SAB-UNESCO Chair of Media and Democracy

The Chair was set up to contribute to a process of critical reflection of the democratic role of the media and its emancipatory project.

In 2008 the Chair, Prof Fackson Banda, undertook a range of research and publishing. ()

In particular he published several scholarly works in peer-reviewed books and accredited journals, including ‘African Political Thought as an Epistemic Framework for Understanding African Media’ in Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies 29(1) and ‘Negotiating Journalism Ethics in Zambia: Towards a ‘Glocal’ Ethics’ in Media Ethics Beyond Borders: a Global Perspective edited by SJA Ward and H Wasserman. In addition, he was professionally recognised as winner of the 2008 MISA Press Freedom Award in October. Read more...

Prof Fackson Banda, congratulated by Kaitira Kandjii, MISA Director

Plans for 2009 include:

1. Further enhancing the public profile of the Chair
2. Scaling up research into the influence of China’s ‘soft power’ on African media and journalism
3. Hosting a high-level colloquium on Africanising the journalism curriculum pursuant to the forthcoming WJEC conference to be held in 2010.
4. Working with the World Bank on researching media influence on public opinion and policy in Africa