By: Kemiso Wessie
A conference on the Future of Journalism Education will take place in three countries in mid-November.
The Covid-19 pandemic trapped the media industry around the world in an existential struggle and as media ecologies become increasingly more complex, journalism education is changing. The conference, themed ‘Digital Disruptions: Crafting Journalism Education for Viable Media’, will take place on November 15 in Namibia, move to Zimbabwe on the next day and finish in Malawi on November 17. Some panels and discussions will be available on Zoom and streamed on Facebook.
The event is being organized jointly by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi, Namibia Media Trust (NMT) and DW Akademie, and Centre for Innovation and Technology (CITE) in Zimbabwe. The conference provides a platform for media managers, journalists, media experts and journalism trainers from Southern Africa and Europe to exchange experiences and develop ideas on the future of journalism education in Southern Africa
The first day’s opening address will be delivered by Namibia’s Minister of Information, Communication and Technology Hon. Peya Mushelenga. Media educators will take part in a roundtable discussion on the future of journalism education and training in Africa, panelists include Dr. Phillip Santos of Namibia University of Science and Technology, Ms. Zoé Titus, Director of the Namibia Media Trust and Prof. Franz Krüger, co-ordinator of the steering committee of the African Journalism Educators’ Network.
Some other discussion topics and issues that will be addressed include:
- A deep dive into Media Viability
- The J-Sprint: Viability and Resilience for Journalism Training Providers
- TikTok and News & TikTok Strategies for the newsroom
- The role of media in combating political disinformation
- Gendered disinformation, fake news and women in politics
- How journalism education can address issues of media sustainability
- Citizens as Journalists in the digital age and self-regulating the digital space
- The resurgence of voice: Viva podcasting!
To close off the conference, representatives from MISA Malawi, NMT, DW Akademie and CITE will discuss the way forward of journalism’s path towards viable media.
- To access the hybrid conference sessions on Zoom, click here
- If you wish to be part of the conference WhatsApp group, join here
