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Journalism and the Challenge of Democracy in Transitional Countries: African Experiences

Jacob Høigilt, Kjetil Selvik (eds.)

International Communication Gazette, volume 82, issue 7 (2020), pp. 591-681

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Uganda

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 25 pp.

"Young Ugandans are reluctant to voice their concerns and take part in public discussions according to indicative findings from the MIL INDEX country study presented here. The eight focus groups conducted for the study in Kampala and Bugembe early in 2019 revealed that youths are using both traditio ... nal and social media extensively, but discussions of political and public issues take place mainly in closed circles on platforms like WhatsApp. “It is a suffocated environment,” says media expert Gerald Businge. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Uganda. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) based on DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus group participants see themselves living in the “the dot-com era” though access to the Internet and even television is far from universal in Uganda. The smartphone is the most popular device and it serves as a benchmark when judging more traditional media (radio, television, and newspapers). Social media are used alongside traditional media, but there is a feeling that traditional media, especially radio, are losing touch with the Ugandan youth of today. There is a general neglect of printed media, based on an aversion to long reads and often also difficulties in understanding them. Some participants feel they are addicted to social media and online messengers. When it comes to analytical skills, the Ugandan youths in the focus groups are not very critical of the media environment they live in despite the overwhelming evidence that state control, intimidation, and media concentration are problems in Uganda. But they do pick up on news bias and sensationalism. They are also aware of the fact that online sources and social media information should not be trusted blindly. Participants can differentiate between quality and tabloid-type media, but an alarming proportion does not know their constitutional right to freedom of expression. The level of reflection on the part of focus group participants is medium to low. They can render many cases of cyberbullying/hate speech, disinformation and cybercrime, though they are not always aware of the difference. Especially the examples of cyber-harassment that are recounted in the focus groups reveal that female youths are primarily targeted. At the same time there seems to be little in the way of counselling for victims and there was not enough reflection of the background to such malevolent forms of communication. Strategies in coping with them are not very elaborate, though some groups did mention methods of verification in the context of disinformation several times. There is considerable potential for support when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, hate speech and cybercrime." (Executive summary) more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Kenya

Dennis Reineck, Georg Materna, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 27 pp.

"The young generation in Kenya rejects disinformative and hateful communication. When asked for their opinion on these matters in a representative survey, a majority of 15-25-year-olds evaluated them as “not to be trusted” and “not funny”. This is one of the most important results of DW Akad ... more

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Participatory Media Cultures: Virality, Humour, and Online Political Contestations in Kenya

Lynete Lusike Mukhongo

Africa Spectrum, volume 55, issue 2 (2020), pp. 148-169

"The article seeks to discuss varied forms of citizen engagement in the era of Internet viral cultures, ranging from (1) the use of social media for online protest, characterised by political contestation and fleeting outbursts of anger and backlash in the Twittersphere, to (2) the appropriation of ... more

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How Kenyans on Twitter Use Visuals as a Form of Political Protest

Grace Brenda W. Okoth

Kommunikation.Medien, issue 12 (2020), 27 pp.

"The growth of the Internet in the last two decades has helped increase political and civic en-gagement and scrutiny. The growth of a digital economy in Kenya has led to the emergence of a vibrant online community with 89.7 % of the population having access to the Internet. This paper examines how K ... more

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Making Civic Space Resilient

Cordaid;Hivos (2020), 31 pp.

"The 10 countries included in this paper all show specific characteristics and contexts but also show similar barriers. Identifying shared characteristics will facilitate the development of shared approaches to deal with shrinking space. Don’t work in silos! It’s (also) about upholding the law: ... more

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Community Driven Governance and Service Delivery Audits in Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi: Africa’s Voices Foundation (2020), 60 pp.

