The document discusses the challenges of teaching journalism in "closed societies" where there is little freedom of expression or criticism of government. It notes the physical, economic, and ethical threats to both professors and students, including imprisonment, torture, losing one's job, or being forced to teach in ways contrary to ethical standards. To help students survive and practice journalism despite these threats, the author recommends taking a global perspective by studying open societies as models, focusing on human interest stories over politics, and learning from history to envision a better future. Studying past media coverage using modern keywords can provide story ideas and historical context to help students report within the constraints they face.

1. Teaching Journalism Courses in “Closed Societies”
How to avoid danger while arousing your students to say what
“Big Brother” doesn’t like to hear?!
Ahmed K. Orabi
South Valley University, Egypt

2. Challenges of teaching journalism in “Closed
Society”

3. Physical Threat
(For professor and student; ultimately a journalist)
● Possibilities of being:
○ Imprisoned
○ Tortured
○ killed

4. Economical threat
(For professor and student; ultimately a journalist)
● Institutional penalties,
● No promotion,
● Losing job.

5. Ethical Threat
(For professor)
● Teaching other than what should be taught.

6. The main factor is:

7. The great questions would be:
● How to ignite the candle of passion and protect its flame
inside each student?
● How to teach the students what would help them to survive
physically and professionally?
● How to get them see and say what is the “Big Brother” afraid
of?

8. The answer is :
● Take them away from the context:
○ Study global media as a model and source for
reporting and op-eds.
○ Revisit the history to see better future!

9. Good tips for Globalizing their journalistic model :
● Focus on stories from the extreme open and extreme closed
societies.
● Ask your students to analyze each story, and explain its
sources.
● Ask them to rewrite the stories considering variety of social
context and editorial policies.
● Human interest stories should be on the top, neither politics
nor economics.

10. Good tips to await the future through past tunnel:
● Ask the students to write stories with deep historical
background.
● Ask them to find stories in the press archive using the same
trending keywords of the time, and rewrite them in a modern
version.

11. Thanks
Ahmed Orabi
aorabi@svu.edu.eg