Thesis defence
Simon MANGON

Title of thesis  

The contours of "journalism without borders

Political sociology of international media aid (France, Jordan, Tunisia)

Date and place  

Wednesday 17 May 2023 at 2pm  

Espace Philippe Séguin Library, Sciences Po Aix, 31 avenue Jean Delmas 13100 

To follow the defence online, you can write to Simon Mangon (simon.mangon@hotmail.fr) in advance to obtain the Zoom link. 

Composition of the jury  

Mohamed Tozy, University Professor, Sciences Po Aix (thesis supervisor)

Magali Nonjon, Senior Lecturer, Sciences Po Aix (thesis supervisor) 

Irene Bono, Senior Lecturer, University of Turin 

Dominique Marchetti, Director of Research, CNRS, CESSP  

Naomi Sakr, University Professor, University of Westminster  

Olivier Nay, University Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne 

Summary 

This thesis offers a political sociology of international media aid. On the basis of a multi-site survey focusing on intermediary actors, the author sheds light on the ways in which a standardised transnational action is transformed and appropriated. The thesis begins with an analysis of how media aid is produced. Using France as a case study, the author shows that support for foreign media is a foreign policy framed by the state. In addition, the sociology of the "journalism couriers" outlines the contours of a fragmented community. The study exposes both their dependence on more structured spaces (such as diplomacy and development aid), and the struggles over which model of 'journalism without borders' to disseminate. The author then examines the implementation of aid in Tunisia and Jordan. The analysis shows that foreign support is concentrated around a restricted circle of local brokers labelled according to criteria specific to international organisations rather than to the journalistic profession. By observing the day-to-day life of the "beneficiary" media and journalism schools, the author deciphers the emergence of a "project-based journalism" that contributes to the bureaucratisation of the profession according to development codes. He also shows the appropriation and translation strategies of journalists who negotiate their (in)dependence and the boundaries of their profession. Finally, based on an analysis of media reform in Tunisia and Jordan, the author examines the ways in which foreign aid to the media is integrated into national politics. He highlights the strategies used by political elites to attract foreign aid while controlling its effects. The comparison exposes the differentiated forms of absorption of external norms in the two national spaces, and a general tendency to reinforce political control over the media space in parallel with its internationalisation.