By Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey
The African Journalism Educators Network (AJEN) made a strong representation at the recently held annual conference for the African Women in Media (AWIM). The conference is considered to be Africa’s most prominent gathering of women changemakers in media. The event took place at the Pullman Hotel in Dakar, Senegal, under the theme: Media and Sustainability.
The two-day event brought together media practitioners, scholars, media development organisations, media regulators, and other stakeholders to discuss pertinent issues affecting the sustainability of the media.
The AJEN panel themed, Setting the AJENDA for a Holistic Approach to Media Sustainability, showcased the work of various academics from the Network who are addressing media sustainability through research, teaching, and capacity-building projects on the African continent.
Discussions centred on how the concept of media sustainability is being integrated into journalism curricula across various J-schools, challenges and opportunities in the implementation of gender policies in Rwandan media and lessons for the continent, the gender dimensions of media development through the voices of female journalists in Mauritius, the framing of refugee narratives in Rwandan print media and advancing gender equality through media and civil society organisations as an approach to media sustainability (based on the Advancing Gender Equality through Civil Society (AGEMCS) Project).
The panellists, who are members of AJEN, were Professor Margaret Jjuuko of the University of Rwanda; Professor Nancy Booker of the Aga Khan University, Kenya; Dr. Theodora Dame Adjin-Tettey of Durban University of Technology, Christina Chan-Meetoo of the University of Mauritius; and Elva Nziza, a PhD Candidate at the University of Kwazulu-Natal and affiliated with The NLA University College in Norway. Dr Dinesh Baliah of the Wits Centre of Journalism moderated the discussion.
The panel showcased how journalism schools and African journalism educators are addressing the sustainability challenges of the media as well as that of society through curricula and collaborative projects with industry. They demonstrate that African journalism educators are not oblivious of the realities of current newsroom dynamics and societal sustainability, and are creatively finding solutions to them.
The article, Ajen speaks at AWIM, was first published in the Ajenda newsletter on 13, January 2025.