Nicholson School of Communication Associate Professor Dr. Steve Collins recently returned from East Africa, where he was living for nine months as a Fulbright scholar.\u00a0He spent this past academic year conducting research on the factors that influence the quality and content of journalism there.<\/p>\n
“Many organizations are investing money to improve the quality of journalism in Africa based on the assumption that efforts to increase democracy and development on the continent can\u2019t thrive without a free and responsible press,” Collins said. “My research assumes that such efforts are more likely to succeed if we truly understand the factors that shape news production in these countries.”<\/p>\n
From August 9 through the 12 Collins will be attending and presenting his research at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Chicago. His presentations focus on three different topics starting with “Mediating the African Message: Social Influences on a Ugandan Newspaper” then “Gatekeeping in East Africa: Organizational Structure and Reporter Gender as Potential Influences on Newspaper Content” and finally “Seeing the world through a different lens: Examining visual gatekeeping via East African photojournalists’ experiences with news organizations.”<\/p>\n
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