1 / 37

The Social Organizing of AJE: Opportunities and Challenges in African Journalism Education

This presentation examines the social organizing of the African Journalism Educators (AJE) network amidst the complexities of diverse educational and media landscapes across Africa. It discusses the relevance of social capital theory, experiences from prior initiatives, and potential prospects for the WJEC (World Journalism Education Congress). The need for sustainable relationships and collaboration among journalists, educators, and institutions is emphasized, exploring how these connections can foster identity and growth within the sector. Is it the right time for social networking among African journalism educators?

galia
Télécharger la présentation

The Social Organizing of AJE: Opportunities and Challenges in African Journalism Education

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Guy Berger, Rhodes University. Oct 2009Social organising of AJE: is it the right time to be born?

  2. Coming up • Introduction • Us – the constituency • Social capital • Experiences • WJEC possibilities

  3. 1. INTRODUCTION

  4. Referent: m-e-d-i-a

  5. Me/We?

  6. Age of social networking via ICT

  7. 2. AJE CONSTITUENCY

  8. Social organising of AJE Complexities and prospects

  9. Complexities in organising J-Eds • Pushed and Pulled between • Industry (and government?) • Academy • Students • Plus “journalism” educ (re: PR, etc) • Plus TV/print/online/media studies

  10. Other complexities, + Africa • Academy: individualism, competitive • Attitudes and backgrounds: • Retirees, refugees, remote rangers. • Identity: Not ‘solid’ like a ‘journalist’. • Other IDs - gender, nation, languages. • Varying African media & educ regimes • Very different from AEJMC experience.

  11. 3. SOCIAL CAPITAL THEORY

  12. Network theory The participants - nodes and hubs? ?

  13. Network theory

  14. Network theory

  15. Network theory

  16. Network theory

  17. A network – so what? Not an end in itself! ?

  18. Social capital Benefits: • Investment & returns angle • “Sustainable growth” logic • Trust & participation is NB

  19. Networks & communities • Social value through connections • Bonding • Bridging • Linking • Apply to sector, and apply to individual schools…

  20. 4. EXPERIENCES TO DATE

  21. Some pre-history • ACCE, Petasa, BETA, Samtrainº • Sanef – Educ & Train sub-comm√ • UNESCO – criteria (17 schools) √ • UNESCO – data (30 schools) √ • UNESCO – follow up meetings ± • March 08, Sept 08, May 09 • Mixed results

  22. SOUTH AFRICA, UNESCO lessons

  23. Drivers for Social Capital formation • Simplicity (eg. produce a paper) • Focus (eg. the question of “Africa”) • Possibility of resources • Quest for relevance to media • Travel and meeting people

  24. Limitations • Tasks that are complex, scattered • Time-consuming • Organisational skill and accountability for follow-up • When there are no clear or visible benefits

  25. 5. WJEC PROSPECTS

  26. WJEC IN CONTEXT • http://wjec.ru.ac.za

  27. PAN-AFRICAN BONDING/BRIDGING • Submit a panel? (low response) • Submit a paper, OR be a reviewer • “Reporting Africa” model syllabus • Has a clear focus • African identity vis a vis external.

  28. WJEC: Social capital bridges & links • Most value comes from difference • Relationships across divides • Extra-African schools will get value from Africans at WJEC. • Africans will get bi-lateral values. • Africans will maintain interest by UNESCO, possibly other linkages (KAS) • But: Intra-AJE social capital?

  29. 6. LOOKING AHEAD

  30. Summing up: Ideally, we need to work for all 3: bonding, bridging and linking via the WJEC. (It won’t just happen) • Biggest prize? • Sustainability of intra-African bonding-bridging? • Future of UNESCO’s dedicated website?

  31. http://journalismschools.unesco-ci.org

  32. Adding it all up: • Absence of a strong network, and potentials. • AJE – a difficult constituency • Social capital relationships • Experiences and lessons: bridging • What works, what doesn’t • WJEC possibilities (and others?)…

  33. Is it really time for social networking of African journalism educators? “Time will tell” We need informed prediction. YEAH or NAY?

More Related