More than 2,300 journalism students and expert journalists from 29 countries have so far participated in an online course established within the CoMMPASS Initiative. The effort– co‑funded by Erasmus+ of the European Union and supported by a network of 37 partner universities throughout the African continent– commemorated its conclusion with a conference at Uganda Christian University in Mukono. The CoMMPASS course on migration in Africa was introduced in 2024 by speakers and scientists from the Erich Brost Institute together with coworkers from 6 African universities in Uganda, Malawi, and Burkina Faso, with extra support from partners in Portugal. Developed as a flexible, multilingual online program, it integrates academic research with editorial practice and promotes ethical, data‑driven reporting.
The final conference united university partners and decision‑makers from across Africa to go over the future of online journalism education. It marked the culmination of a substantial dialog procedure that began in 2023. Current discussions focused, to name a few things, on how African universities can take higher ownership of migration narratives in teaching, get rid of stereotypical representations, and use digital storytelling to foster social change. In previous years, the partners had currently exchanged views with agents of the International Labor Organization, leading regional media, and the United Nations on the relationship between media and migration.
At the Crossway of Worldwide Media Dynamics and Local Understanding Production
“The CoMMPASS Effort develops on the Erich Brost Institute’s longstanding research study on migration reporting in Africa and Europe,” states EBI Director Prof. Susanne Fengler. “By focusing on the professional training of reporters and, in future, likewise on geopolitical media influence, we position ourselves at the crossway of worldwide media characteristics and local understanding production– and reinforce our academic partnerships, which extend far beyond private tasks.”
The brand-new job, released in February at Makerere University in Uganda, analyzes disinformation and control projects by foreign state actors in Sub‑Saharan Africa and examines how geopolitical rivalries are reshaping the region’s media landscapes. Entitled The ‘Excellent Video Game’ of Media and Politics in Africa: Geopolitics and Media Intervention post‑2022, it is funded by the Daimler and Benz Structure. In addition to TU Dortmund University and Makerere University, 8 additional academic partners from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania are included.
The researchers evaluate how China, Russia, and Turkey– in addition to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and possibly other BRICS states– apply impact on media systems in Sub‑Saharan Africa. Specific attention is paid to these stars’ relationships with newsrooms, journalism educators, and media policy decision‑makers, along with to the results on chosen African countries. By creating empirical data on foreign media intervention, the task aims to enhance both scholastic dispute and media policy conversations in a period of increasing global competition.
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