"This second volume focuses on primary trauma experienced by journalists, with a particular focus on the gendered dimensions, as shared by female journalists and researchers. By focusing on female journalists’ firsthand encounters, the book explores the complex psychological, emotional, and profes
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sional challenges they face both inside and outside the newsroom. The chapters deal with specific issues relating to sexual harassment, online threats, risks and vulnerabilities, and physical and psychological violence experienced by journalists in various sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, the book explores the coping mechanisms employed by journalists in the field; thereby contributing to ongoing discussion on how to support media professionals navigating challenging newsrooms and journalistic roles in Africa and beyond. Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam is Deputy Head of School for Teaching and Research, senior lecturer in Media Studies, and Master’s programme coordinator in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa. His latest book is Children and Young People’s Digital Lifeworlds: Domestication, Mediation, and Agency published in 2024 by Palgrave Macmillan under the book series of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). Kealeboga Aiseng is a senior lecturer in the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His books include Sociolinguistics of South African Television: Language Ideologies in Selected Case Studies, Political Economy of African Popular Culture: Political Interplay (co-edited), Public Health Communication Challenges to Minority and Indigenous Communities (co-edited), and Social Media and Gender in Africa: Discourses and Politics of Everyday Life (co-edited)." (Publisher description)
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"This book provides case studies on the strategies used by African governments in monitoring and controlling digital and social media, as well as the implications of such actions for claims about media freedom and freedom of expression. Further, the book examines the human rights challenges posed by
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state control and monitoring of digital and social media forms of communication. In the context of a digital surveillance state, it questions how digital and social media can possibly enhance the democratisation of both the communicative and political spaces. The book focuses on questions of censorship and control of digital and social media in ‘supposedly’ democratic societies. It discusses regulation and how governments have imposed their state power by ‘switching off’ the internet and blocking social media sites under the guise of national security and order maintenance." (Back cover)
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"Simbabwes Präsident Emmerson Mnangagwa verspricht, die Massaker an Zehntausenden Ndebele vor rund 40 Jahren aufarbeiten zu lassen. Überlebende dieses sogenannten Gukurahundi sehen dafür nur wenige Anzeichen." (Einführung)
"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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"Drawing on a broad range of case studies across the continent, the volume considers what constitutes communication rights in Africa, who should protect them, against whom, and how communication rights relate to broader human rights. While the case studies highlight the variation in communicative ri
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ghts experiences between countries, they also coalesce around common tropes and practices for the implementation and expression of communication rights. Deploying a variety of innovative theoretical and methodological approaches, the chapters scrutinise different facets of communication rights in the context of both offline and digital communication realities. The contributions provide illuminating accounts on language rights, digital exclusion, digital activism, citizen journalism, media regulation and censorship, protection of intellectual property rights, politics of mobile data, and politicisation of social media." (Publisher description)
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"This chapter examines the digital surveillance and harassment experiences faced by female journalists in Zimbabwe in the 2023 pre-election period covering the year 2022 up to August 2023. The examination is based on interviews conducted with seven purposefully selected female reporters and editors
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in Zimbabwe. It suggests that within our information-driven society, both personal data and physical bodies are subject to surveillance; for female journalists in particular, this surveillance materialises as instances of harassment occurring both online and offline, including within newsroom settings. Evidence shows that there is both the physical and psychological intimidation of female journalists and periods of political unrests are particularly unsettling. Female journalists are subject to unique forms of hostility absent in their male counterparts’ experiences. To cope the journalists, adopt various survival strategies, from cyber defence techniques and keeping a low online profile to outright evasion or extreme cases of leaving the country. The female journalists advocate for thorough protection measures, including legal reforms, strict penalties, and holding online platforms accountable. They emphasise the importance of mental health support, training, and guidance from media organizations, in addition to institutional and legislative action. The chapter employs a feminist perspective to highlight the importance of power dynamics in surveillance. Feminist politics within media call for women not only to be visible but also heard, which can only occur if they have representation in decision-making processes that shape news coverage and can write stories without fearing harassment. Drawing inspiration from the Panopticon theory of surveillance, this chapter explores the idea that individuals may be monitored without their awareness. With this framework in mind, three key questions are addressed: Did journalists experience any form of digital or physical surveillance? Were they subjected to any type of harassment stemming from such monitoring? And did they receive support from media organizations during these incidents?" (Abstract)
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"This book explores how unresolved questions of social justice shape the character of the political terrain and political actors, through the lens of social media. It treats communication as the medium through which social issues and processes are made visible. Given the rise and spread of populist
