Journal of African Media Studies 10.1 is now available!

Tessa Mathieson Discussion

Intellect is delighted to announce that the Journal of African Media Studies 10.1 is now available! For more information about the issue, including how to purchase & subscribe, click here >> https://bit.ly/2MKxm33

Article list:

Mobile social networking applications and the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protest
Authors: Temple Uwalaka And Scott Rickard And Jerry Watkins 
Page Start: 3

Previous studies on the use of social media to facilitate participation in protest have examined established democracies or authoritarian regimes. Participation via social media in nascent democracies has been less well documented, e.g. in those countries that democratized between the 1970s and the 1990s, including those that recently returned to democracy from military dictatorship such as Nigeria. This study has been conducted to fill this gap. This study examines the impact of mobile social networking applications (SNA) in the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protest to further understand the use of mobile SNA for digital activism. A face-to-face, paper-based, purposive quantitative survey of student protestors was conducted. Survey results indicate that mobile SNA (WhatsApp, 2go, Eskimi, Facebook, Badoo and YouTube) were mostly used by student protesters to plan, coordinate and document their participation in the 2012 Occupy Nigeria protest. Of the seven platforms analysed, Facebook was the most used for protest purposes while Eskimi increased the likelihood that a student attended the first day of the protest. This article argues that mobile SNA brought about interaction, socialization, collective and connective engagement that was needed to spur such socio-political movement.

Exploring alternative journalistic approaches to report on China and Africa relations? Comparative study of two best reporting awards projects in China and South Africa
Authors: Zhang Yanqiu And Simon Matingwina 
Page Start: 21

The media in China and Africa have dedicated considerable space and time to issues on China, Africa and their relationship. While there is quantitative growth in terms of media coverage, there is lack of knowledge on the real issues that define the relationship. In response, University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa and Tshinghua University in China initiated reporting projects aimed at training journalists on the best approaches to report on China and Africa. This study analysed all the award-winning stories by using content analysis to inquire into the issues and narratives considered significant in defining China, Africa and their relationship. The study finds that there are differences in terms of issues and focus of the stories but this shows the diversity of the issues to be covered on China and Africa. Most significantly, the study shows that the stories from the two projects used constructive journalism narratives that cast new light on existing stereotypes and explore new controversies. Such narratives have the potential to create better understanding between the people of China and Africa but there is a need to ensure training of more media personnel to ensure sustainability of the initiatives.

Framing presidential illness: The political significance of how the Nigerian press covered former President Yar’Adua’s final months
Authors: Habeeb Idris Pindiga And Ian Taylor 
Page Start: 39

Whenever a senior politician falls seriously ill and the media learn of this, the politician’s health problems are likely to become the subject of news reporting. Impressionistic but still plausible evidence would suggest that this kind of story ‘makes the news’ significantly more often than it did in decades gone by. Yet media studies academics have devoted precious little attention to this topic with the result that important questions about the nature of news coverage whenever politicians fall ill and what the consequences of that coverage might be remain unexplored. This article makes a start in filling that lacuna by exploring the Nigerian press’s coverage of the illness and eventual death of former Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua. The key issues that defined the crisis are identified. Furthermore, we argue that (intentionally or otherwise) the news media’s coverage mattered because it legitimized the transfer of power away from President Yar’Adua months before power was officially handed over to his successor.

Interactive programmes on private radio stations in Ghana: An avenue for impoliteness
Authors: Rachel Akusika Thompson And Jemima Asabea Anderson 
Page Start: 55

This study aims at showing the impoliteness strategies employed during some radio interactions. The data used here are mainly recordings of the morning shows of some private radio stations in Ghana. We establish that all the recorded utterances have some features that correspond with at least one of Culpeper’s (1996, 2005) impoliteness strategies, which are bald on record impoliteness, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, off-record impoliteness and withhold politeness. However, many of the participants prefer the use of the on-record strategies to the off-record strategies of impoliteness. We therefore assert that many participants in interactive radio programmes in Ghana prefer to convey messages to their addressees in a more direct and unrestrained manner, with little or no attention to their (addressees’) face needs. These participants attack the faces of more powerful people not only to demean their social status but also to demand quicker results and gain some psychological relief.

