Abstract
This study was on evaluation of Nigeria university academic curriculum and training of journalistic safety: A study of AE- FUNAI mass communication curriculum. Three objectives were raised which included: To determine if safety issues is part of academic journalism curricular, to determine how topic of safety is covered in AE FUNAI curricular and to determine ways of developing curricula on safety. Data were collected and analyzed after four days. While data collected through the questionnaire were presented in simple percentage tables the interview was analyzed using textual analysis in accordance to the level of occurrence of each participant. The study recommended that journalists in Nigeria come together to form a body such as Nigerian Journalist Safety Commission (NJSC) to maintain an emergency fund for journalists and a 24-hour hotline. The funds are to be used to evacuate journalists and relocate them to safe zones, where they receive financial support for basic needs as well as communication tools
Chapter one
Introduction
1.1Background of the study
Journalism, as an act of information gathering and dissemination, has been in existence since time immemorial. Since human beings ‘cannot, not communicate’, the art of information gathering, processing and dissemination are sacrosanct to human civilization and development. In contemporary times, journalism has metamorphosed from its parochial scope in the age of Acta Diurna to a more advanced and more sophisticated practice attracting praise and scorn.
The migration of human civilization from traditional society to the age of mass consumption as averse by Rostow 1960 (Rogers, 1976) not only transformed the societies economically but reshaped the media landscape drastically. As societies evolved, so does the media of communication and journalism practice. The continuous evolution of society portends occasional cultural shock. What was hitherto untoward or unheard of are normalized.
As this trend persists, journalism practitioners are at the receiving end of the continuous renegotiation among people in society as a result of the cultural shock. This sometimes led to conflict and violent uprisings. Journalism by its scope and orientation triumphs on drama, conflict and bizarre. The public wants the oddity. News is dictated by the unusual. And the societies keep serving the unusual through unforeseen circumstances like terrorism, banditry, ethnic uprising, coup, protest, amongst others.
According to Cottle (2017), the pursuit of oddities and the urge to keep the public updated sometimes subject journalists to threats and assault due to rampant conflict instigated by state and non-state players. The wake of insurgency in Nigeria tested the resolve of Nigerian journalists and they perform professionally without prior preparation, safety mechanism, welfare, institution backing, reporting guideline, protection gears, and most importantly, safety education (AbdulSalam, 2021). Therefore, there is a need for the inclusion of safety education as part of the mass communication and journalism training curriculum in Nigeria.
The concept of journalism safety transcends press freedom. It encompasses all forms of activities geared towards ensuring the protection of journalists from impunity through the media structure, media law, media ownership, access to media, digital inclusion, media literacy, gender, and journalism education (Carlsson, Pöyhtäri, 2017).
The safety of journalists must be guaranteed in line of duty for them to perform their functions optimally. For journalists to be regarded as operating in a safe environment, all the nine layers and types of safety challenges must be absent which are: physical, psychologÂical, financial, legal, social and emotional, genÂder-specific, digital, topic-specific, and public risks (UNESCO, 2017). Jamil (2017) opines that physical risks connote the risk of being hurt or attacked in the line of duty.
Psychological risks denote hassle and tension that may impede the chance of a journalist to carry out their duty freely and safely. Financial risks refer to the fear of job insecurity, pay-scale discrepancy and forced loss of job appointment. Legal risks comprise the availability of impunity for an attack on journalists; prejudicial trial against journalists; misapplication and misappropriation of laws against journalists and the availability of draconian media laws.
Social and emotional risks are the type of risks relating to apprehension, phobia, dejection, misdemeanor and lower self-esteem that occurs due to the country’s specific social milieu or a journalist’s immediate environment (i.e., workplace’s environment and socio-political environment). Gender-specific risks are those forms of risks that a journalist may come across as a result of their gender. This might be in the form of sexual assault, rape, harassment, discrimination and coercion. Digital risks are the online dangers that result from hacking, insult or aggressive e-mails or mobile messages and denigrating comments on social media. And finally, public risks connote all threats that occurred due to violent, unethical and condescending attitudes of local inhabitants towards journalists, such as verbal abuse and physical harm or attacks (Jamil, 2017).
Globally, scholars have written extensively on the need for journalism safety and safety education. However, explicating the literature divulge a pattern of catchup in Africa and Nigeria to be specific (Pate, Oso, Jibril, 2017). In most African countries, the inclusion of safety education as part of the curriculum is mostly not available. Those institutions found to offer courses relating to safety mostly focused on conflict-sensitive reporting (Pate, Oso, Jibril, 2017). Meanwhile, safety education is central and fundamental to the safety of journalists on the field. Mardaras, Gonzalez, Penin (2017) argued that professional working conditions, journalists’ training and their professional experience, and safety training and equipment are the three cardinal principles of ensuring the safety of journalists covering dangerous beats.
Statement of the problem
In absence of training, journalists are bound to face dangers that might cost them their lives. Advanced countries with less risk have designed programs that cater to journalist safety education. In Spain for instance, the military provides trained journalists on safety and how to navigate dangerous terrain (Mardaras, Gonzalez, Penin, 2017). In the United States of America, a body called the Global Security Journalistprovides training forjournalists (Murthy, 2018). However, in Nigeria, despite the enormous risk journalists are exposed to, our higher institutions of learning are yet to mainstream safety training as part of their curriculum. Although some universities offer courses on conflict-sensitive reporting and peace journalism, most of them do not have courses specifically focusing on journalists’ safety as practiced globally. Based on this background the study wants to investigate Nigeria University academic curriculum and training of journalistic safety
Objective of the study
The main objective is to evaluate Nigeria University academic curriculum and training of journalistic safety. Using AE-FUNAI mass communication curriculum. Specific objectives are;
1. To determine if safety issues is part of academic journalism curricular
2. To determine how topic of safety is covered in AE FUNAI curricular
3. To determine ways of developing curricula on safety.
Research Question
The following research questions are formulated;
1. Are safety issues part of the academic curriculum?
2. How is the topic of safety covered in different curricula?
3. How could the curriculum on safety be developed?
Significance of the study
The study will be beneficial to students, lecturers, journalists and the policy makers. The study will give a clear insight on the evaluation of Nigeria university academic curriculum and training of journalistic safety. The study will educate especially universities on the important of training journalist on safety. The study will also serve as a reference to other researcher that will embark on the related topic
Scope of the study
The scope of the study covers evaluation of Nigeria university academic curriculum and training of journalistic safety. The study will be limited to AE- FUNAI mass communication students in Ndufu, Alike Ikwo of Ebonyi State
Limitation of the study
Limitations/constraints are inevitable in carrying out a research work of this nature. However, in the course of this research, the following constraints were encountered thus:
- Non-availability of enough resources (finance): A work of this nature is very tasking financially, money had to be spent at various stages of the research such resources which may aid proper carrying out of the study were not adequately available.
- Time factor: The time used in carrying out the research work is relatively not enough to bring the best information out of it. However, I hope that the little that is contained in this study will go a long way in solving many greater problems.
Definition of terms
Academic curriculum: Systematic teaching method that engages students in learning knowledge and skills through an extended inquiry process structured around complex, authentic questions and carefully designed products and tasks
Training: Training means the process of increasing the knowledge and skills of an employee for doing a particular job. It seeks to improve the job performance and work behaviour of those trained.
Journalist: A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism
Safety: Safety is the state of being “safe”, the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
EVALUATION OF NIGERIA UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC CURRICULUM AND TRAINING OF JOURNALISTIC SAFETY
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