A teaching philosophy of journalism education in the global South: A South African case study

Abstract

This article sets out a teaching philosophy of journalism education in South Africa based on four assertions: re-affirmation of the role of journalism in democratic processes, the need for comparative studies and research-led teaching, journalism as active citizenship and journalism as a reflexive practice. These assertions are considered within the context of the role of the news media in a young democracy, with a particular focus on South Africa and post-colonial societies in the global South. As such, I hope to contribute to a debate around journalism education grounded in local realities rather than imported Western normative conceptualizations of the role and function of the news media and what the study of the news media in this particular context can offer not only the context that it serves but also the discipline itself.

Teaching in Unfamiliar Terrain: Empowering Student and Teacher Learning through a Photography Assignment

“…This article responds to a crucial imperative to “make curricula more reflective of local realities and developments” (Rodny-Gumede forthcoming), which is a relevant goal for instructors in a variety of settings, from an American instructor teaching abroad, to an urban-based instructor teaching in a rural area or small town, to a West Coast–based instructor teaching in the deep South. At the same time, this objective is especially salient for those teaching in “young democracies, transitional and post-colonial countries in the global South” (Rodny-Gumede forthcoming).…”

“…This article responds to a crucial imperative to “make curricula more reflective of local realities and developments” (Rodny-Gumede forthcoming), which is a relevant goal for instructors in a variety of settings, from an American instructor teaching abroad, to an urban-based instructor teaching in a rural area or small town, to a West Coast–based instructor teaching in the deep South. At the same time, this objective is especially salient for those teaching in “young democracies, transitional and post-colonial countries in the global South” (Rodny-Gumede forthcoming). This project offers one way that sociology instructors can participate in the important and growing demand to decolonize higher education (Mbembe 2016) by empowering students to create their own sociological analyses that reflects their social contexts while also mediating a potential problem that instructors teaching in unfamiliar environments are likely to face.…”

Digital populism, digital newswork and the concept of journalistic competence: the Philippine condition

“…The seemingly elusive nexus between academic theory and journalistic practice is not really elusive, but only appears to be so because of what Harcup (2011) called as ‘anti-intellectualism’ (p. 172) celebrated by some industry actors, who according to him emphasised practical skills as the end-all-be-all of journalistic competence (see also Hanna, 2005), contributing to the inertia of professional journalism culture at the time of upheavals. As Rodny-Gumede (2018) wrote, journalism education or journalist training in the Global South should be ‘research-based’, reflexive and ‘comparative’.…”

Journalism competence and the COVID-19 crisis in Southeast Asia

“…A 'transformative' way journalistic practice and education rests on the capacity for critical reflection (Harcup, 2011;Rodny-Gumede, 2016), which means 'posing questions about how and why things are the way they are, what value systems they represent, what alternatives might be available, and what the limitations are of doing things one way as opposed to another' (Richards & Lockhart, 1996). This critical reflection goes beyond critical thinking as a basic human competency-it is not simply about a journalist reflecting on his or her quality of work.…”