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Dr. Enoh Tanjong presenting lecture to Dr. Leara Rhode's International Media class.. |
Journalism Professor from Cameroon Gives Lecture in the Grady College
Africa is a diverse continent with 54 nations and hundreds of languages, but the media are facing similar challenges in almost all those countries, Dr. Enoh Tanjong told University of Georgia students and faculty in a presentation on April 18.
When journalists make $100 dollars per month and are constantly exposed to bribes or pressure, Dr. Tanjong said, it is difficult for them to use in the day-by-day practice what they learned through journalism education and training.
Based on a schedule organized by the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research, Dr. Tanjong gave a presentation in Dr. Leara Rhodes’ class on International Media, met Grady College and African Studies Institute faculty and toured the UGA campus.
The Cox Center is the international outreach unit of the Grady College.
Dr. Tanjong holds a PhD in Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and is the founder and pioneer head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Buea, Cameroon.
Dr. Tanjong is Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, University of Buea, and currently a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence in the U.S. at the International Center for Information Technology and Development (ICITD) Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“Cameroon, like many other African countries, is in a process of democratization,” Dr. Tanjong told the audience. “The rulers want to control the media and they don’t like social media. Technology is not their friend.”
He added that the absence of ethics in Cameroon journalism practice has eroded the quality of print, radio and television media content, both in public and private media organizations.
The title of the lecture was “Media Balance in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Fragile Democracy: Analysis of Journalism Practice in Cameroon.”
Dr. Tanjong was welcomed at the University of Georgia by Dr. Lee B. Becker, director of the Cox International Center, who also holds a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and by Dr. Tudor Vlad, associate director of the Cox International Center.
Dr. Esendugue Greg Fonsah, associate professor in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Georgia, and also from Cameroon, attended the lecture and joined Drs. Becker, Rhodes and Vlad in a luncheon for Dr. Tonjong following his lecture.
Also in attendance at the lunch was Dr. Akinloye Ojo, Associate Professor and Director of the African Studies Institute.
