ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the impact of short-term journalism training courses offered to African journalists by China, the US, and the UK. The purpose was to examine how such trainings shape editorial independence, culture, and institutional autonomy of African journalism. Through the lenses of 28 journalists interviewed across the Sub-Saharan continent, we demonstrated that, unlike the US and Britain, who were reluctant to openly show their influence, the Chinese government was directly involved, and the training focused on exposing journalists to the Chinese culture, and how to report China. Journalists who attended the Chinese training programme indicated that China controlled the process of their news writing and reporting, and those who adhered were incentivised. On the other hand, the British curriculum focused on how to criticise and challenge the African leaders and their governments. The US training program emphasised the questions of ethics.