"This book provides an important set of critical reflections from a selection of foundational scholars of African media and communication studies through biographical method. The book interrogates the center of mainstream academic scholarship by providing the foundational history and origins of an A
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fricanist conceptual model while highlighting its significance globally. The editors use biographical and life story interviews to critically review the respondents’ interpretations of their key works and arguments in relation to key moments in the field, the continent and globally. Though the book is focussed on recovering pioneering arguments by key thinkers in African media and communication, efforts of individual academics are to be understood in the context of their work with others and within institutions that are networked, locally and globally. By bringing together many of the leading figures of African communication and media studies in a single volume, this book provides a critical corrective to the dearth of knowledge and information about who the key thinkers are and what their key arguments, theories and models for media and communication in African contexts entail." (Publisher description)
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"In today's Africa racism and ethnicity have been implicated in serious conflicts - from Egypt to Mali to South Africa - that have cost lives and undermined efforts to achieve national cohesion and meaningful development. Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa sets about rethinking the role of me
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dia and communication in perpetuating, reinforcing and reining in racism, absolute ethnicity and other discriminations across Africa. It goes beyond the customary discussion of media racism and ethnic stereotyping to critically address broader issues of identity, belonging and exclusion. Topics covered include racism in South African newspapers, pluralist media debates in Kenya, media discourses on same-sex relations in Uganda and ethnicised news coverage in Nigerian newspapers." (Publisher description)
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"Appreciating the challenges, role and prospects of the industry was at the very core of the author's raison d'être for writing the text. The research effort informing the book has sought to capture factors shaping the encoding practices of Nigerian television in its five decades of operations. The
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book is primarily an account collated from a range of organisational sources using ethnographic techniques. It examines the pioneering efforts, offering an insight into the use of television as a tool of governance. It shows how central television has been in this process thus revising previous views which, in their celebration of radio as the medium for social mobilisation at the grassroots, have understated the profile of television. This is an account of a significant aspect of cultural life which should facilitate an understanding of the role of television as an important medium in the politics of a nation; especially one with such diverse identity groups and cultures as Nigeria." (Publisher description)
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