Le blog de Journalisteafricain.com

21 octobre 2006

Economics graduates invited to seek journalism scholarships

Economics graduates invited to seek journalism scholarships
Region :Sub-Saharan Africa
Country :South Africa
Topic :Fellowships and Awards, Basic Journalism 13/10/2006

Commerce or economics graduates who wish to explore a career in journalism are invited to apply for scholarships for one year of study at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. The application deadline is October 31. The school’s African Economics Journalism Center and the South African Reserve Bank are sponsoring the full-time scholarships for applicants who wish to study for a postgraduate diploma in journalism and media studies and specialize in economics journalism. The scholarships are aimed to improve the quality of economic and business journalism in Africa through high-quality postgraduate teaching and training.

For more information or to apply, email registrar@ru.ac.za, telephone + 046 603 8276 or visit http://jms.ru.ac.za/degree.php?degreeID=4&pageID=86. http://www.ijnet.org/Director.aspx?P=Article&ID=305619

Le journalisme américain au 21e siècle

The number of full-time journalists in the

United   States

has dropped sharply over the last decade, particularly those working for daily newspapers and radio stations, according to a new book by faculty in the Indiana University School of Journalism.

Fewer journalists identify themselves as Democrats, although as a group they consider themselves more liberal than the public at large. More said they found themselves to be middle of the road or even conservative in their politics.

"This fourth study of

U.S.

journalists finds a more educated group of news people whose basic values and ethics persist in the face of dramatic changes in technology and workplace environments," said David Weaver, the Roy W. Howard Professor in the IU School of Journalism.

Weaver is the lead author of the new book, The American Journalist in the 21st Century (Erlbaum, 2006). It is based on the third comprehensive survey of American journalists he has done with colleagues at IU, particularly G. Cleveland Wilhoit, who retired in 2003.

The book was the result of a Knight Foundation-funded study of nearly 1,500 journalists in 2002. Bonnie Brownlee, associate dean for undergraduate studies and associate professor of journalism at IU Bloomington; and two former IUB faculty members -- Randal Beam of the

University

of

Washington

and Paul Voakes of the

University

of

Colorado

- were involved in the project.

Despite cuts in employment at many news organizations, the average journalist is older. Baby boomers are largely remaining in the profession. The largest increase in the number of reporters was the 45-to-54 age group. Nearly two-thirds of all full-time journalists are over age 35.

"A lot of younger people who are hired into journalism don't stay that long," Weaver said. "There are enough journalists who work their way up into some of the middle- and upper-management jobs and are hanging on until retirement that it forces the average up."

News organizations grew exponentially in size in the 1970s and early 1980s. Between 1971 and 1992, employment at daily newspapers grew from 38,800 to 67,207. Employment in print media organizations increased from 52,200 to 85,097 during the same time period.

In the last decade that the professors studied, from 1992 to 2002, employment at daily newspapers fell by more than 8,400, to 58,769. Similarly, employment at all print media outlets fell by 3,268, to 81,829.

"In daily newspapers, the main reason has been the loss of advertising revenue to other media," Weaver said. "Online services like Craig's List are hurting daily newspapers … and more advertising is going to television.

"The other reason is that they've been pushed by a lot of these companies that have bought them to have higher profit margins, especially if they are publicly traded companies," he said. "One way to do this is to cut the costs, and you do that by cutting the size of your news staff."

On the other hand, the number of television journalists has grown every time Weaver and his colleagues have conducted their research. The number of television journalists grew from 7,000 to 17,784, between 1971 and 1992, and was 20,288 in 2002.

The number of radio journalists grew from 7,000 in 1971 to 19,583 in 1982, but has declined since reaching that peak. Weaver said there are fewer than 14,000 journalists working in radio today.

Interestingly, online journalists tend to share the same characteristics of other reporters. For example, the media age of online journalists is 39, compared to 41 among print reporters and 40 among those in broadcast media. The Online News Association cooperated with the study.

"Journalists working for online news media were not dramatically different from those in more traditional mainstream media in terms of demographics, education, political attitudes or views about journalistic roles and the ethics of reporting," Weaver said.

Other book findings include: 

While there was little change in the percentage of journalists who identified themselves as Republicans (from 16.4 percent in 1992 to 18 percent in 2002) and as Independents (from 34.4 percent in 1992 to 32.5 percent in 2002), Weaver and his colleagues saw shifts in those identifying themselves as Democrats and "Other."

The percentage of those identifying themselves as Democrats dropped from 44.1 percent in 1992 to 35.9 percent in 2002. The percentage of those who claimed some other political affiliation grew from 3.5 percent in 1992 to 10.5 percent a decade later. There also was a small increase in the number of respondents who said they didn't know or refused to answer.

"Part of that is a reluctance of journalists to say they identify with either of these political parties," Weaver said. "It could be younger journalists saying this."

The big surprise in the study is that the number of women in journalism hasn't increased. They continue to account for about a third of all full-time journalists. The percentage of women with zero to four years of experience was significantly higher in 2002 (54.2 percent) than in 1992 (44.8 percent). "If the attrition rate doesn't change, that will mean more women journalists with more experience in the future," he said.

