Reimagining Journalism Education in the Age of Change
June 30, 2022
8 a.m. – 12 p.m. U.S. Central Time
The 2022 WJEC online conference will focus on reimagining journalism curriculum, the future of j-education and the challenges it currently faces. Journalism pedagogy has been a central theme in the WJEC gatherings since the first congress in Singapore. However, the shift to online teaching, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates a paradigm shift.
The conference will follow the global conversations about “Journalism education for the 21st century,” a series of roundtables organized by WJEC, with the support of UNESCO.
Conference streams: The 2022 WJEC online conference will run in parallel streams. Inspired by the format of WJEC syndicates, these sessions will focus on the following themes (see detailed information on each stream below):
• Covid-19 and journalism education
• Teaching journalism online
• Journalism education in the age of misinformation
• Bridging the gap between the classroom and the newsroom
• Teaching journalism in the era of social networks
• AI and the journalism curriculum
• Journalism education and inclusive society
• Research-led journalism education
• Teaching crisis reporting
• Journalism education and climate change
• Press freedom and journalism education
• Journalism education and cancel culture
Everyone MUST register for the conference (deadline and details to come). Participants will be able to register for ONE session only. To join one of the streams above, interested participants must submit an abstract of up to 300 words outlining their take on the topic. These abstracts might also include recommendations on how to improve teaching on the subject. All abstracts will be blind-reviewed. A full description of streams can be found at https://wjec.net/2022-online-conference/
Guidelines for abstract submissions
Abstracts must be submitted by the February 15, 2022 deadline at: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/WJEC2022 or https://bit.ly/WJEC-2022
When submitting an abstract, please follow these steps:
- Go to the conference website (https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/WJEC2022 or https://bit.ly/WJEC-2022).
- In the “WJEC 2022 Login” box, click on “Sign up here” as new user.
- The next window will take you to guided and self-explanatory sign-up wizard. Finish signing up by confirming your email address.
- Once the account is set up, sign in using your email address and password.
- To submit the abstract, click on “Create a new Paper Submission” and select the stream you want to submit your abstract to.
- Next you will be required to provide the title of the submission, and an abstract (9,000 characters maximum).
- Finally, click the submit button to upload the abstract.
- You can log in to the site at any time to check the status of your submission or to edit something BEFORE the submission deadline. You can only do this up to the submission deadline of February 15, 2022, 11:59 p.m. U.S. Central Time. No changes will be possible to the submission after the deadline.
Note that authors can submit any specific abstract to only one stream – submitting the same abstract to more than one stream will result in disqualification and withdrawal from the review process. Do not submit full papers but please ensure that abstracts are 300 words; shorter abstracts (i.e., 75 words) don’t allow for adequate comparison with longer abstracts. Authors must ensure that they remove any identifying information from their document.
Authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by end of March 2022.
For more information, please contact Elanie Steyn, Conference Site Host (elanie@ou.edu) or Imran Hasnat, Conference Site Co-Host (im@ou.edu).
2022 WJEC online conference streams
Reimagining Journalism Education in the Age of Change
Conference streams: The 2022 WJEC online conference will run in parallel streams. Inspired by the format of WJEC syndicates, these sessions will focus on the following themes:
Covid-19 and journalism education
Chair: Pascal Guenee, professor, Paris-Dauphine University, France
Expert: Karen Fowler-Watt, associate professor, Bournemouth University, England, UK
Rapporteur: Marc-Francois Bernier, professor, University of Ottawa, Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a specific impact on journalism schools. Journalism education, and newsrooms, have had to adapt in real time due to lockdowns. And not only permanent teachers needed to adapt their teaching methods, but also part-time faculty and everyone else involved in the education experience. This stream focuses on how Covid era journalism education has adapted and continues to adapt. Topics include student recruitment, adaptation of teaching and assessment methods, and links with industry, including internships and professional development. Finally, it will look at the future of these systems, often set up in an emergency. When the situation returns to normal, will the training of journalists be permanently modified?
