Dr. Lloyd Chiasson, professor of mass communications, has been selected by UNESCO along with several other speakers to lecture in Africa. The presentations will be Nov 10-14 in Lagos, Nigeria and Nov 18 in Nairobi, Kenya. Chiasson said the goal is to speak to academics and professionals there about the role of mass media in the developing democracies in Africa.

“Essentially, the way for any country to get up and running and then maintain itself is through education and communication. So we’re sort of in the maintenance end of it, where on a regular basis, must go and make sure professionals and academics are going into developing countries all over the world. We tell them or suggest ways that they better improve their communication systems to improve their society,” Chiasson said.

Main topics include the principles of civic and public journalism, public government information management, overview of 20th century media trends and press roles in business and politics.

Chiasson is speaking about print journalism, while other speakers are handling broadcasting, new media and public relations.

This is not Chiasson’s first trip to Africa.

“This is my second trip to Africa. In `96, I spoke in Cape Town about the slavery issue in 19th century America,” he said.

Chiasson said the growth of the mass media in Africa is important due to the fact that the general public needs information and education on topics such as the AIDS epidemic.

In South Africa, almost 40 percent of the population has AIDS.

“The reason that they have so much AIDS is because most of the people in the villages don’t have any media or communication. They have no idea what causes AIDS, so it just keeps propagating itself over and over,” Chiasson said.

He said he is enthusiastic about the possibilities of the venture.

“First of all, this is great for me because if this is successful, we will probably be invited every year, and it will be the beginning of doing consulting throughout Africa. It’s exciting from the point that they have so little, so you can do so much good,” he said.