UNESCO to participate in 2nd World Journalism Education Congress in Grahamstown next month
23-06-2010 (Grahamstown)
Congress leaflet
In its strategic and programmatic commitment to promoting quality journalism education in Africa, UNESCO will actively participate in the 2nd World Journalism Education Congress (WJEC) to be held from 5 to 7 July 2010 in the South African town of Grahamstown. The theme of the congress, "Journalism Education in an Age of Radical Change", reflects the major social, political, economic and technological changes sweeping across the globe in general and Africa in particular.
The event will provide an opportunity to discuss common issues and challenges facing journalism educators, and will seek to lay a foundation for supporting the continuing development of journalism and journalism education worldwide.
Building on its mandate as the lead UN agency in promoting freedom of expression and access to information and knowledge, UNESCO will be involved in several activities during WJEC. In keeping with its commitment to Africa as a strategic and programmatic priority, UNESCO was one of several organizations that endorsed Rhodes University’s bid to host the 2nd WJEC in Africa.
Key activities sponsored by UNESCO will include:
four-day training session on new media for teachers from 21 African universities (4-8 July);
workshop on Media Training, Journalism Education and Gender Equality (5-7 July);
panel debate on Driving the Future of Journalism Curricula: The Model Curriculum in Journalism Education (5 July);
meeting entitled “Promoting Networking and Recognition for Potential Centres of Excellence in Journalism Education” (8 July), which will bring together the 21 African potential centres of excellence and reference in journalism education to explore the possibility of reinforcing cooperation and resource mobilization strategies.
WJEC-1 was held in Singapore from 25 to 28 June 2007. It was organized by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) with the support of over 40 journalism education associations from around the world.
The former director of AMIC, Indrajit Banerjee, explains: “This was the first international conference that brought together leading journalism educators to discuss common issues and interests and to create a platform for knowledge sharing and dialogue among journalism education experts and institutions”.
Since the first Congress, many changes occurred in global media, economics, politics and environment. WJEC-2 will take stock of how such developments impact on journalism education worldwide.
Building on its mandate as the lead UN agency in promoting freedom of expression and access to information and knowledge, UNESCO will be involved in several activities during WJEC. In keeping with its commitment to Africa as a strategic and programmatic priority, UNESCO was one of several organizations that endorsed Rhodes University’s bid to host the 2nd WJEC in Africa.
Key activities sponsored by UNESCO will include:
WJEC-1 was held in Singapore from 25 to 28 June 2007. It was organized by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) with the support of over 40 journalism education associations from around the world.
The former director of AMIC, Indrajit Banerjee, explains: “This was the first international conference that brought together leading journalism educators to discuss common issues and interests and to create a platform for knowledge sharing and dialogue among journalism education experts and institutions”.
Since the first Congress, many changes occurred in global media, economics, politics and environment. WJEC-2 will take stock of how such developments impact on journalism education worldwide.
Related themes/countries
· Africa
· Training of Media Professionals
· Journalism education in Africa
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Contact information
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Contact
- Silvia Chocarro Marcesse, UNESCO, Communication Development Division
- Jaco du Toit, UNESCO Office in Windhoek
- UNESCO
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