ABSTRACT

Anya Schiffrin begins her analysis of foreign donors and journalism training in Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda, by acknowledging the relevance of Wrenn’s analysis, to journalism training across contemporary Africa. Schiffrin suggests that media in sub-Saharan Africa are severely constrained by lack of resources, government pressure, the infl uence of media ownership, and the quality of secondary and professional education. A wide range of foreign organizations which provide journalism training have attempted to make good these shortcomings. Some are non-governmental organizations with a development agenda, while others are the training arms of professional media groups (Thomson Reuters) or organizations that work in journalism training (the Berlin-based International Institute for Journalism). Schiffrin presents fi ndings from two waves of interviews with journalists who have received training, to examine these training efforts and to assess their effectiveness. She concludes that given the challenges faced by African media, donor-driven training programs will have only a limited effect on the larger media climate.