The aim of this thesis was concerned with understanding of the composition ofrncourses in journalism education program at Mekelle University in terms ofrntheoretical and practical courses orientation; illustrating how contextual elementsrnare included in it; and analyzing whether the courses in the program have thernpotential of achieving the prescribed goal. In order to investigate these concerns,rnresearch methods of content and document analysis, in-depth individual andrnfocus group interviews have been employed. The overall approach wasrnqualitative formative curriculum study.rnThe findings of the study exhibit that the program is skewed towardsrnprofessional/practical orientation of journalism education. It has some coursesrnthat reflect contextual journalism knowledge and contextual knowledge otherrnthan the aspects of journalism. However, it was evident that the program hasrnbeen observed deficit of university courses in order to produce those professionalrnjournalists who are at the same time intellectually rigorous and critical of mindrncompared to the UNESCO Model Curricula.