News, Documentary and Advocacy Journalism

This chapter examines how alternative models of journalism are emerging to counter the news values associated with the so-called mainstream media - news values, which are increasingly criticised for serving only the interests of the political and economic elite. In particular, this chapter looks at advocacy journalism, which focuses on a shift away from objectivity towards the arguably more ethical practice of attachment. The neutral and detached reporter, who remains outside of events and reports only facts, becomes a campaigner immersed in a story to call for and foster real social change

The Search for Global Ethics: Changing Perceptions through International Journalism, Crisis and Trauma in the Classroom

Globalisation and a subsequent increasingly interdependent world are forcing an evolution of current journalism practice. It is argued that new forms of international storytelling must be underpinned by a global ethical approach that shifts the current conceptual framework of foreign correspondence from the nation-state to a new international arena. Human rights journalism is presented as a potential model to facilitate such a shift. This article illustrates the responsibility of journalism education to shape global reporters of the future and sets out a scenario-based approach to teaching and learning that empowers students to reflect both theoretically and practically on calls for a more cosmopolitan journalistic practice

US 2012 Live: When the Classroom becomes a Newsroom.

In November 2012, 300 students came together in the Media School at Bournemouth University in the UK to report the US Presidential Election. Over the course of 10 days, students published 176 articles on a rolling news website, garnering more than 20,000 hits. On election night itself, students produced 10 h of live coverage on both TV and radio, airing 30 pre-recorded video packages and 35 pre-recorded radio packages. This experiential project adopted a so-called ‘live case’ methodology that encapsulated a high degree of application and a cer- tain level of structure, which allowed for the ‘variety and uncertainty’ or reality to intervene. It also empowered and enabled students to reflect on and evaluate their individual experiences in light of their own learning styles. This paper will discuss the challenges and successes experienced during this experiential project, and will provide a nine-step guide on how others could replicate a similar project

Designing Journalists: Teaching Journalism Students to Think Like Web Designers

The authors introduced 80 university-level journalism students to a web design program called Klynt and supervised the creation of multiple interactive documentaries. They discovered that fledgling reporters could effectively design interactive media while creating work that reflects their own candid and extemporaneous ethos. Building on the insight that journalism in the digital age must give rise to modified best practices, this study examines the complex production processes from which multiple i-docs emerged. The authors conclude by suggesting four tentative “new best practices” for journalists attempting to think and act like web designers

Human Resources Engagement as a Competitive Strategy for Performance in Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya: A case Study of Jirani Engineering Services.

The business environment within which Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operates in Kenya is very dynamic. Internal and external forces are fast changing the style of management and human resource engagement to an extent that SMEs must as a matter of urgency amend or adopt new human resource strategies as key source of their strategic advantage in order to grow, remain competitive and profitable. A change in employees engagement strategy is widely believed will determine the direction of the SMEs in unlocking their potential and competitiveness. There is also a wide believe that human resource engagement affect labour performance, productivity, commitment and they create comparative advantage for the enterprise. The aim of this study was to establish the influencing factors that affect employee engagement and subsequent performance. This study was a descriptive and exploratory research, a case study of Jiran Engineering services. It employed questionnaires and interviews. The findings of this study indicated that an effective human resource strategy on communication, equal pay, equal opportunities and recognition affects employee engagement in the firm and has a direct impact on labour productivity and firm competitive edge. The study therefore recommended that Jirani Engineering Services should adopt a strategic human resource plan despite its nature of operations in order to tap the potential that goes with effectively engaged people. The firm should also have a clearly defined and well aligned human resource plans to drive the identified factors. This will enable the firm to focus on its market position and other value addition services. Key words: engagement, communication, equal opportunity, pay and benefits and recognitio

Improving the Dependability of Destination Recommendations using Information on Social Aspects

Prior knowledge of the social aspects of prospective destinations can be very influential in making travel destination decisions, especially in instances where social concerns do exist about specific destinations. In this paper, we describe the implementation of an ontology-enabled Hybrid Destination Recommender System (HDRS) that leverages an ontological description of five specific social attributes of major Nigerian cities, and hybrid architecture of content-based and case-based filtering techniques to generate personalised top-n destination recommendations. An empirical usability test was conducted on the system, which revealed that the dependability of recommendations from Destination Recommender Systems (DRS) could be improved if the semantic representation of social attributes information of destinations is made a factor in the destination recommendation process.Content-based filtering; Recommender Systems; Ontology; Social Attributes, Destination recommendation

