By Enock Sithole
Research in journalism, media and communication is about to get a shot in the arm following the launching of an initiative to introduce a groundbreaking research project in these fields.
The initiative is the first of its kind to target East Africa, Uganda and Rwanda, in particular where there is a dearth of research in these fields.
The initiative was launched in Durban in the week of April 21-27 during a gathering of some 30 academics from Norway’s NLA University College, South Africa’s University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN), Uganda’s Uganda Christian University (UCU) and Rwanda’s University of Rwanda (UR).
Funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) to the tune of approximately USD 1.8 million, the research project will cover four areas with the overall theme being media resilience.
NLA’s Professor Terje Skjerdal told Ajenda that other research themes would be in the areas of media and democracy, health and communication, media and crisis over and above the main theme of media resilience. By the end of the project term in 2026, teams in the four research areas are expected to produce a book or a journal special issue, he said.
The research will focus mainly on Uganda and Rwanda where PhD and master’s studies in media and communication have recently been introduced at UCU and UR in partnership with NLA and UKZN. PhD and master’s students will contribute to the research as part of their programmes. Moreover, said Prof Skjerdal, the research will also cover East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and the whole of the African continent, depending on the research issues. Scholars from other universities and countries will be invited to contribute chapters to the book and publish articles in the special issue.
The research that will be produced will be made available to any interested persons and may also be used in education and in further research by other scholars.
This article was first published in the Ajen Newsletter.