[Commlist] Call for Chapters: Innovative Approaches to Journalism Education in Africa: Adapting for a Perpetually Evolving Profession

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Call for Chapters: Innovative Approaches to Journalism Education in 
Africa: Adapting for a Perpetually Evolving Profession

This call for an edited volume comes just over a decade after Mensing 
(2013:76) argued that “journalism education programs are distinctly 
unprepared to respond to such deeply structural changes in the 
environment.” Some of the changes that Mensing (ibid) reflected on 
include the changing news production and dissemination practices. 
However, the environment has seen heightened reconfigurations including 
the toxification of the operating environment for journalists, the 
changing ownership patterns and the rise of peripheral actors, who 
seldom abide by journalistic ethics, in some instances upstaging the 
mainstream media (Cheruiyot et al. 2021). The digital disruption has 
also made official control of information more difficult and opened the 
door to new sources of pollution for information systems Kruger (2022). 
Since then, there have been attempts to respond to the changing 
environment in the academy with journalism educators responding to this 
changing journalism ecosystem through scholarly work and classroom 
pedagogy. Recently, scholars like Kruger (2022) have raised pertinent 
questions such as: what, and how should journalism schools teach to 
remain relevant? Others such as Bélair-Gagnon et al. (2024) have been 
investigating the concept of ‘happiness in journalism’ as a way of 
locating how journalists contend with occupational stress. Some of these 
changes echoed in how journalism and media programs have integrated, 
among others, entrepreneurship, the issue of peripheral actors and more 
recently artificial intelligence into the evolving journalism education.

We, therefore, through this edited volume invite submissions for 
abstracts looking at some of the innovative approaches to journalism 
education within the higher education space. By innovative, in this 
call, we refer to some of the nascent approaches and content development 
that speaks to the changes in journalism. These may include, but not 
limited to, integration of mental health modules, entrepreneurship 
skills, digital skills and adaptive approaches that speak to context 
specific approaches to journalism education and for the global South not 
a ‘neo colonial’ curriculum, as Dube (2016) noted, that is ‘too 
dependent on Western epistemologies. Writing on the gap in journalism 
education, Markovikj and Serafimovska (2023) note that “educational 
institutions rarely offer a subject, practical teaching, course or 
lessons within other subjects on trauma…literacy. Studies from the 
United States show that only 1 (from 41) accredited school offers a 
course relevant to trauma literacy.”

The point of departure of this call is that seismic shifts that have 
occurred within and out of the journalism industry requires a 
corresponding pedagogical turn a point that Mensing (2013) theorised and 
rightly arguing for “journalism education from an industry-centered 
model to a community-centered model as one way to re-engage journalism 
education in a more productive and vital role in the future of journalism.”

Some of the areas that in recent years have received attention, bothin 
practice and scholarly work, include issues of the mental health crisis 
due to incessant attacks- online and offline, changing business models 
and cultural sensitivity especially around the quest to decolonise the 
HE. Journalism education should have a symbiotic relationship with 
practice. This is critical to produce candidates that are industry 
ready. The two should be inseparable if both journalism education is to 
remain relevant, and the industry is to have a constant supply of 
well-equipped graduates.

With the ongoing reconfigurations happening within and outside of the 
media industry, it is important for the journalism curriculum to 
constantly go through a metamorphosis to reflect these changes. The 
contributions are welcomed from the global South with special focus on 
emerging trends in journalism education. This special volume aims to 
transcend the immediate challenges facing journalism education, offering 
an evergreen platform for exploring innovative pedagogical and 
epistemological shifts.  While the current landscape presents urgent 
demands—from combating misinformation to integrating AI—the need for 
continuous innovation is inherent to journalism itself. The sector's 
dynamic nature, marked by constant technological disruption, evolving 
ethical considerations, and shifting societal roles, necessitates a 
proactive and adaptive educational framework (Nkoala & Lesame, 2024). 
Therefore, we seek submissions that not only address contemporary issues 
but also contextualise these innovations within the historical 
trajectory of journalism pedagogy and speculate on future trajectories. 
By examining how foundational theories and teaching practices have 
responded to past transformations and anticipating future demands, this 
call aims to foster a deeper understanding of the enduring principles of 
journalistic education while championing its perpetual evolution in a 
perpetually changing world.

●AI in journalism training

●Entrepreneurial journalism

●Mental health/trauma in journalism studies

●Adaptive and culturally responsive approaches

●Teaching for Trust and Combating Disinformation

●Beyond the Newsroom: Preparing Journalists for Diverse Career Paths

●Interdisciplinary Approaches to Journalism Education

●Assessing Pedagogical Innovations: Measuring the Impact of New Curricula

●Journalism Education in Crisis Zones and Post-Conflict Settings

●Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Journalism Curricula and Classrooms

●Experiential Learning and Industry-Academia Partnerships


Editors: Trust Matsilele (Birmingham City University, UK), Sisanda 
Nkoala (University of Western Cape, South Africa), Lungile Tshuma 
(Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal), and Albert Sharra 
(Edinburgh University, UK)

NB: You may email your abstracts to the following: 
(trust.matsilele /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(trust.matsilele /at/ gmail.com)> and 
(sisandankoala /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(sisandankoala /at/ gmail.com)>

*Submission Details and Timeline*

We invite abstracts of 250 to 300 words that outline your proposed 
chapter's methodology and theoretical orientation. Please include 3-5 
keywords and a 100-word biography for each author, including 
institutional affiliations.

Please submit your abstracts to the editors at: 
*(trust.matsilele /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(trust.matsilele /at/ gmail.com)>* and 
*(sisandankoala /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(sisandankoala /at/ gmail.com)>*.

The key dates for this volume are as follows:

  * *Abstract Submission Deadline:* October 30, 2025
  * *Notification of Acceptance:* November 21, 2025
  * *Full Chapter Submission:* April 30, 2026
  * *Revised Chapter Submission:* June 15, 2026
  * *Anticipated Publication:* Second half of 2026

Potential Publishers: *Palgrave/Routledge/Bloomsbury*

*References*

Dube, B. (2016). Rethinking journalism education in African journalism 
institutions: Perspectives of Southern African journalism scholars on 
the Africanisation of journalism curricula. /AFFRIKA Journal of 
Politics, Economics and Society/, /6/(1), 13-45.

Kruger, F., 2022. Disrupted Media–Disrupted Academy: Rethinking African 
j-Schools. /Shorenstein Center. February/, /15/.]

Cheruiyot, D., Wahutu, J. S., Mare, A., Ogola, G., & Mabweazara, H. M. 
(2021). Making news outside legacy media: Peripheral actors within an 
African communication ecology. /African Journalism Studies/, /42/(4), 1-14.]

Mensing, D. (2013). Rethinking [again] the future of journalism 
education. In /The Future of Journalism/ (pp. 76-88). Routledge.

Markovikj, M., & Serafimovska, E. (2023). Mental health resilience in 
the journalism curriculum. /Journalism & Mass Communication Educator/, 
/78/(2), 233-250.

MBélair-Gagnon, V., Holton, A., Deuze, M., & Mellado, C. (Eds.). (2024). 
/Happiness in journalism/. Routledge.

Nkoala, S. and Lesame, C., 2024. African Journalism Education Reimagined 
Beyond the Covid-19 Pandemic: Aftershocks and Seismic Shifts. /African 
Journalism Studies/, /45/(3), pp.173-177.


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