Teaching journalism or teaching African journalism? Experiences from foreign involvement in a journalism programme in Ethiopia

Abstract

Journalism programmes across the African continent have different attitudes to the issue of universal vs.local values in journalism. This article discusses the issue in light of a post-graduate journalismprogramme that opened at Addis Ababa University in 2004. In its 5-year implementation phase, theprogramme engaged educators from Europe and North America in addition to local instructors. Thus, onecould expect a potential conflict between Western and Ethiopian approaches to journalism. However, onthe basis of experiences with the Addis Ababa programme, the present study questions the assumeddichotomy between Western and Ethiopian (or African) journalism discourses. Tensions did indeed cometo the fore when the programme was planned and implemented, but they were defined by determinantssuch as professional background and personal preferences of the instructors involved rather than bygeographical and cultural origin.