Issue 17 (2006)

Editor's Note: Contextualising the teaching of journalism

Three years ago in Toronto at the AEJMC pre-convention workshop I met with a group of journalism educators. We explored how we could better contextualise the delivery of journalism programmes to stay in tune with an internet-wired world. One of the imperatives we noted was to expose journalism students to learning opportunities where they could look at issues and affairs beyond the boundaries of their immediate community; and to develop in students the journalistic aptitude for interpreting and contextualising issues from a cross-cultural, ‘global’ perspective.

We concluded that an “internationalised” program should be defined less by economic imperatives than its subject contents, context of course assignments, and outlook of the course instructors - all geared to produce journalism graduates capable of understanding and contextualising issues in different cultural, geographical and political settings. At a micro level, such a journalism curriculum should thus be responsive to the diversity [and commonality] of the students’ cultural background and learning experience.

-Eric Loo, Editor