiopia
The MA programme in journalism at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia opened on March 15, 2004. The 2-year programme accepted 27 students in the first batch, and was the first full journalism programme in Ethiopia. A diploma in journalism was previously offered by the government-owned Ethiopia Mass Media Training Institute, and courses in journalism were offered by the private Unity College and the Institute for Language Studies at Addis Ababa University, but this new programme was the first full journalism degree. As of today (February 2006), the first 14 students have successfully defended their MA thesis before an independent international examination board, and they will soon graduate.
The MA programme in journalism was specifically designed for Addis Ababa University and was shaped to meet the presumed needs for the emerging Ethiopian media environment in particular and the overall national development in general. Needless to say, behind the programme was a lengthy planning process with numerous considerations and discussions. This paper seeks to reflect on some of the central – and in some cases uncompromising – principles that were discussed and decided upon, and that may be of value for the planning of similar programmes elsewhere. It is only appropriate to inform the reader that the author of this paper took part in the initial project preparations in 2002 and was member of the working group that developed the curriculum. He has since August 2004 been the academic coordinator of the programme. I do not pretend to be impartial in my presentation and enthusiasm for the project, but I shall nevertheless try to provide a fair ground for analysis and reflection.
The paper, in short, aims to suggest a model for journalism education in a developing democracy context, and thereby to bring in a new perspective on journalism practices as a form of development communication
The MA programme in journalism was specifically designed for Addis Ababa University and was shaped to meet the presumed needs for the emerging Ethiopian media environment in particular and the overall national development in general. Needless to say, behind the programme was a lengthy planning process with numerous considerations and discussions. This paper seeks to reflect on some of the central – and in some cases uncompromising – principles that were discussed and decided upon, and that may be of value for the planning of similar programmes elsewhere. It is only appropriate to inform the reader that the author of this paper took part in the initial project preparations in 2002 and was member of the working group that developed the curriculum. He has since August 2004 been the academic coordinator of the programme. I do not pretend to be impartial in my presentation and enthusiasm for the project, but I shall nevertheless try to provide a fair ground for analysis and reflection.
The paper, in short, aims to suggest a model for journalism education in a developing democracy context, and thereby to bring in a new perspective on journalism practices as a form of development communication
Publisert i Paper presented at the 'Media and Social Change in Africa' conference, University of Westminster, London, UK, 2006
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