Levi Obijiofor

Internationalization as De-Westernization of the Curriculum The Case of Journalism at an Australian University

Internationalization of the curriculum points to the interdependent and interconnected (globalized) world in which higher education operates. However, while international awareness is crucial to the study of journalism, in practice this often means an Anglo-American curriculum based around Western principles of journalism education and training that are deeply rooted in Western values and traditions. This tendency to privilege Western thought, practice, and values obscures from view other journalism practices and renders Western models of journalism desirable, replicable, and transplantable to any part of the world. This article discusses the engagement of a small group of staff in the process of thinking through the meaning of internationalization of the curriculum in their particular disciplinary and institutional context. The staff are located in a school of journalism and communication at a large research intensive university in Australia. The article describes the thinking behind their decision to focus internationalization of the curriculum on “critical de-Westernization” and social imaginaries. This was a gestalt shift resulting from discussion of the way in which “taken for granted” disciplinary canons had hitherto been uncritically embedded into the curriculum. It is argued that treating internationalization of the journalism curriculum as critical de-Westernization has conceptual and practical benefits in a globalized world.

Africa's dilemma in the transition to the new information and communication technologies

The emergence of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) has dramatically altered theoretical and practical assumptions about the role of the communication media in socioeconomic development. Today, the role of ICTs in developed and developing societies remains a subject of debate, and Africa has been caught in the middle of this debate. Advocates of ICTs, for instance, point to how the West experienced the impact of industrial technology and found it to be an indispensable tool for development. If the new technologies are good for the West, will the same hold true for the developing world? For Africa, the question is a difficult one: will the new information and communication technologies launch Africa on the path of socioeconomic development or will they subject Africa to a new form of dependence? This article argues that the communication technology which will be adopted by Africans, irrespective of how the West moves, will be the one that is easily accessible and which poses no challenge to sociocultural practices. That communication technology of the future will be the telephone.

The futures of communication

This article reports on the international World Futures Studies Federation Course on ‘The Futures of Communication’, held in Andorra in October 1994. The course was sponsored by the Centre Catalan de Prospectiva, UNESCO, the government of Andorra and the World Futures Studies Federation.

Future of communication in Africa's development

An alternative approach to the analysis of Africas future is explored in this essay. Specifically, the author focuses on the role of communication, in particular communication technologies, on Africas future development. A strong case is made for accessible and culturally significant low-cost communication technologies as the propellers of development in the continent.

Changes in journalism in two post-authoritarian non-Western countries

There have been significant changes in journalistic practices in various countries over the years. Yet little is known about the nature of changes in journalism in transitional developing countries following military rule. Drawing on email surveys of journalists in Nigeria and Fiji, two countries with recent histories of military dictatorship that are rarely examined in the research literature, this comparative study investigates journalistic practices in the two countries. Results show that in Nigeria, the transition from military rule to democratic system of government in May 1999 and the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act in 2011 have ushered in significant changes in the way journalism is practised. However, there remains an adversarial relationship between the government and journalists. In Fiji, the 2006 coup, the fourth in the country’s history, led to a more restrictive environment for journalists, despite democratic elections in 2014. Under pressure, journalists are rethinking their roles, with some now considering ‘development journalism’ as a legitimate journalistic genre. These findings contribute to our understanding of journalistic practices in non-Western cultures following transition from military rule to democracy.

Methodological and Ethical Challenges in Partnering for Refugee Research: Evidence From Two Australian Studies

ABSTRACT In this article we reflect on methodological and ethical challenges encountered while conducting two large, nationally funded studies on refugee resettlement in Australia. We focus on collaborative research partnerships, specifically with “industry partners,” wherein the partners may have different understandings of the research process and different agendas, and with bilingual research assistants. We analyze methodological challenges primarily pertaining to collecting good-quality data in cross-cultural contexts and ethical challenges concerned with ensuring confidentiality in recently arrived, tightly knit communities where community insiders assisted in accessing respondents and collecting data.

Refugee Parents’ Communication and Relations With Their Children: Development and Application of the Refugee Parent-Child Relational Communication Scale

ABSTRACT The study had two goals: First, a 20-item “Refugee Parent-Child Relational Communication Scale ” was developed for parents from refugee backgrounds. Former refugee parents from Ethiopia, Congo, and Burma (= 221) completed this and other questionnaires measuring demographics, acculturation, and acculturative stress. Exploratory factor analysis indicated three factors: “Engagement,” “Hope and Aspirations,” and “Dissonance.” The subscales were internally consistent. Second, this newly developed scale was used to explore whether the parents’ communication and relations with their children were associated with demographics, acculturation, and acculturative stress. Results of multiple regressions indicated that mothers and parents with higher acculturation were more engaged with their children and also encouraged their children to aspire for higher goals in life. Although parents with higher acculturative stress were also developing aspirations and hopes in their children; they reported strained relations with their children. Parents from the Congo scored higher on dissonance, indicating some problematic communication with their children.

Africa in the Australian press: Does distance matter?

ABSTRACT This study examined the level of coverage given to Africa in the Australian press, including the topics that received prominence in the news, in order to understand how Africa is portrayed in Australia’s press. Drawing on content analysis as a method, the research found that Africa was not portrayed in predominantly negative ways or largely misrepresented in the news, as previous studies had suggested. The result challenges the literature that suggests that Africa is depicted negatively in the Western media and that such a misrepresentation could be deliberate. The study also found that the Australian press devoted a modest amount of coverage to African news. All four regions of the continent received coverage. In general, national and local news dominated. International news came third, comprising 21 per cent of the total news articles. One lesson to be derived from this study is that events that occur in places that are geographically distant do not have to be negative to make the news, as claimed in much of the literature on foreign news.

New Technologies and the Socioeconomic Development of Africa

There is a growing belief that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) play an important role in the economic growth of nations. However, the extent to which new technologies accelerate the socioeconomic development of developing countries has been debated vigorously in the development literature. While some scholars see a direct relationship between the uptake of new technologies and enhancement of economic development, other scholars express doubts. This has prompted the question: do new technologies trigger economic development? Do countries that fail to introduce and adopt new technologies lag behind the rest of the world?

Mobile Phones Transforming Public Communication in Africa

The introduction of mobile phones in Africa is having a profound impact on modes of communication and how people interact. Mobile phones are transforming not only the way African people communicate but also the way they do business, the way teachers and students interrelate and the way news and entertainment are disseminated. Mobile phones have reduced or removed the physical distance between people who reside in rural and remote communities and those who live in cities. Part of the reason why mobile phones have been adopted in Africa is because the technology has many communication benefits. Indeed, mobile phones have filled a niche in people’s lives. This chapter analyses the everyday uses of mobile phones in different contexts by men and women, teenagers and adults, as well as urban and rural residents in Africa and other developing regions of the world. The chapter examines how mobile phones contribute to economic development and the factors that drive the uptake of mobile phones, as well as the various challenges that they have brought to people in Africa.