Responding to mounting calls to decenter and decolonize journalism, The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South examines not only the deep-seated challenges associated with the historical imposition of Western journalism standards on constituencies of the Global South but also the opportunities presented to journalists and journalism educators if they choose to partake in international collaboration and education.
This collection returns to fundamental questions around the meaning, value, and practices of journalism from alternative methodological, theoretical, and epistemological perspectives. These questions include: What really is journalism? Who gets to, and who is qualified to, define it? What role do ethics play? What are the current trends, challenges, and opportunities for journalism in the Global South? How is news covered, reported, written, and edited in non-Western settings? What can journalism players living and working in industrialized markets learn from their non-Western colleagues and counterparts, and vice versa? Contributors challenge accepted "universal" ethical standards while showing the relevance of customs, traditions, and cultures in defining and shaping local and regional journalism.
Showcasing some of the most important research on journalism in the Global South and by journalists based in the Global South, this companion is key reading for anyone researching the principles and practices of journalism from a de-essentialized perspective.
Bruce Mutsvairo is Professor and Chair of Media, Politics, and the Global South at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, where he doubles as UNESCO Chair on Data, Disinformation and Democracy. A former journalist with the Associated Press, he has published numerous scholarly books exploring the development of journalism in non-Western societies.
Saba Bebawi is Professor and Head of Discipline for Journalism and Writing in the School of Communication at UTS. She has published on media power and the role of media in democracy-building, in addition to investigative journalism in conflict and post-conflict regions.
Eddy Borges-Rey is Associate Professor at Northwestern University in Qatar. His area of academic expertise is digital journalism and emerging media, and his research looks at the interplay between media, technology, and power, particularly around issues in data journalism, critical data, code and algorithm studies, artificial intelligence and automation, mobile journalism, photojournalism, and data and media literacy. Prior to obtaining an MA and PhD in media and communication, Borges-Rey worked as a broadcast journalist, media producer, and PR practitioner for almost 15 years.
