Deadline for abstracts: June 22, 2020

The proposed edited collection aims to explore the possibilities and limitations of teaching journalism in countries with strong media control.

Target publisher: Palgrave Studies in Journalism and the Global South, Palgrave Macmillan.

Recent scholarship has expressed increasing concern over the importance of acknowledging the varieties of journalism and its teaching around the world. It has been suggested that universalistic assumptions of what constitutes journalism should be challenged and domestic cultural standards and diverse political configurations should be taken into account (Mensing and Franklin, 2011; Hanitzsch et al., 2019; Bebawi, 2016; Mikal, 2014; Obijiofor and Hanusch, 2011; Berger, 2011; Schiffrin, 2011; Josephi, 2010; Hossein, 2007; Friedman, Shafer and Rice, 2006).

An interdisciplinary, cross-geographical approach has been advocated as a way to spur discussion and criticism of the theoretical and practical principles underpinning journalism education. Collaborative work, at the global level among journalism educators, could foster the reciprocal exchange of ideas promoting innovation in practice, curriculum design and research (Mensing and Franklin, 2011).

A focus on countries with robust media control, in times when the relationship between education and profession is being debated at a global level, might foster a discussion on the paradoxical features characterizing the tension between theory and practice. Typical questions arising are, for instance, whether journalism educators can teach effectively in a restrained media environment without compromising the very principles they are trying to abide by (Thompson, 2007).

Existing studies note how in countries with strong governmental influence journalism programs face contradictory priorities over ideological impositions and commercial or educational imperatives (Obijiofor and Hanusch, 2011). For example, many universities in the Global South face the challenge of having to teach students how to write engaging content to meet audience and market demands whilst demonstrating loyalty to the state and adhering to its principles (Dombernowsky, 2016; Long and Zeng, 2016; Hao and Xu, 1997; Repnikova, 2017). Thus, it is crucial to understand how teachers and students make sense of, negotiate and reinterpret the clashing interests of state ideological infusions and public demands, and translate them into practice and reporting models.

The proposed edited collection aims to discuss how to teach journalism in countries with limited freedom, including those which are in transition from authoritarianism to freer modes of government. The book has four main purposes: to illustrate and contextualize the challenges of journalism education under governmental control; to problematize transplanting a Western Anglo-American model into non-Western countries; to assess both the limitations and creative opportunities arising from teaching journalism under constraints; and, to broaden our understanding of the meaning and forms that journalism can take and the consequences that such a fluid understanding might have for future journalists.

We would like the focus of the edited collection to be on China but we are open to contributions regarding other countries as well. Possible themes include but are not limited to:

• Theoretical frameworks
• Emerging learning models
• The application of Western teaching principles in non-Western countries
• Teaching journalism in transnational universities
• Teaching journalism law/ethics
• Accreditation standards of journalism education
• Journalism training in countries that are making a transition to democracy
• History of journalism training
• The gap between academia and the industry
• Fieldwork policies and learning outcomes
• Teaching in collaboration with the industry
• The structure of journalism curricula
• Student awareness of politics
• Managing student expectations
• Technology-enhanced teaching
• Community-based educational projects
• Aesthetic journalism
• Student media
• Education as an agent of change
• Education as a way to maintain the status quo
• Internationalization of educational strategies
• Journalism as a reservoir of transferable skills
• Political and market influences on journalism curriculum design
• Journalism training and ideological/political indoctrination
• Illustrated Journalism

Key dates

• Abstract submission deadline: June 22, 2020
• Notification of acceptance: July 1, 2020
• Full paper submission (min 6, 500 - max 7, 500 words): September 1, 2020

Please send in abstracts of max 500 words to:

Diana.Garrisi@xjtlu.edu.cn (Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Xi’an-Jiaotong Liverpool University, China)

and

Xianwen.Kuang@xjtlu.edu.cn (Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Xi’an-Jiaotong Liverpool University, China).

We look forward to receiving your abstracts!