Framing corruption narratives in Zimbabwe: A critical review of the Zimdef corruption scandal as portrayed in Zimbabwean newspapers
Authors: Rodwell Makombe 
Page Start: 73

In the modern world, the media has become an important tool for shaping public discourse. Although it is not clear to what extent public opinion is shaped by media frames, there is no doubt that the media plays an important role in providing information to the public and influencing the way in which reality is perceived. This article critically analyses the framing of corruption narratives in Zimbabwean newspapers through the prism of framing theory. Scholars have long established that news disseminated by the media is not necessarily neutral information but frames and/or ideological perspectives of news organizations and/or journalists. When news organizations report news, they do so from a certain perspective, guided by the policies and interests of the media organization and its sponsors. Post-2000 Zimbabwe has faced an unprecedented economic/political crisis that has arguably created a conducive atmosphere for corruption. This article focuses on the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (Zimdef) corruption scandal of 2016 in which the then Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Jonathan Moyo, was implicated. The objective is, first, to determine how corruption is framed in Zimbabwean newspapers, and second to critically analyse the different frames of the Zimdef corruption scandal as presented by selected newspapers. The results of the analysis show that newspapers in Zimbabwe frame corruption as a moral issue with economic consequences and suspects of corruption are often framed as morally bankrupt criminals.

Influence of radio in shaping public perception of Lagos State’s Mega City Project: A study of residents of Ikeja and Surulere local governments
Authors: Oloruntola Abraham Sunday And Emmanuel Paul Idakwo 
Page Start: 87

The study examined the influence of radio in shaping public perception of Lagos State’s Mega City Project. The study population was drawn from the residents of Ikeja and Surulere local government areas of the State. Lagos State is the most populated city in Nigeria, estimated at about 23 million people. To be amongst the countries of the world that are termed as mega cities, a mega city project was commenced in 1999 in Lagos. The project is ongoing. The study aimed to ascertain the level of exposure to the radio medium by residents of Ikeja and Surulere local government areas; determine the frequency of exposure of the residents to reports on the Lagos Mega City Project; and ascertain the views of the residents concerning the Project. Theoretical leanings of the study centred on two theories of the mass media: Agenda Setting and Developmental Media. The research method adopted was a survey using a questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to sample 100 respondents from the local government areas, which had a return rate of 99%. The data gathered and analysed showed that the majority of the respondents listened to the radio (76.8%) while the others (23.2%) responded otherwise. Also, a higher percentage of respondents listened to the radio occasionally (32.6%) compared to the other respondents. In terms of awareness of the Lagos Mega City Project, 73.7% of the respondents reported being aware while 25.3% were unaware. Radio was the medium through which the respondents received information on the Project (32.9%). The majority of the respondents (67.1%) perceived the Project as a welcome development, 8.2% did not like the Project and 19.2% were indifferent towards it. In terms of understanding the project, 70.3% of the respondents said they had an understanding of the project, but 16.2% did not and 13.5% were indifferent. The findings revealed that radio is a veritable medium of communication and that the audience is aware of the mega city project and have a good understanding of the Project by the government. The article recommended that the government should intensify awareness using various means of communication at the grassroots, lend priority to feedbacks from citizens on how the project affects them and to partner with foreign investors to achieve the mega city dream.

Dig.it.(y)al(l): Tracing digitization in South Africa through AfricasGateway.com
Authors: Lorien Hunter 
Page Start: 105

In this article, I consider the historical development of hip hop culture and community in South Africa, focusing on the contributions of one key player in its history: AfricasGateway.com (AG). Although the birth of South African hip hop predates the launch of this website by many years, as I will demonstrate in this article, AG held a pivotal position in the cultivation of South Africa’s hip hop culture and community. To make this argument I will open with a brief summary of the scene’s development prior to AG’s launch in 1997, and then continue the narration of this history as it surrounds the South African hip hop website. Using a combination of data obtained from the site itself as well as personal interviews, I ultimately seek to reveal, not only how AG helped to develop hip hop culture in South Africa, but also the role that hip hop websites in general have played in shaping its community and culture.

How new technologies boost democracy and development in Africa
Authors: William Gumede 
Page Start: 135