Working Together for Strong Media Landscapes in Sub Saharan Africa

More than 2,300 journalism students and professional journalists from 29 countries have so far taken part in an online course developed within the CoMMPASS Initiative. The initiative – co‑funded by Erasmus+ of the European Union and supported by a network of 37 partner universities across the African continent – celebrated its conclusion with a conference at Uganda Christian University in Mukono. The CoMMPASS course on migration in Africa was launched in 2024 by lecturers and researchers from the Erich Brost Institute together with colleagues from six African universities in Uganda, Malawi, and Burkina Faso, with additional support from partners in Portugal. Conceived as a flexible, multilingual online program, it combines academic research with editorial practice and promotes ethical, data‑driven reporting.

The final conference brought together university partners and decision‑makers from across Africa to discuss the future of online journalism education. It marked the culmination of an extensive dialog process that began in 2023. Current discussions focused, among other things, on how African universities can take greater ownership of migration narratives in teaching, overcome stereotypical representations, and use digital storytelling to foster social change. In previous years, the partners had already exchanged views with representatives of the International Labor Organization, leading local media, and the United Nations on the relationship between media and migration.

At the Intersection of Global Media Dynamics and Local Knowledge Production

“The CoMMPASS Initiative builds on the Erich Brost Institute’s longstanding research on migration reporting in Africa and Europe,” says EBI Director Prof. Susanne Fengler. “By focusing on the professional training of journalists and, in future, also on geopolitical media influence, we position ourselves at the intersection of global media dynamics and local knowledge production – and strengthen our academic partnerships, which extend far beyond individual projects.”

The new project, launched in February at Makerere University in Uganda, examines disinformation and manipulation campaigns by foreign state actors in Sub‑Saharan Africa and analyzes how geopolitical rivalries are reshaping the region’s media landscapes. Entitled The ‘Great Game’ of Media and Politics in Africa: Geopolitics and Media Intervention post‑2022, it is funded by the Daimler and Benz Foundation. In addition to TU Dortmund University and Makerere University, eight further academic partners from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Burkina Faso, and Tanzania are involved.

The researchers analyze how China, Russia, and Turkey – as well as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and potentially other BRICS states – exert influence on media systems in Sub‑Saharan Africa. Particular attention is paid to these actors’ relationships with newsrooms, journalism educators, and media policy decision‑makers, as well as to the effects on selected African countries. By generating empirical data on foreign media intervention, the project aims to enrich both academic debate and media policy discussions in an era of increasing global competition.

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