The University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) through its media centres – the Africa Media Centre, Arab Media Centre and Media Policy Group – is organising an Africa media conference on Saturday 12 March which will also debate how young people used Twitter and other media in the Tunisian and Egyptian pro-democracy protests in January/February 2011. The main theme of the conference is ‘Children’s and Young People’s Media in Africa: Evolving Markets, Producers and Audiences’. The keynote speaker is Dr. Oluyinka Esan, University of Winchester. Author of Nigerian Television: Fifty Years of Television in Africa (2009).
| Roundtable 1: | Young People’s use of Social Media in the Egyptian and Tunisian Pro-Democracy protests |
| Roundtable 2: | Production and Broadcasting Perspectives |
| Panel 1: | Young Audiences in Africa, Responses and Reactions |
| Panel 2: | Storytelling and Narratives in Africa |
| Panel 3: | Using Media to Educate Children and Youths in Africa |
| Panel 4: | Children’s Journalism and Identity in Africa |
The participants will include industry practitioners, educationists and policy-makers. Some sessions will be devoted to presentation of academic research.
The conference reflects three specialist areas of research being developed within the University of Westminster’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), namely Africa media, Arab media and the ecology of media production for children. In its 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the UK’s Higher Education Funding Council ranked CAMRI as the best media and communication research centre in the country, with all of its submissions rated as being of international standard, including 60 per cent classified as ‘world leading’ and a further 30 per cent as ‘internationally excellent’.
Draft programme
Download the draft programme here
Conference fees
Standard rate: £85
Student rate: £35
Fees cover registration, conference pack, lunch, coffee/tea and wine reception.
Download the Call for Papers here
Registration
Download the registration form here or contact Helen Cohen: H.Cohen02@westminster.ac.uk
Background to the event
CAMRI runs numerous international conferences every year. In September 2008 it held a conference on “Making Television for Young Children: Future Prospects and Issues”. In March 2009 it held another on “Arab and African Audiences: Shared Agendas for Research” and “Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa” was the topic for the annual African media event in 2010. Strong interest in the recent Arab Media Centre conference on Children’s TV in the Arab World (June 2010) has prompted us to create a slot for papers and screenings related to North Africa in the coming African Media Centre event.
Conference Team: Winston Mano, Naomi Sakr, Jeanette Steemers, Tarik Sabry, Jane Thorburn, Maria Way, Colin Sparks, Helen Cohen, Peter Goodwin