Disrupted Media - Disrupted Academy: Rethinking African J-schools

"The business crisis facing journalism across the world has profound implications for journalism education, particularly in Africa."

This discussion paper seeks to address the ongoing changes in the media and journalism industry in sub-Saharan Africa and how journalism teaching institutions can adapt to make meaningful contributions to sustain media and journalism across the continent. It asks: What are the implications for African journalism schools of the international crisis facing journalism and the specific needs of local audiences? And, more specifically, what are the implications in terms of curriculum, priority groups, and teaching methods? The paper also considers the argument for journalism schools to take on a wider view of their function in safeguarding and building healthy public information systems beyond the traditional function of producing the next generation of journalists, and it questions whether journalism schools should be training young people for careers as full-time professionals given a shrinking job market.

As explained in the paper, journalism is experiencing massive disruption. "Traditional media are in decline as audiences move online, and there is much discussion about alternative revenue models. At the same time, trust in journalism is under significant pressure in a 'post-fact' world. Social media have made it possible for almost anyone to have a voice. Communication has been democratized but it has also become easy for untruths to reach large audiences without the intervention of traditional filters of journalistic verification. The implications for journalism education have drawn some academic discussion, while journalism educators seek ways of adding more and more digital and social media skills into an already crowded curriculum. Less attention has been paid to the wider implications of a shrinking job market for journalists. The notion of journalism as a profession is fraying at the edges, with profound implications that journalism schools need to consider."

The brief begins by summarising the global crisis being faced by journalism and then looks at some of the characteristics that make African media landscapes different from other parts of the world and considers what this might mean for the ways in which African journalism is impacted by digital disruption. Looking in particular at the political and economic situation across many African countries, the discussion shows the various ways in which African journalism is fragile. Simply put, the commercial model of journalism is not the norm in many African media landscapes, and it rarely exists outside the larger urban centres. Also, most African audiences still get their information from state media, which are insulated from the business crisis to the extent to which they rely on public money.

With journalism teaching being equally impacted by the implications of digital disruption in the African context, the paper goes on to discuss some of the major debates and themes in relation to journalism education in Africa. Some of the debates are similar to those elsewhere in the world, like the balance between theory and practice, the effectiveness of various methods, and the ways in which to integrate digital tools. Possibly the strongest theme to emerge has been how to make journalism teaching appropriate to African conditions and circumstances. In relation to this theme, the paper focuses on the fragility of the journalistic profession (disrupted profession) and its implications for teaching. It argues that the ways in which ideas of journalistic professionalism are unravelling in the Global North are sometimes similar in Africa, though in different ways and due to older challenges. "Journalism work on the continent takes many different forms, but it is often extremely precarious and rarely matches the standard expectation of a full-time job for an independent and commercial organization. And yet this is at the core of the approach taken at most journalism schools, creating a serious mismatch."

For this reason, the paper proposes a new understanding of journalism, placing practice at its centre, rather than notions of a traditional profession. At the same time, it also proposes that journalism should be seen as a set of communication practices that serve the public interest in reliable information and civic discussion. In order to move toward this new understanding of journalism training in Africa, the paper unpacks some of the practical implications in terms of whom, what, and how to teach.

• Whom to teach - If one pays attention to the many ways in which journalism gets done in Africa today, one becomes aware of a much wider range of groups who need and want skills and teaching. There are groups on the periphery who can and should be supported, and strategies can then be developed to meet their needs. These include: young people who want to become full-time journalists; working journalists; community and local media; start-ups and innovators, non-profit and diasporic journalism; and accidental journalists (individuals who drift into journalism from unexpected directions).
• What to teach - Here, the paper looks at what the curricula for non-traditional students should look like and suggests the following areas of focus: old skills (interviewing, evaluating sources and their reliability, corroborating and verifying, and writing and other technical skills needed to make material available on various platforms.); new (technical) skills; basic values and ethics; and readiness for a new kind of work: precarious, post-industrial, and networked.
• How to teach - The paper notes that modes of teaching different kinds of students and new areas of competence need to go beyond the traditional lecture. New modalities need to be chosen that are fit for purpose, both in that they are designed to achieve their educational outcomes and in that they suit the circumstances of student groups. The discussion looks at alternative methods of teaching in relation to full-time study, part-time study, remote teaching, and practical skills.

Finally, the paper notes that in order to respond to the needs, constraints, and opportunities of the African media context and to take on a wider role of improving journalism practice, journalism schools need to look beyond teaching and make more extensive use of tools at their disposal. These tools include:

1. Research - Investigation should focus on the real ways in which African journalism is taking place, how it is changing, and how it is not.
2. Public role - Journalism schools can contribute to public discussion of media issues, such as those that relate to the defence of media freedom and policy development.
3. Practical journalism - Journalism schools often play a role as publishers - e.g., in order to provide their students with an opportunity for practice; this concept can be further explored.