Electrically Switchable Nan Crystals-in-Glass Coatings That Dynamically Filter Heat and Light

Nickel oxide (NiO) is an electro chromic material that can be used either as a working or counter electrode in solid-state electro chromic devices such as smart windows. In combination with Cerous Titanate (CeO2-TiO2), Titanium-doped Nickel Oxide (NiO:Ti) is a promising coloring material with improved optical, electrical and electro chromic properties. Ti-doped NiO thin films were deposited on fluorine-doped tin oxide coated glass (SnO2:F) using sol-gel dip coating technique with different molar concentrations of titanium ranging from 0 to 67%. The results show a decrease in transmittance as the concentration of titanium is increased due to the formation of coloring centers. The electrical properties such as resistivity, conductivity and sheet resistance were measured using four-point probe method. The electro chromic properties of the thin films were investigated using 1M KOH electrolyte for cyclic voltammetry (CV), ion-optics transmittance and chronoamperometry (CA) measurements. An optimized Ni0.75Ti0.25O sample films was found to have enhanced emissivity and electrochromism hence a good candidate for applications in smart windows

Understanding trauma for reconciliation and peace-building journalism in Colombia

This study argues that a better understanding of trauma can support a journalism that seeks to build peace in Colombia. Based on a participant observation, it presents the experiences of four local journalists living and working in a context of protracted violence in one of the country’s most dangerous regions. Through an application of Newman and Nelson’s conceptual framework of the three tensions or “dances” of trauma, it is argued that an ethical and trauma-aware practice can underpin a more inclusive narrative of peace and conflict. An emotionally literate journalism, which seeks out the voices and experiences of the marginalised, has the potential to promote social cohesion in the aftermath of suffering and pave the foundations for reconciliation within a community. This people-focused approach strengthens resilience in both the reporter and the reported by equipping local journalists with the skills and knowledge they need to live up to the contemporary expectations of peace-building that have been placed upon them

Violence, anti-press violence and reporting alternative social (dis)order. Journalism, neo-paramilitarism and citizenship in Colombia’s “After War”.

This thesis presents the result of an ethnographic study drawing upon participant observation and life history interviews. The research was conducted in a region of Colombia referred to as the Llano Verde with several periods of extended fieldwork between 2013 and 2016. This research offers a “thick description” (Geertz 1973) of the “non-formal” (Nordstrom 2004) networks of murder, extortion and drug trafficking in “the spaces of death” (Taussig 1984) at the margins of Colombian society. The study develops the work of Maria Clemencía Ramírez (2010) to document the alternative social (dis)order of Colombia’s “after war”, defined in part by the persistent and relentless nature of “privatised” and “democratised” (Koonings and Kruit 1999, 2004; Kaldor 2012; Defort 2013) violence. It also portrays the region’s “divergent news ecology”, which emerges in this (dis)order through the stories of five individual journalists living and working there. These reporters constitute a “distinct epistemic community “ (Waisbord 2013, p. 199) founded on fear, defiance and resistance. This research deconstructs and problematises four oversimplified dichotomies in journalism studies scholarship: (1) amateur/professional; (2) legacy/alternative; (3) war/peace; and (4) victim/perpetrator. It concludes that individuals who engage in sustained acts of violence or journalistic practice are both exerting their “insurgent” citizenship (Holston 2008), which either “confirms” or “disconfirms” (Haugaard 2003) the socially, culturally and symbolically violent structures (Galtung 1964, 1990), which underpin this alternative social (dis)order. Journalism, it is argued, is a vehicle to resist against or overhaul these dominant structures. Building on the works of Stuart Allan (2013) and Clemencia Rodríguez (2011), it is argued that journalism embodies a committed act of witness-resistance. Through a process of commitment, based on an interpretation of the philosophy of Jean Paul Sartre, this involves the communitarian desire to better society through a peace-oriented practice, but also incorporates a direct individual assertion of one’s own place in the world