School of Journalism and Telecommunications

School of Journalism & Telecommunications
107 Grehan Building
Lexington, KY 40506-0042

JAT/ZAMCOM Partnership

The School of Journalism and Telecommunications is partnering with ZAMCOM, a media training institute located in Lusaka, Zambia. ZAMCOM provides training for working journalists throughout southern Africa and offers diploma and certificate programs in journalism and public relations for high school graduates.

JAT and ZAMCOM are partnered through the American International Health Alliance’s Twinning Program. Our particular focus is on helping ZAMCOM improve and enhance the training it offers on covering HIV/AIDS stories.

The HIV/AIDS Twinning Center is a program of the American International Health Alliance. Twinning Center projects are funded by the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The ZAMCOM / University of Kentucky partnership was established in 2007 with the support of PEPFAR and is managed by the US Embassy in Lusaka (http://zambia.usembassy.gov/). PEPFAR was created in 2003 and is “the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history” (“About PEPFAR,” available at http://www.pepfar.gov/about/). The U.S. Congress voted in Summer 2008 to reauthorize and expand PEPFAR through 2013.

Past and planned JAT/ZAMCOM partnership exchanges and activities are listed below; for a slide show of related photos, click here (or click the picture below)

May 2008 UK JAT faculty members Chike Anyaegbunam and Beth Barnes visit Lusaka
to meet ZAMCOM faculty, staff and students and to ZAMCOM partners including ZNBC (the national TV and radio broadcasting company), University of Zambia and MISA Zambia (Media Institute of Southern Africa).

June 2008 ZAMCOM director Daniel Nkalamo and HIV/AIDS and Gender Specialist
Mwiika Malindima visit Lexington. They meet with UK JAT faculty and staff, students in the Dow Jones Summer High School Journalism Workshop, and UK JAT partners Kentucky Press Association and Kentucky Broadcasters Association. They also visit Appalshop/WMMT-FM in Whitesburg, Ky.

Aug. 2008 Nkalamo and Malindima return to the U.S. to attend the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in Chicago,
Ill., followed by another visit to Lexington.

Sept. 2008 Barnes visits ZAMCOM to conduct a needs assessment and meet with additional ZAMCOM partners.

Oct. 2008 Gary White, executive director, Kentucky Broadcasters Association, visits
ZAMCOM to discuss adaptation of KBA’s funding model for ZAMCOM and
community radio stations in Zambia.

Jan. 2009 Anyaegbunam and others from UK visit ZAMCOM to assist in presenting pilot community radio correspondents training workshop for community radio stations
in the Eastern Provinces of Zambia.

Mar. 2009 UK JAT faculty member Alyssa Eckman and others from UK visit ZAMCOM to
work with students, faculty and staff to produce an educational supplement on HIV/AIDS prevention for distribution to schools across Zambia.

Future activities are expected to include a national roll-out of the community radio workshops, production of additional educational supplements, and work with ZAMCOM and MISA related to freedom of information legislation in Zambia. We also hope to establish student and faculty exchanges between UK, ZAMCOM and the University of Zambia.

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* Artwork at the top of this page provided by Adeline Dickman.