Institutional and governmental challenges for journalism education in East Africa: special research focus: journalism education in Africa

Abstract

Journalism education and training in Eastern Africa has commonly been a result of fragmented initiatives by Western donor organisations, but there is now a growing tendency to formalise programmes in established colleges and universities. The merger of existing journalism programmes, as has happened recently in Ethiopia and Tanzania, is a notable trend. Generally, while a major challenge for journalism in East Africa is fighting institutional and government corruption, as well the regulation of journalism training, an acute challenge for journalism on the Horn of Africa is the insecure situation for journalists due to state actions against the media and consequently also journalism education, even if it is in a more subtle form.