"This volume presents case studies of news media employing and integrating social media into their news production practices. It links social media use to journalistic practices and news production processes in the digital age of the Global South. Critically, the chapters look at seminal cases of st
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art-up news media whose content is informed by trends in social media, ethical considerations and participatory cultures spurred by the wide use of social media. There has been considerable research looking at the potential of new media technologies, traditional journalism and citizen reporting. The extent to which these new media technologies and 'citizen journalism' have morphed or reconfigured traditional journalism practice remains debatable. Currently, there are questions around the limits of social media in journalism practice as the ethical lines continue to become blurred. It is this conundrum of the role of social media in the reconfiguration of the media, news making, production and participatory cultures that requires more investigation. Social media has also turned the logic of the political economy of media production on its head as citizens can now produce, package and distribute news and information with shoestring budgets and in authoritarian regimes with no license of practice. This new political economy means the power that special interest groups used to enjoy is increasingly slipping from their hands as citizens take back the power to appropriate social media journalism to counter hegemonic narratives. Citizens can also perform journalistic roles of investigating and whistleblowing but with a lack off, or limited, regulation." (Publisher description)
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"This paper explores how Malawian media utilise question time during press briefings to fulfil its watchdog role. Using the concept of ‘journalistic interview’, which treats interviews between journalists and politicians as an encounter of two institutions, each making a claim on its legitimacy,
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this study employed qualitative content analysis of 10 recorded political press briefings held between April 2019 and April 2020, a period dominated by many political press briefings. Malawi conducted tripartite elections in May 2019 and the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential election in February 2020 on grounds of serious irregularities. The analysis is complemented by interviews with 15 Malawian journalists and two major issues emerged. Question time gives Malawian journalists an opportunity to exercise their watchdog role although the occasion is sometimes abused by both parties involved in the interlocution. Secondly, political interests and power disparity between press briefing organisers and journalists compromise the independence of the press and its watchdog role." (Abstract)
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