Dialogues and Difficulties. Transnational Cooperation in Journalism Education.

Abstract

The profession and pedagogy of journalism are both at a crossroads, and questions linked to how journalism education can best provide skills, knowledge and experiences that enable students to contribute positively to the industry are central. An increasingly globalised world demands global learning that enhances the development of critical skills and facilitates intercultural understanding, especially due to the fact that some of the major challenges of our times – climate change, global inequalities, migration, terrorism – cannot be fully solved or understood solely at a national level. The chapter proposes a closer look at what global learning in journalism through international cooperation may involve. Its findings do not support the idea that in the era of globalisation, a common professional approach to journalism overshadows different cultural worldviews and dif- ferences. Furthermore, the findings show that global learning may bring out important cultural differences and make the participants more aware of their own ethical heritage or values than they were before getting involved in the process of global learning. Such challenges to global learning are not often discussed in academic literature. The analysis here essentially suggests that if research within journalism education wants to explain intercultural communication in journalism education, it needs to broaden its horizons and adopt a multidisciplinary perspective.