Some reflections on development journalism in the Ethiopian context
Over the past five years, the Ethiopian government has introduced development(al) journalism as official policy for the state media. Journalists in the media houses, however, have a dual attitude to the policy. On the one hand they support that the local media should in a particular way focus on development issues; on the other hand they are critical to the way development journalism is performed in the state media today. I will address this tension in my talk, but I will also give a general introduction to development journalism to say what it is and what it is not.
The talk has four parts. Firstly, I will speak about the history of development journalism; how it originated in South East Asia in the late 1960s and was later introduced to the African continent. Secondly, I will speak specifically about how the journalism philosophy was introduced in Ethiopia. Here I will pay particular attention to a policy document that was drafted in 2008, almost six years ago.
Thirdly, I will discuss the question: What do the journalists think about development journalism? This section is based on a number of interviews which I have conducted with journalists in the Ethiopian state media, some 70 in number. Fourthly and lastly, I will discuss some of the challenges with development journalism as it is translated into journalism practice. My attitude is that one may not necessarily have to discard development journalism altogether, but there are some issues which must be carefully addressed to avoid that this journalism style will end as purely government promotion with the risk that media criticism is totally neglected.
The talk has four parts. Firstly, I will speak about the history of development journalism; how it originated in South East Asia in the late 1960s and was later introduced to the African continent. Secondly, I will speak specifically about how the journalism philosophy was introduced in Ethiopia. Here I will pay particular attention to a policy document that was drafted in 2008, almost six years ago.
Thirdly, I will discuss the question: What do the journalists think about development journalism? This section is based on a number of interviews which I have conducted with journalists in the Ethiopian state media, some 70 in number. Fourthly and lastly, I will discuss some of the challenges with development journalism as it is translated into journalism practice. My attitude is that one may not necessarily have to discard development journalism altogether, but there are some issues which must be carefully addressed to avoid that this journalism style will end as purely government promotion with the risk that media criticism is totally neglected.
Publisert i Guest lecture, Jigjiga University, Ethiopia, 2014
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