My Experience With the Erasmus Mundus Masters Journalism

Reuben Kyama, a Kenyan, is currently an Erasmus Mundus scholar at the Department of Journalism and Publishing at City University, London.

Prior to that, he spent six months studying at the University of Amsterdam, and another six months at the University of Aarhus, Denmark.

Kyama studied journalism at Kenya Institute of Mass Communication.

He is a former DANIDA Fellow at Danish School of Journalism, Aarhus, and serves as the Africa Bureau Chief for the Washington, D.C.-based Hoffman & Hoffman Worldwide, a global media and public relations company.

He joined the Erasmus Mundus Masters: Journalism and Media within Globalization; The European Perspective, in August.

He started the programme at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, before moving on to the Netherlands.

He is currently doing his final year at the City University, London.

How did you join the Erasmus Mundus Masters Journalism programme?

I learnt about the Erasmus Mundus Masters programme through a contact professor at the Danish School of Journalism, Aarhus in Denmark.

At the time, I was looking for programmes of higher education that could help me perfect my journalism.

I had been tired of being a simple, mere reporter and I felt like I wanted to step out of the usual newsroom routine.

I wanted something new and a bit more challenging. So, I thought of university!

When I heard of the programme, I was excited. It had all that I had wished for:

To study and travel across Europe. I applied and luckily, I was admitted.

With support from the Danish School of Journalism, I was awarded a full scholarship by the European Commission.

The stipend covered all the costs involved, including the tuition fees, travel and living expenses.

What work experience did you have prior to joining the programme?

Prior to that, I had spent six years working as a journalist in Nairobi, where I covered a wide range of issues, including the war and conflict in Somalia and the Sudan.

I used to work for Japanese Kyodo news agency in Nairobi. I had also contributed to the New York Times, Germany's Deutsche Welle Radio Service and Kenya's leading daily newspapers, the Nation and the Standard, respectively.

Why were you attracted to the program?

After working in both print and electronic media, I realized the significant changes shaping the media world.

Journalism is undergoing a fundamental transformation.

Developments in technology, politics and society are increasingly putting the media industry and the profession of journalism at the centre of people’s attempt to make sense of what is happening in the world around them.

The Erasmus Mundus Masters degree explores the practice and performance of journalism and the media in the context of a new environment brought about by globalization, modernization, commercialisation and professional developments.

The scheme offers a unique educational experience. You get to study in three European countries.

You get to specialize in one of three distinct areas of journalism: war and conflict, business and finance and citizenship.

Above all, you become part of a competent group selected from a pool of candidates from around the world.

You get to build a network of classmates that draws on a variety of experience and knowledge.

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