"This article explored the particular version of ‘national culture’ that emerged in Mali’s post-independent history at the interface of a governmental politics of culture and communication, media technologies, and people’s media engagement. I argued that the dialectical production of ‘the
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past’ as a source of cultural identity and nationalist pride was gradually transformed under the subsequent regimes of postcolonial Mali. Central parameters of claiming and validating one’s past have changed, along with a shift in significance (and employment) of ‘the past’. In previous decades, ‘remembering the past’ formed part of a hegemonic quest for a national heritage and an all-encompassing collective identity that tended to silence internal difference. This representation of national culture contrasts with more recent governmental attempts to create a sense of national unity not by reference to a common past but by acknowledging cultural diversity and celebrating the nation state’s capacity to ease out the tensions arising from internal difference. What conclusions can we draw from the shift from mass-mediated celebrations of oral traditions identified with practices of remembering an ‘authentic’ past to the staging of‘cultural diversity’ on state television? In what sense is this shift indicative of how individuals and groups need to frame and pursue their citizenship entitlements under current political conditions shaped by the effects of multiparty ‘democracy’?" (Conclusion, page 206)
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"Newspapers in Kenya are written for men, and about the affairs of men, whereas women remain invisible in relation to the serious issues of the day. But there have been efforts to cover women’s issues, and to sell newspapers to Kenyan women. These have taken the form of having separate and detache
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d ‘women’s pages’ slotted into the main newspapers. The supplements are filled with stereotyped roles of domesticity, beauty, and fantasy, thus denying women’s productive role in society. This article analyses the negative and stereotyped portrayal of women in the Kenyan print media, and considers what implications this has for the country’s development." (Abstract)
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"I have been privileged to compile this anthology of essays, stories and testimonies of Africa’s top media executives who, through their actions and visionary leadership, are re-shaping and strengthening Africa’s fledgling media companies and institutions. Their touching real-life stories are an
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inspiration to all who work and desire to see Africa succeed and to have its voice heard above the din of the new digital age. A financially robust African media that is also independent and pluralistic will serve to give meaning to and strengthen the continent’s nascent democracy and contribute to the lifting of its people out of grinding under-development, poverty and related ills. These media leaders, in sharing their stories with the rest of Africa and the world, show that the real test of what works and does not work in managing and leading a successful media firm too often lies in the field and at times does not necessarily follow orthodoxy." (Editor's note)
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"The Gender and Media Baseline Study, conducted in southern Africa in 2003, revealed glaring gender disparities in the media and in its editorial content. With its goal to ‘promote gender equality in and through the media’, Gender Links (GL) has worked with a broad range of partners to try to re
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dress these gaps through research, advocacy, and training, targeting media producers, those who influence news content, and consumers. GL, and the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) network that it hosts, are also developing a Gender and Media Diversity Centre, to enhance the sharing of knowledge in this important but relatively new area of work." (Abstract)
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"One in a series of collections from the Nigerian Book Fair Trust containing the opening addresses, keynote speeches, and papers presented at the Nigeria International Book Fair, held annually since 2002, each fair focusing on a special topic or topics. The theme of the 2006 book fair focused on two
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topics: "National Book Policy and Sustainable Development" and "HIV/AIDS and Sustainable Development"." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 815)
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"This bibliography, by a Kenyan scholar and children’s author, lists 1,759 titles in English and in Kiswahili. In her introduction the author states that a proportion of the books were personally examined by her, while other entries are based on listings in Kenya Books in Print, publishers’ cata
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logues, as well as catalogues issued by African Books Collective. It includes children’s books written by both African and non-African authors. The majority of the titles are published in Africa, but there are also listings of African children’s books published in the UK and in North America. Material is listed alphabetically by name of author. Each entry gives author name, title, page extents for some titles, ISBN, and name of publisher; names of illustrators are also given for a number of entries. There are no annotations, nor indications of reading levels or age groups. Includes a list of publishers, but which lacks address or distributor details. While this is a fairly comprehensive listing – and some public libraries may find it useful as a starting point for acquiring African children’s books – without annotations, evaluations, or analysis of any kind, it is difficult to see how the bibliography can serve much purpose in its present form." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1630)
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"This essay explores the nature and political consequences of representing HIV/AIDS in Africa, where the disease has taken its greatest toll. We examine how different methods of photography embody different ideologies through which we give meaning to political phenomena. We distinguish three photogr
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aphic methods of representing HIV/AIDS: naturalist, humanist, and pluralist. Naturalist approaches portray photographs as neutral and value free. Humanist photography, by contrast, hinges on the assumption that images of suffering can invoke compassion in viewers, and that this compassion can become a catalyst for positive change. By examining a widely circulated iconic photograph of a Ugandan woman and her child affected by AIDS-related illnesses, we show that such representations can nevertheless feed into stereotypical portrayals of African people as nameless and passive victims, removed from the everyday realities of the western world. We contrast these practices with pluralist photography. To do so we examine a project in Addis Ababa, which used a methodology that placed cameras into the hands of children affected by HIV/AIDS, giving them the opportunity to actively represent what it means to live with the disease. The result is a form of dialog that opens up spaces for individuals and communities to work more effectively in overcoming problematic stigmas and finding ways of stemming the spread of the disease." (Abstract)
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