Is bad news from Africa good news for Western media?

This article examines the elements that underpin the controversy over Western media’s coverage of Africa, including growing perceptions by African political leaders and journalists of the increasing distortion of Africa by Western media, as well as how the conventions of news selection and reporting serve to create a particular media discourse about Africa. The author poses the questions: Why is Africa depicted in the Western media as an economic disaster, a continent of contradictions, a continent marked by political instability, poverty, diseases, as well as bizarre traditional belief systems and cultural practices? Does bad news about Africa make good news copy for Western journalists? These questions and more are explored in this article

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND USE OF THE INTERNET AS A NEWS CHANNEL Levi OBIJIOFOR, Ph.D.

New technologies, in particular the Internet, have transformed journalistic practices in many ways around the world. While a number of studies have investigated how established journalists are dealing with and using new technologies in a number of countries, very little attention has been paid to how student journalists view and use the Internet as a source of news. This study examined the ways in which second and third-year journalism and arts students at the University of Queensland (Australia) get their news, how they use the Internet as a news channel, as well as their perceptions and use of other new technologies. The authors draw on the theoretical frameworks of uses and gratifications, as well as the media richness theory to explore the primary reasons why students use and perceive the Internet as a news channel.KEYWORDS: Internet, New technologies, News, News source, University students, Australi

Coping with change in India’s media: Struggles of English-language journalists in an evolving mediascape

In recent times, journalism, worldwide, has been undergoing significant changes. Some of the major revolutions have occurred in India, the world’s largest democracy. The size and face of Indian news media have seen rapid transformations owing to major economic, technological, and political developments in the country in recent decades. The focus of this research is on how India’s English-language media are dealing with the various changes, including digital disruptions and other pressures under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hindutva’ government. The insights are drawn from the experiences and perceptions of a sample of journalists at the forefront of covering major events. Being in the coalface, these journalists are bearing the brunt of the developments, both good and bad. The email interviews reveal that while the English-language media may be a small part of India’s vast national media landscape, they are also buffeted by some major developments in the country, and fighting to maintain their independence in the face of some powerful trends and influences in technology, politics, and commerce

Singaporean And Nigerian Journalists' Perceptions Of New Technologies

This analysis of Singaporean and Nigerian journalists' perceptions of new technologies suggests that new technologies are regarded as useful tools for modern journalism practice but they are also seen as facilitating unethical journalism practice. The study found that journalists believe that new technologies have improved rather than harmed newspaper quality. The resuts also show a great disparity in the diffusion of technology in Singaporean and Nigerian newsrooms. Computer technology is more common in Singaporean newsrooms than in Nigerian newsrooms. Lack of training opportunities for senior editors and lack of access to the new technologies constitute major obstacles to technology diffusion in Nigerian newspaper organisations. But Nigerian journalists were more optimistic than Singaporean journalists about the impact of new technologies on the future of journalism practice

Media freedom in Melanesia: the challenges of researching the impact of national security legislation

Commentary: In a global context of national security anxiety, governments across the world are passing an increasing number of laws in response to terror-related threats. Often, national security laws undermine media freedom and infringe on democratic principles and basic human rights. Threats to media freedom and abuse of journalists are also increasing in Melanesia. This commentary argues that in a regional context of repetitive political coups, failures in governance, high levels of corruption, insurrections, or even media crises, the tensions between national security legislation and media freedom need to be examined cautiously. The authors suggest that strong methodological and theoretical frameworks that allow for serious consideration of cultural practices and protocols will be necessary to conduct research examining these tensions in Melanesia

Refugee settlers in South-East Queensland: Employment, aspirations and intergenerational communication about future occupational pathways: final report

This is the finalreport of the ARC linkage research project Refugees’ employment aspirations and inter-generational communication about future occupational pathways.The project was based in South-eastQueensland and was conducted overthree years (2013, 2014, and 2015). The lead chief investigator was Dr Aparna Hebbani from the University of Queensland.The project had three overall aims. Aim 1: To investigate the employment experiences of recently arrived refugees. Aims2 and 3: Toinvestigate refugees’ aspirations for themselves and their children’s educational and occupational futures.Specifically, this study focused on the experiences of refugeesettlersfrom Burma, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia, which are among the top ten source countries for offshore humanitarian entrants (DIBP, 2013).<br/

REVIEW: Story telling as the hub of investigative reporting

Review of: Story-based Inquiry: A manual for investigative journalists, by Mark Lee Hunter, Nils Hanson, Rana Sabbagh, Luuk Sengers, Drew Sullivan, Flemming Tait Svith and Pia Thordsen. Paris: UNESCO. 2011, 87 pp. ISBN 9789231041891 (pbk).In this book, Story-based inquiry: A manual for investigative journalists, authors Mark Lee Hunter, Nils Hanson, Rana Sabbagh, Luuk Sengers, Drew Sullivan, Flemming Tait Svith and Pia Thordsen present detailed, systematic and practical processes and procedures through which journalists can engage in investigative reporting. The authors acknowledge that, like all human activities, investigation consumes time, money and energy, but at the end it is worth the effort. This manual, published by the UNESCO head office in Paris, represents a major contribution to the literature on investigative journalism