Teaching journalism online
Co-chairs & co-experts: Susan Keith, associate professor, Rutgers University, US & Raluca Cozma, Kansas State University, U.S.
Rapporteur: T.J. Thomson, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
The World Health Organization’s March 2020 declaration that the COVID-19 virus was a pandemic led to an estimated 1.6 billion learners, including university journalism students, leaving classrooms. However, many were able to continue learning since instructors shifted classes to remote or online delivery. For instructors with experience teaching online, the adjustment has been minimal. For others, teaching online for the first time during a constantly changing situation has been challenging. This stream, led by editors of a UNESCO handbook on teaching journalism online, will examine what the transition has taught us and what tension points remain surrounding the online delivery of journalism education.
Journalism education in the age of misinformation
Chair: Nico Drok, professor, Windesheim UAP, Belgium
Expert: Alex Wake, associate professor, RMIT University, Australia
Rapporteur: Sonia Virginia Moreira, professor, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Intentional misinformation is a strategy that has been used for centuries as an instrument of disputing power and influencing public opinion in favor of particular ideas or projects. In the current stage of widespread “infodemia,” where both accurate and inaccurate information rapidly intertwine during a pandemic, it is necessary to highlight the importance of the journalistic field as a potential fair mediator. This stream seeks to capture information about what is currently being taught in journalism programs across the world, discuss challenges and opportunities for journalism students, and discuss ways journalism educators can help the public and the industry deal with misinformation and disinformation.
Bridging the gap between the classroom and the newsroom
Chair: Susan Harada, associate professor, Carleton University, Canada
Expert: Trish Audette-Longo, assistant professor, Carleton University, Canada
Rapporteur: Surbhi Dahiya, professor, Indian Institute of Mass Communication, India
Journalism programs are constructed to provide a range and depth of professional knowledge and skills to enable students to bridge the classroom and the newsroom. As opportunities in traditional newsrooms shrink and 21st century newsrooms increasingly expand into digital spaces and take on alternative forms, journalism educators are confronting new pedagogical challenges—not just those related to the mastery of advanced journalistic tools, but also those connected to evolving newsroom values. This stream will discuss challenges inherent in shaping future curricula while exploring opportunities for journalism educators to develop pedagogical approaches that push beyond the replication of traditional newsroom culture.
Teaching journalism in the era of social networks
Chair: Anna Gladkova, senior researcher, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Expert: Elena Vartanova, professor, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Rapporteur: Michal Glowacki, associate professor, University of Warsaw, Poland
This stream seeks to explore the ongoing transformation of journalism education under digitalization, the rise of social media, and the changing roles of journalists, educators, and audiences in the liquid reality surrounding us. We will discuss how journalism education and media literacy programs are developing, enabling people to fully use the benefits of the online realm: civic engagement, social activism, communication in online spaces, self-representation, the use of digital services and much more. We will also discuss how effective the usage of social media and e-learning are as educational tools for journalism studies (including digital journalism), looking at best practices and challenges from different national and cultural contexts around the world.
AI and the journalism curriculum
Chair/Expert: Maarit Jaakkola, associate professor, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Rapporteur: Jenny Wiik, senior lecturer, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
How should the emerging area of AI be integrated into the journalism curriculum? How to cover topics like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, automation and human-centred computation in journalism? What kind of competence and knowledge should journalism educators be equipped with when teaching AI? This session addresses the ethical challenges that AI presents for educators of journalism and journalistic practice, highlighting the existing and emerging policy recommendations and frameworks, emerging journalistic practices, as well as the possibilities and threats that journalism needs to face when regarding AI as a public concern.
Journalism education and inclusive society
Chair: Tara Ross, senior lecturer, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Expert: Roza Tsagarousianou, reader in Media and Communications, University of Westminster, England, UK
Rapporteur: Ann Auman, professor, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, U.S.
When journalism fails to reflect diverse communities and perspectives it fails in its mission to serve society through accurate and ethical storytelling. Consequently, journalism students must develop inclusive practices to ensure representative and accurate coverage, from reflecting on their biases and auditing their work to embracing humility and building relationships with the communities they serve. This stream discusses what we as journalism academics are doing to model and teach inclusive practice, as well as ways we can develop more inclusive curricula and advocate for improved diversity, equity, and social justice within our academic and media institutions.
