By Enock Sithole
Following the Rhodes University Journalism Summit held in April this year, work to adopt the Makhanda Declaration on African Journalism Education is in full swing.
The initiative is a sequel to a discussion held between Rhodes University journalism academics and their alumni who expressed the view that journalism was in a crisis given the many developments in the industry, said Taryn de Vega, a lecturer at the university.
The summit was an opportunity for participants to get to grips “with the precarious terrain journalism must both inhabit and report on,” reads the summit report, adding that “research indicated that journalism was facing a series of headwinds and needed to explore a new path into the digital era and beyond”.
The advent of factors such as Artificial intelligence (AI), the emergence of monopolistic large corporations in the media industry, the decline in the belief in the independence of the media, digital attacks on journalists and free speech, harassment and killings of journalists and truth-tellers, journalistic corruption, checkbook journalism signaled the commodification of news. This meant that journalism had to square up to a multi-dimensional crisis, the report argues.
The report cites the summit as having suggested that “the decolonisation movement has also challenged journalism to review its ethos – values, ethics, routines, and practices. Journalism has, throughout the century, been justified in terms of its contributions to democracy”.
The summit recognised the need for journalism education to adapt to the rapidly changing media landscape. Participants emphasised the importance of setting a research agenda and teaching curriculum that prepares students for the industry’s rapid evolution. They also highlighted the need for newsrooms to prioritise the health and wellness of journalists, particularly those working in traumatic environments. Additionally, they discussed the challenges and opportunities facing journalism in the digital age, including monetization, trauma, and regulation, and emphasized the need for collective action to address these issues, said De Vega.
The summit agreed that the Makhanda Declaration on African Journalism should be worked on and launched on 19 October during the celebrations of the Media Freedom Day in South Africa.
A consultation process where stakeholders will be invited to make submissions to the prospective declaration will soon get underway. Submissions will be made on the following 11 themes:
- Journalism as a public good
- Internet access
- Sustainability of journalism
- Taxation of big tech
- Community media
- Multilingualism
- Public broadcasting
- Education
- Regulation
- Attacks on and killing of journalists
- Student media
Submissions would be invited from all stakeholders and any person with an interest in the subject of media and journalism.
Once adopted, the declaration would serve as a compass for possible areas of curriculum development and research, said De Vega.
She added that efforts would be made to make the declaration relevant to other African countries despite different media environments in different countries on the continent.
This article was first published in the African Journalism Educators Network newsletter on 5th August