Minority representation in American media has inched up over the years, but, at 9.5 percent by 2002, remained much below the minority percentage of the

U.S.

population and also the college-educated minority population. The percentage of African Americans in full-time reporting positions has remained static from 1971 to 2002, from 3.9 percent to 3.7 percent.

While

U.S.

census figures say Hispanics account for 13.4 percent of the total

U.S.

population, only 3.3 percent of all reporters and editors in 2002 were Hispanic. This was an improvement from what Weaver found in earlier studies, up from 2.2 percent in 1992 and 0.6 percent in 1982 to 1983.

Weaver suspects there is a higher level of attrition with many minority and female journalists leaving the profession within a few years.

Nearly 90 percent of all journalists have at least a bachelor's degree. The proportion of college graduates in journalism rose from 82 percent in 1992 to 89 percent in 2002. When Weaver began his research a quarter century ago, slightly fewer than 75 percent of journalists were college graduates.

EL CASO SANKARA (L’affaire Sankara), de Antonio Loranzo

L’affaire Sankara, roman gagnant du Premier prix international de roman policier Ville de Carmona, est basé sur des faits réels. Le 15 octobre 1987, Thomas Sankara, président du Burkina Faso, est abattu par les hommes de Blaise Compaoré, son compagnon d’armes et ami, qui immédiatement lui succède dans la présidence du pays. Ainsi, finissait l’étape révolutionnaire que tous deux avaient lancée quatre ans auparavant. Un épisode unique dans le continent africain, qui réveilla d’innombrables adhésions entre la jeunesse et un profond sentiment de méfiance entre les pays voisins et la République Française. Avec cette oeuvre vibrante, Antonio Lozano éclaire d’une lumière nouvelle une réalité qui continue d’être de terrifiante actualité, et nous offre un thriller politique digne de la meilleure tradition du roman policier.

Qui donna l’ordre à Compaoré de tirer sur Sankara ? Le journaliste français Emmanuel Durant interwieva le président juste avant sa mort. Son admiration pour cet homme idéaliste, impertinent et charismatique le mène à enquêter les fils secrets qui meuvent la politique en Afrique, et à découvrir les souterrains dans lesquels se forgent les authentiques relations entre les pays africains et leurs anciennes métropoles. Un roman indispensable pour les amants du polar, qui dénude la cruelle réalité de cette grande inconnue qu’est l’Afrique.

L’auteur

Antonio Lozano est né à Tanger (Maroc) en 1956 et réside actuellement à Agüimes (Iles Canaries), où il a été pendant 16 ans conseiller municipal pour la culture et le développement local. Il est en ce moment professeur de français et dirige le Festival del Sur-Encuentro Teatral Tres Continentes et le Festival Internacional de Narración Oral « Cuenta con Agüimes ». El caso Sankara est son cinquième roman

Les 100 clés de l’Afrique, de Thierry Perret et Philippe Leymarie

L’Afrique noire est mal partie, pronostiquait sombrement René Dumont il y a trente ans. Et de fait : famines, épidémies et guerres civiles ravagent un continent qui ne parvient guère à décoller économiquement, en proie à la corruption, au pillage de ses ressources et à l’exode de ses élites. Pourtant, l’Afrique ne manque pas d’atouts : ici et là, les vieux dictateurs sont congédiés, l’exigence démocratique s’installe. Des médiations se créent pour mettre un terme aux conflits. À l’ONU, le continent apprend à être une force autonome. Une nouvelle conscience africaine émerge. Des écrivains, des chanteurs et des musiciens, des plasticiens, des cinéastes portent la voix de l’Afrique dans le monde.

Les 100 clés de l’Afrique propose des notices synthétiques sur chacun des États africains, l’évocation de ses principales figures politiques, des repères autour des grandes problématiques de l’histoire contemporaine (ethnies, colonisation, indépendance), un tableau des conflits,  ainsi que des notices sur les faits de société (religions, corruption, villes), les  principaux partenaires du continent,  les enjeux économiques, les matières  premières, la culture, etc.  Cet ensemble est complété par un corpus de documents : des cahiers de cartes ; les  « éphémérides » de RFI,  qui jalonnent  un  demi-siècle d’actualité ; des chronologies  thématique (Union africaine) ou régionales (Afrique australe, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire), des discours et textes fondateurs, une bibliographie, une liste des sites internet, ainsi qu’un index.

 

Les auteurs

Thierry Perret et Philippe Leymarie sont journalistes à RFI. Ce dernier a notamment publié Océan indien : le nouveau cœur du monde (Karthala, 1981). Quant à Thierry Perret, il est l’auteur de Afrique, voyage en démocratie : les années cha cha (L’Harmattan, 1994) et Le temps des journalistes : l’invention de la presse en Afrique francophone (Karthala, 2005).

Prix : 15 euros

Pagination : 712 pages