By: Morgan Sigrist
IIJ Ambassador 
The Office of Education Abroad and the Institute for International Journalism (IIJ) are accepting applications for a summer study abroad program to London, England, July 23 through August 13, 2012. The program is yet another global initiative of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. Professor Hans Meyer, program director, will help students have hands on experience with the the world's most prestigious global sporting event.
Students with a 2.5 GPA or higher are eligible to apply. Successful applicants will participate in weekly orientation sessions as part of the mandatory pre-departure course work in the Spring Quarter, instructed by IIJ Director Dr. Yusuf Kalyango.
Students who wish to learn the multimedia facets of global communication and reporting are encouraged to apply for the program; but all students in the Scripps College of Communication who are interested in international affairs, global communication, visual communication, entertainment, and global sports can apply. Students will earn credits for two courses: Specialized Journalism (JOU-461) with Dr. Kalyango while here on campus to prepare for the trip, and Sports Journalism (JOU-470) with Dr. Meyer while in London.
According to the program coordinator, Lawrence Tuccori, in the Office of Education Abroad, “participants will work with the AP and USOC (US Olympic Committee) to cover Olympics events, and will attend at least two Olympic events as a group.” This will allow students access to practices and a tour of the Media Center. Ohio University alumnus, Jack Briggs, assistant sports director the Associated Press, has covered sixteen Olympics, and will share his experience with students interested in International Sports Reporting at an informational session on January 26, 2012 at 6 p.m. in Alden 319.
Fourteen students will be chosen to participate in this once in a lifetime opportunity. Join us January 26 at 5pm or on February 13 at 7pm in Sing Tao 101 across the street from Scripps Hall, for the two information sessions about the program.
Students can find out more about the program through the IIJ office located in Scripps Hall or the Office of Education Abroad in the Walter International Education Center. Application deadline is February 20, 2012; so apply today for the London Olympic program.
For information about the London Education Abroad visit http://www.ohio.edu/educationabroad/Programs/OlympicsLondon.html
For more information contact
Friday, January 20, 2012
Spend Summer Covering 2012 Olympics
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Achieving Effective Public Relations, without New Media
New Media signifies on-demand access to content on a variety of digital devices. New Media is interactive. Professor Kenny Makungu, a senior lecturer in the department of mass communication at The University of Zambia, defines new media as “a concept that encompasses the coming together of traditional media with the interactive power of computer and communications technology and computer-enabled consumer devices.”
Challenges of New Media in Zambia
As an Ohio University student studying journalism and public relations I have worked on multiple campaigns for clients such as the Miss Universe Organization, Cardinal Health, College Book Store, and Soul of Athens, to name a few. The clients and organizations I have worked with rely heavily on the use of ‘New Media’ to inform and engage their audiences. Understanding and utilizing New Media in public relations tactics is continually emphasized in academic classrooms, student organizations, and internship attachments. I have witnessed how valuable New Media, specifically social media, media entertainment, and networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, can be as a means to developing rich connections with the publics. While interning at the Miss Universe Organization I worked to develop content for a mobile messaging campaign, wrote speaking points used for tweets, managed online communities, and monitored social media outreach. At Ohio University, working in campus relations for Cardinal Health, a client of the student-run PR firm, ImPRessions, our team constantly uses Twitter to encourage live chats, spreading awareness of our Generation Rx campaign, and Facebook to gain attention for campus events.
Interning at GOMAN Advertising Ltd., an advertising firm in Lusaka, Zambia, posed new questions for me: are U.S. citizens too reliant on New Media as an effective public relations tactic? And, is the art of traditional media relations and community outreach fading? During my time at GOMAN I was assigned to create a public relations plan for Bonnita. Bonnita long life full cream milk is a product by Parmalat, Zambia’s largest producer and processor of milk and dairy products. I was excited to work on a PR plan for this product, however, reaching the intended audiences greatly limited my options for effective outreach. The product, released in Zambia in November 2011, is specifically crafted for Zambians with very low incomes. Milk is somewhat of a luxury product for Zambians, many cannot afford milk or do not have refrigerators to store milk and dairy products. Bonnita allows for impoverished Zambians to have access to quality, nutrient rich milk to feed their families, while keeping money in their pockets. Because it is long-life milk it can be stored at room temperature for up to three months from the date of production without getting spoilt.
Gaining Awareness without New Media
In order to spread awareness of Bonnita, I was assigned to develop innovative public relations tactics. If this product was for citizens in the United States, social media would be useful to help with community outreach. Just take a look at the well-established "Got Milk?" campaign Facebook page, with more than 58,000 "likes." Even those in the lowest income brackets in the United States still have some access to New Media. However, reaching those publics in Zambia requires a lot more thought. Ideas of using New Media can be thrown out completely. Due to lack of Internet infrastructure in Zambia, very few people access the Internet. Furthermore, the cost of Internet access is high. Internet connection is seen as a luxury. Social networking statistics show that Facebook penetration in Zambia is 1.35 percent of the country’s total population, and 19.89 percent among Internet users in Zambia.
The lack of New Media in Zambia challenged me to focus and develop some “old school” tactics to reach out to the desired publics, effectively communicating the benefits Bonnita can provide to them. While developing a proposal for the product I gained a deeper understanding of effective public relations without relying on New Media, and the challenges of working in international media systems. After multiple brainstorming sessions, researching Zambian media outlets and consumption patterns, I was able to successfully develop enough tactics for a meaningful PR plan to present to Parmalat, on behalf on GOMAN.