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politics, the views of ordinary people on social issues have never mattered more. One platform through which these voices can be studied extensively is social media. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter now X, YouTube, and Instagram, among others, afford ordinary citizens-often marginalized by traditional mainstream media-space to vent their opinions, engage in discussions of whatever topic, share information and ideas, and explore various kinds of information as well as data, links to which are often provided through various macro and micro discursive spaces therein. Arguably, therefore, social media have become a quintessential platform for studying contemporary sociality. Social media must be studied not just as a communication platform, but one through which the social world, social processes and social issues are made visible and, in some cases, enacted. With rich case studies from the Global South, and a particular focus on Africa, this collection does just that." (Publisher description)
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"Communication the world over is a vital cog in communities. The sender and the receiver play different and complementary roles in information dissemination. Be that as it may, many contemporary information senders are faced with different forms of harassment. The advent of social media has seen a r
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ise in independent journalism and this form of journalism is not immune to harassment as such many independent journalists are harassed online. This chapter as a result unravels the emotional implications of online harassment on journalists and its repercussions for a democratic society and press freedom. Using a case of four selected Zimbabwean journalists, the chapter untangles the vocabulary used by cyber-bullies and how that affects the emotional makeup and professional outlook of different journalists. The qualitative research methodology was used as the research unfolded. The Democratic-Participant Media Theory and the Symbolic Interactionism Theory were used to analyse the operational values of independent journalists and how their audience reacts since communication is a two-way traffic. Data gathered were analysed using the thematic analysis approach. The chapter found that five major emotions are triggered by online harassment of freelance journalists on different media platforms in Zimbabwe which are surprise and or betrayal, fear, anger, happiness, and disgust. The study thus concludes that there is a need to monitor and provide counselling sessions to journalists to mitigate the negative impact of online harassment on the form, structure, and content of news articles in Zimbabwe." (Abstract)
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"This book seeks to expand some of the existing, often western and Global North facing, scholarship in the area of Disability and Media Studies to include African perspectives. Featuring predominantly Africa-based contributors, it studies an array of topics on disability and media in Africa, includi
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ng issues of social media, media ethics, including marginalised voices in the media, and disability representation in the media." (Publisher description)
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"In March 2023, a Zimbabwean government official caused a storm after threatening journalists with arrests for reporting on an Al Jazeera documentary that exposed alleged money laundering, gold smuggling and other criminal activities in the country. Journalists and media groups interpreted these utt
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erances as a violation of free expression and veiled attacks on the media. This study uses this incident of a threat to silence and discipline newsmakers as an entry point to examine the state of the safety of journalists in the Zimbabwean context. It probes the nature and form of harassment and threats against journalists ahead of the country’s national elections in 2023. Journalists across the globe are increasingly faced with safety risks as they are vulnerable to harassment in both online and offline spaces. News reporters are at risk of being arrested, detained, tortured and killed whilst carrying out their journalistic mandate. This qualitative study draws upon insights from journalists across media houses in the country to make sense of the safety issues in the context of national elections that tend to be characterised by political instability and violence. Through in-depth interviews with journalists such as those who have been physically harassed for carrying out their work, this chapter develops an understanding of the nature, trends and patterns of the harassment during the election campaign season." (Abstract)
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"This book explores how popular cultural artifacts, literary texts, commemorative practices and other forms of remembrances are used to convey, transmit and contest memories of mass atrocities in the Global South. Some of these historical atrocities took place during the Cold war. As such, this book
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unpacks the influence or role of the global powers in conflict in the Global South. Contributors are grappling with a number of issues such as the politics of memorialization, memory conflicts, exhumations, reburials, historical dialogue, peacebuilding and social healing, memory activism, visual representation, transgenerational transmission of memories, and identity politics." (Publisher description)
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"Drawing from case studies from selected African countries, an international team of authors offer a broad insight into the state of harassment across the continent, while building new theoretical perspectives that are also context-specific. The chapters bring previous theories and research up to da
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te by addressing the continual change and development of new discourses, including the use of big data and artificial intelligence in harassing and intimidating journalists and mental health issues affecting journalists in their line of duty. More so, the authors argue that the state and form of harassment is not universal, as location and context are some of the key factors that influence the form and character of harassment." (Publisher description)
