Center for Border & Global Journalism to Build on Research, Partnerships After Reauthorization

The University of Arizona’s Center for Border & Global Journalism (CBGJ) has been reauthorized for operations until fiscal year 2033, allowing it to continue its work supporting research, education, training and partnerships focused on issues that cross national borders.

Founded in 2015, the Center was created to bring greater attention to the challenges facing journalists and communities in an increasingly connected world. Its work draws heavily on the expertise of University of Arizona faculty and partnerships with journalists, researchers and organizations in the U.S. and abroad.

The reauthorization follows a comprehensive center review conducted this spring, as required by the university. In April, a site team conducted an analysis of the Center’s past, current and future activities. Site team members met with College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and School of Journalism leadership, faculty and center staff to discuss the center’s leadership, research, outreach and contributions to the university. 

The CBGJ’s continued focus on borderlands journalism comes with a distinctive opportunity for the University of Arizona, said Jan Lauren Boyles, director of the School of Journalism. Boyles served as the Center’s interim director during the review period.

“To our knowledge, we are the only academic center focused on borderlands reporting in the United States, so we have a unique opportunity there,” Boyles said. “We’re interested in living out our land grant mission and connecting with the communities we serve. We want to share our knowledge with borderlands communities.”

As the center begins its next chapter, newly-appointed Interim Director Monica Chadha, an associate professor in the School of Journalism, is developing the Center’s new strategic plan. The process will consider changes in the region since the center was established, as well as the addition of new faculty affiliates whose work connects with the Center’s mission.

Chadha plans to speak with journalists and other practitioners working in the borderlands, Arizona researchers and scholars focused on the region, and other Centers directors across the university.

“Examining what the needs of the community are and examining how we can best fulfill them is something I’m looking forward to,” Chadha said.

That work will build on the Center’s history of research and programming focused on issues including migration, press freedom and the challenges facing journalists around the world. Faculty connected to the Center have conducted research in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and other regions.

“There are issues that resonate along borders no matter where those borders are,” Chadha said. “That’s where the global part of our work comes in.”

The Center also has previously connected the University of Arizona with international journalists and media professionals through programs including the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists and the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Moving forward, the CBGJ plans to expand its network of affiliated faculty, organize events that bring together students, experts and community members, and establish a new strategic plan and modern identity for the center.