Reviving Public Relations Fundamentals
Instead of relying on Facebook fan pages or a Twitter handle for Parmalat or Bonnita, I focused my plan on traditional print media, radio broadcasts, securing interview placements, and guerilla marketing. Painting advertisements on buildings, a common practice in Zambia, and Parmalat containers in compounds placed in the rural villages the product is made to serve, distributing handbills, and setting up interviews for Parmalat spokes persons at rural radio and news stations around Zambia, were just a few of the tactics outlined in the PR plan presented to Parmalat.
My internship in Zambia reminded me of the fundamental proponents of public relations and strategic communication. Media relations and community outreach is not going any where. Public relation practitioners in the U.S. should be conscious not to rely too heavily on New Media. The public relations industry should always keep in mind the importance of developing and maintaining meaningful relationships, with journalists, who pick up pitches, clients, whose products are worthy of our time to advocate for, and their publics, whom are the consumers of information and interpreters of messages. New Media is a great tool, but not one that should be so heavily relied on by public relations practitioners.
Andre, a graphic designer at GOMAN, and I, inside the studio where all the advertisements and PR materials are produced.
Lauren Nolan is one of 18 students from Ohio University, studying abroad in Zambia over winter intercession, about media, society, and governance, through the Institute for International Journalism.
Monday, December 26, 2011
A step back in time
In Lusaka, Zambia
For some U.S. citizens, some aspects of Zambian culture and development may seem immature, inappropriate or simply ignorant.
Zambia ~50 years post-independence
Though the United States is far from a global leader in education, Zambia is even worse than the U.S.; only 1.5 percent of their GDP is put toward education, according to The World Factbook, While the average American will attend public schooling for about 16 years and complete high school, the average Zambian is likely to go to school for just 7 years, receiving only an elementary level education.
At some “schools,” such as Shampande Middle Basic School, classrooms consist of nothing more than makeshift chairs composed of piles of bricks scattered under a tree that some children have to walk 10 to 15 miles (16.5 to 25 km) to get to*.
Ideology-wise, many Zambians are nowhere near accepting homosexuality and the like as acceptable lifestyles. In some areas, women are still considered lesser than men and are responsible for nearly all “household chores.” In Zambia, that term does not refer to simple cleaning and cooking, but also hard labor tasks such as food and water gathering, which often require spending many hours and traveling many miles.
Some U.S. citizens have expressed a desire to change the way countries in Africa, including Zambia, think about and approach the world, as though they are hopelessly wrong and behind the times.
Honestly, visiting Zambia is like taking a step back in time—the country just gained independence in 1964.
American ~50 years post-independence
Imagine the U.S. only 47 years after it gained independence, in the 1820s. Infrastructure was poor—Native American trails used where roads were not yet existent, plus canals and railroads were just being built.
Technology was not yet very advanced. Inventions such as telescopes, railroads (with horse-drawn cars), and typewriters did not exist until the end of the decade.
In the early 1820s, people in the U.S. were still feeling the effects of the Panic of 1819, a depression that occurred after the economic boom that followed the War of 1812 ended. The U.S. economy was based primarily on agriculture, and thus many people were merely poor farmers.
Society was dominated by white males—women weren’t able to vote or own property and were expected to focus on raising children and performing chores. African Americans (and sometimes other minorities) were condemned to slavery and unequal treatment in many aspects of life. Homosexuality was not considered an acceptable practice.
Even in the U.S., there was a time when the ways of life and thinking were much different than they are now. Becoming an industrialized egalitarian country is a process that takes time. Many critical developments in ideology, technology and infrastructure—including labor laws, methods of communication and inventions—did not occur until the early 1900s, more than one hundred years after gaining independence.
Before U.S. citizens try to tell Zambians the correct things to believe and ways to act, they should take note that post-independence Zambia is so far without any major political and ethno-political conflicts—an attribute the U.S. cannot claim.
Moving forward
It may seem slightly difficult to compare Zambia and the U.S. since they reached independence in different ways. However, they are similar in that they both broke away from colonial rule and were left with a lot of land to develop and opportunity for technological and ideological improvements.
It is apparent that technology, for example, is beginning to ease its way into the Zambian culture, especially in places such as Lusaka. It is already more Westernized than myself and many of my colleagues expected it to be and is likely to continue developing further. With technological improvement, better infrastructure and ideological open-mindedness usually follow.
Although some U.S. citizens would like to come from a point of further development and deliver some kind of revelation to Zambians, they need to realize that things do not work that way. For a truly flourished nation, Zambians will have to grow and learn at their own pace.
Even the U.S. is not yet an ideal nation. U.S. citizens have made their fair share of mistakes along the way and are still learning not to discriminate based on race, gender, orientation, socioeconomic status, religion and other characteristics.
Some people and nations relentlessly strive to develop and to become free from donor-dependency. Yes, there are still nations that seem to be underdeveloped in comparison to the U.S., but given time, some of them will get there.
*An organization called Fountain of Life donated 100 desks to Shampande after hearing of its condition, but other schools in similar situations have not been as fortunate.
Lindsay Boyle is one of 18 students from Ohio University, studying abroad in Zambia over winter intercession, about media, society, and governance, through the Institute for International Journalism.
She is a junior online journalism major with a minor in psychology.
