WJI Press Conference

African journalists may have a unique opportunity to further their careers. World Journalism Institute is considering the possibly of a conducting a workshop for Christian African journalists in Kampala, Uganda at the beginning of next year.

World Journalism Institute (WJI) is a private American institution. For the past ten years, they have been recruiting, equipping, placing and encouraging Christian journalists, focusing on those heading for or already working in secular media.

The director, Robert Case, believes that although the secular media industry might be a hostile place for Christians to work, when they take their place in the industry the hostility is reduced. This belief leads the institute to train Christian journalists and assist them in their careers through short-term paid internships in the media industry.

Currently, WJI is running an eight-week course for university students. During this course, located in New York City, the students learn to use various "new" forms of media including internet reporting, video and photojournalism alongside more tradition forms like print. Their teachers are educators and journalists working at newspapers and universities around the United States. The students learn through lectures, reading assignments and practice in the skills of reporting, writing, editing and photography.

WJI, if they carry out their plan for Kampala, will give Christian African journalists the chance to be exposed to new ideas through people who believe the profession of journalism is a reasonable expression of a Christian's faith.