De-Westernizing African Journalism Curriculum Through Glocalization and Hybridization

Abstract

Over several decades, scholars have questioned the multilateralism of journalism education on the grounds that journalism education adopts a dominant paradigm that renders it predominantly Western. The argument, however, is polarized; on one hand, some scholars have proposed a de-Westernization of journalism education, on the other hand, a dissenting opinion argues that global journalism curriculum is multilateral. Despite several attempts by scholars and international organizations, specifically, the UNESCO, through the International Programme for Development of Communication (IPDC), to de-Westernize journalism curriculum, remnants of the dominant paradigm still persist. I concede that striking attempts have been made to de-Westernize and glocalize journalism curriculum; therefore, my central argument hinges on the thesis that instead of resisting and discarding the UNESCO model, and other Western influences, reformation and adaptation through glocalization and hybridization is encouraged. As such, this article conceptualizes and concretizes practical application of glocalization through a collaborative venture between a U.S.-based scholar and Ugandan scholars in developing a locally congruent curriculum for a brand new journalism program at a university in Uganda.

Inspiring Critical Consciousness: A Case for a Decolonized Journalism Study Abroad Curriculum

“…After participating in a journalism internship program in Ghana, students became more aware of their personal privilege in the United States, developed awareness about media laws in the host country, and used their media skills beyond classroom assignments (Steeves, 2006). A glocalization (a hybrid of local and global collaboration) approach was used as a potential solution to Western-influenced models of journalism curriculums in a United States/ Uganda journalism study-abroad program (Ezumah, 2019).…”

“…Western influences on the practices and study of journalism have been documented (Curran & Park, 2000) particularly in the context of decolonizing journalism practices and study in the Global South (Banda et al, 2007;Daros, 2022;De Beer et al, 2017;Ezumah, 2019) and in the Global North, where in the United Kingdom journalism education tends to privilege "western knowledge, case studies, practices and experiences" (Aujla-Sidhu, 2022, p. 1644. This study acknowledges that journalism is fundamentally connected to society or community, and when it is studied it must be situated within a global framework (Deuze, 2006).…”

Book Review: McQuail’s media & mass communication theory

“…The edition put less emphasis on the scholars from the United States and the United Kingdom and more attention is given to open access journals and books from around the world. As media and mass communication studies are often criticized for their Western bias (de Albuquerque et al, 2020;Ezumah, 2019;Hanitzsch, 2018;Korkonosenko, 2015;McQuail, 2009), this edition can show a path to the de-Westernization of media and mass communication studies.…”