Research-led journalism education
Chair: Susanne Fengler, professor, Dortmund University, Germany
Expert: Angela Romano, associate professor, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Rapporteur: Merja Myllulahti, senior lecturer, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Across countries, journalism studies and mass communication have been growing academic fields, reflecting the fundamental impact of media on societies. They have also produced a wealth of studies – empirical as well as theoretical – that journalism education can draw on. This stream seeks to encourage research-led journalism education by focusing on exemplary educational projects built on journalism research, highlighting best practice cases from all continents, and serving as a platform to connect interested WJEC members. Strategic collaborations between journalism educators and media scholars may emerge to be highly relevant for the latter as these collaborations will increase their public outreach to key stakeholder groups.
Teaching crisis reporting
Chair: Colm Murphy, subject leader in Media, Film and Journalism, Ulster University, Northern Ireland
Expert: Simon Cottle, professor, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
Rapporteur: Leona O’Neill, lecturer, Ulster University, Northern Ireland, UK
With the pandemic, increasing natural disasters, conflicts, cyber threats and terrorism, journalists in training are reporting in a more fascinating yet dangerous world. For the first time many of these crises are being recorded or broadcast live. This increased accessibility to crisis situations also enhances risks to journalists’ safety and security and demands new tools sets. This stream will highlight some innovative best practices from journalism schools regarding teaching crisis reporting and safety. It will discuss research on how journalists can best report difficult events in the public interest. And it will conclude with addressing related problems and opportunities for improving the curriculum.
Journalism education and climate change
Chair: Margaret Hughes, senior lecturer, University of the West of Scotland, UK
Expert: Chris Paterson, professor, University of Leeds, England, UK
Rapporteur: David Baines, senior lecturer, Newcastle University, England, UK
Journalism’s civic responsibility to the peoples of the world is to report accurately, truthfully, and knowledgeably about the threat of climate change. As journalism educators we must enable journalists of the future to be prepared for this challenge. This session will explore key issues in reporting climate change, such as how climate change science is communicated through the news media and how it is taught within the academy. It will also examine related economic, social, and cultural issues. Finally, it will require journalism educators to examine the interdisciplinary nature and need to draw expertise from across universities to best equip students with the knowledge and understanding they need for quality reporting on the climate crisis.
Press freedom and journalism education
Chair: Epp Lauk, professor, University of Tartu, Estonia
Expert: Kristin Skare Orgeret, professor, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway
Rapporteur: Kristina Juraite, Professor, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
There is no democracy without press freedom, which enables the news media to provide citizens quality information and a forum for deliberative communication. Without freedom to express pro and con views, to argue for “heretic opinions” or “wrong views,” winners of political elections will be able to silence oppositional voices. Furthermore, press freedom is the main prerequisite for investigative journalism, which helps to hold those in power accountable. This stream focuses on how press freedom is interpreted in digital societies and dealt with internationally in journalism teaching, both theoretically and methodologically. Finally, it will discuss the challenges of teaching press freedom especially within contemporary digital media environments.
Journalism education and cancel culture
Chair: Linda Steiner, professor, University of Maryland, U.S.
Expert: Jennifer Keohane, assistant professor, University of Baltimore, U.S.
Rapporteur: Milica Pesic, executive director, Media Diversity Institute, London, UK
Many agree that “cancel culture” involves the use of media, especially social media, to publicly criticize someone causing harm or damage to a person or group. Yet the term is used in very different ways on behalf of very different and complex agendas. This stream will define cancel culture and examine how journalists are implicated in it, especially given claims that elite media (“woke media”) are responsible for cancelling people, and related free speech implications. Finally, it will address how journalism educators can prepare students to avoid both the excesses of cancel culture and vehement accusations that they have shielded wrong-doers; and how journalism students can learn best practices regarding how to explain to various audiences their decision-making practices.