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"Zimbabwe has a tainted media history under Mugabe replete with examples of state orchestrated repression, draconian legislation, harassment of journalists and violation of their work premises. The post-November 2017 coup period is a critical reference point to understand the political economy of al
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ternative media under the so-called ‘New Dispensation’ of President Mnangagwa with its promises of prodemocracy reforms. Using political economy as a theoretical approach that analyses media systems in a holistic manner by linking them to politics, economy, legislation and technology, this study assesses the extent to which the ‘New Dispensation’ has implemented political economy reforms that impact alternative media. Drawing from interviews with selected alternative media journalists and proprietors, the findings reveal that alternative media in Zimbabwe remain entrenched in repression and are in a crisis caused by an exacerbation of the same structural factors that existed before. The ‘New Dispensation’ has instead led to the entrenchment of a new dictatorship by the military junta. Undue political interference, a fragile economy and state orchestrated repression continue to constrain the democratic functions of alternative media. By teasing the continuities and discontinuities of alternative media repression during the Mugabe era and under the ‘New Dispensation’, the paper contributes to ongoing debates about the consequence of the 2017 coup and the need for genuine democratic reforms in Zimbabwe post-Mugabe epoch." (Abstract)
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"With the advent of social media, traditional analogue radio has converged to audio-visual with print formats. Using the case of community radio in Zimbabwe, this article explores how radio broadcasters have taken advantage of media convergence to disseminate text as implant on radio. A qualitative
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content analysis of community radio platforms on Facebook reveals that some multilingual community radio stations still maintain their local languages in written text as captions or print, although there is a tendency towards English and major indigenous language dominance. Using language revitalisation theory, we argue that merging written text with radio on social media should always maintain the distinctness of radio and text as implant that reflect the local languages of community radio stations to revitalise or strengthen indigenous languages. We find the affordances of digital connection through Facebook useful to revitalise languages which are no longer used in the everyday communication of a digital audience." (Abstract)
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"Visuals hold a special place in the field of communication. Politicians, in a move to position themselves or market their activities, use visuals that stand as a testimony to their principles. However, their importance and value in political communication are not highly reflected in academic litera
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ture. This article is built from this understudied field by looking at the role photojournalists play in framing opposition political parties in Zimbabwe. Photographs are important tools in politics as evidenced by experimental research on political communication that found that ‘a single photograph can have a clear impact on voters’ judgements regarding a candidate’s demeanour, competence, leadership ability, attractiveness, likeableness, and integrity’. This study seeks to analyse photographs that were used by photojournalists to frame the newly formed political party, amidst the power struggles within the party, and political repression from the authoritarian regime. Informed by visual framing, the study found that photojournalists framed Nelson Chamisa as youthful and vibrant while his party was seen as resembling the new dawn. However, photographs also showed that Chamisa and his party had nothing to offer as they did not have a constitution, guiding policy nor a clear ideology." (Abstract)
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"In an era when hashtag campaigns like #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter capture global attention for victims of injustice, politicians and corporations are now spending billions employing Cambridge Analytica-type consultancies to manufacture disinformation - employing trolls, cyborgs and bots to disrupt
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dialogue and drown-out dissent. In the first study of its kind, this open-access book presents a range of case studies of these emerging dynamics across Africa, mapping and analyzing disinformation operations in ten different countries, and using innovative techniques to determine who is producing and coordinating these increasingly sophisticated disinformation machines. Drawing on scholars from across the continent, case studies document the actors and mechanisms used to profile citizens, manipulate beliefs and behaviour, and close the political space for democratic dialogue and policy debate. Chapters include examinations of how the Nigerian government deployed disinformation when the #EndSARS campaign focused attention on police brutality and corruption; insights into how pro-government actors responded to the viral #ZimbabweanLivesMatter campaign; and how misogynists mobilized against the #AmINext campaign against gender-based violence in South Africa." (Publisher description)
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"Drawing insights from decolonial theory and Ubuntu ethics, this article examines coloniality practices embedded in conflict journalism in Zimbabwe. It uses election violence reporting between 2000 and 2013 as a lens for gaining insights into how reporting conflicts perpetuates coloniality. How colo
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niality is reproduced through conflict reporting practices, and the extent to which Ubuntu ethics could be a remedy for coloniality are questions at the core of this exploration. Empirical data for the study were gleaned from in-depth interviews with nineteen purposively selected print media journalists and editors who had experience in reporting election violence in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2013. The article reveals that election violence reporting practices among print media journalists are oriented more towards ‘war journalism’ than peacebuilding which is at odds with Ubuntu ethics. It canvasses for an Ubuntu-centred journalism to mitigate the deleterious effects of coloniality in reporting conflicts in postcolonial contexts." (Abstract)
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