- Trial lecture starts at 10:15
- Public defence starts at 12:15
Title of trial lecture: “Non-Western Journalism in Theory and Practice”
Read the thesis in NVA
Disputation chair: Vice - Dean Mikaela Vasstrøm
Assessment committee:
- Professor Kristin Skare Orgeret, OsloMet
- Professor Bruce Mutsvairo, University of Utrecht
- Associate Professor Hanne Haaland, UiA
Supervisors in the doctoral work:
- Professor Oddgeir Tveiten, UiA
- Associate Professor Vito Laterza, UiA
Summary of thesis
Role Perception of journalists under displacement
Globally, media workers are facing unprecedented assaults and challenges, including armed conflicts, authoritarian regimes, and disinformation campaigns. One way to avoid some threats that silence journalists is to perform their work from locations away from where the threats are present.
This dissertation explores the perception of two groups of Ethiopian journalists who are actively producing content from abroad, targeting audiences primarily in their home country through local languages. One group comprises journalists in exile managing their own media platforms, while the other targets journalists employed by international public broadcasters (IPBs), specifically the BBC and Deutsche Welle.
Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with 42 journalists, the study employs concepts of ‘alternative media’ and ‘international public broadcasting’ to find out the journalistic identity and role perception of journalists in the two settings.
Key findings of this study contribute to the fields of media, global politics, and mobility by drawing attention to the ever-increasing movement of politically active citizens, journalists in particular, to the Global North for the advancement of their contribution to homeland politics through transnational platforms. The work also calls for a review and inclusion of the growing sector of media practice by journalists positioned neither in their homeland nor their host nations in global scholarly investigations of journalism culture and journalistic roles.
What to do as an online audience member
The disputation is open to the public. To follow the trial lecture and the public defence online, register on Zoom.
We ask online audience members to join no earlier than 10 minutes in advance. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time.
Opponent ex auditorio:
Deadline for the public to pose questions is during the break between the two opponents. Questions ex auditorio can be submitted to disputation chair Vice- Dean Mikaela Vasstrøm.