"There is a strong consensus within the governance space that citizen engagement is integral in supporting social accountability and strengthening democracy. The impact of the modalities through which citizens make demands on the degree to which citizens feel empowered to trigger recognition and act ... ion from the duty holders remains an open question, more so in the Kenyan context where citizen engagement and social accountability align to the Constitution’s provisions on “public participation”. To this end, Africa’s Voices bridges this gap by deploying its innovative approach to civic engagement through the ‘Common Social Accountability Platform’ (CSAP) which uses interactive radio shows to achieve meaningful spaces of mediated public discussion between citizens and authorities that are valued by both and strengthens relations between them. The approach also provides evidence of citizen opinions in a form that supports policy action by authorities. In the Strengthening Public Accountability and Integrity Systems (SPAIS) pilot project, AVF focused the intervention on the urban poor settlements of Nairobi through a series of weekly interactive radio shows in three popular radio stations over a period of 2 months (8 shows per station for a total of 24 broadcasts over 8 weeks). While the shows explored a range of issues relevant to corruption, transparency, public participation and accountability, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the content of the discussions was largely focused on health governance and healthcare service delivery. The topics of discussion included overall citizen experience and satisfaction in healthcare service provision; appropriate utilisation of resources allocated to healthcare for COVID-19; and citizen perceptions of their role in ensuring and monitoring appropriate resource allocation for healthcare. The intervention also served as a mechanism for citizens to air concerns and grievances related to potential corruption incidents in the healthcare sector and beyond. This SPAIS project convenes large-scale, plural and inclusive accountability dialogues between authorities and citizens in urban poor settlements of Nairobi with a view to promote and uphold public accountability and the role that citizens can play in countering corruption, to enhance citizen perceptions of voice and efficacy, government recognition of and engagement with citizens, and ultimately the forging of trust between citizens and authorities. Moreover, this project aims to strengthen citizen engagement in the monitoring of healthcare service delivery in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide trusted spaces for an exchange on matters related to the provision and quality of healthcare services. It envisions to draw rich insights from citizen voices and recommend programme options for UNDP and SPAIS partners to adapt future programming to the needs and opinions of citizens regarding tackling corruption in the health sector." (Introduction, page 7-8) more

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Mediated Sociability: Audience Participation and Convened Citizen Engagement in Interactive Broadcast Shows in Africa

Sharath Srinivasan, Claudia Abreu Lopes

International Journal of Communication, volume 14 (2020), pp. 2985-3006

"This article examines what drives audience participation in interactive broadcast shows, with implications for the democratic potential of these shows as spaces of citizen engagement and public discussion. It makes three contributions, the first two to audience and media studies and the last to pol ... more

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Civil Society in the Digital Age in Africa: Identifying Threats and Mounting Pushbacks

Hlengiwe Dube, Maristella A. Simiyu, Tomiwa Ilori

Pretoria; Kampala: Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria;CIPESA (2020), 78 pp.

"The report documents the threats to civil society in the digital age by examining the legislative and regulatory framework in four countries in Africa: Egypt, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. These countries were selected from the four main geographic regions of Africa, in order to provide a sense ... more

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Digital Vigilantism, Social Media and Cyber Criminality

Karen Allen, Isel van Zyl

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) (2020), 15 pp.

"Social media platforms have become powerful tools to amplify and share narratives. Like many evolving technologies, platforms such as Twitter or Facebook may be used for social good or for ill. Digital vigilantism (whereby social media platforms are used for organised shaming, hounding or doxing of ... more

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Peace Journalism in East Africa: A Manual for Media Practitioners

Fredrick Ogenga (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), vi, 101 pp.

"This publication is the outcome of the “East Africa Regional Peace Journalism Training Workshop” for journalists covering conflict and peacebuilding in East Africa. Organized by Rongo University’s Center for Media, Democracy, Peace, and Security (CMDPS) in partnership with the African Peacebu ... more

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The Digital Lives of Refugees and Kenyans with Disabilities in Nairobi: A Human-Centred Design Approach to Identifying Mobile-Enabled Opportunities

London: GSMA (2020), 46 pp.

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Google Scholar (11)

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The Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism
Top Insights

Agnes Gulyas, David Baines (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), xxiii, 497 pp.

"Offering a collection of invited contributions from scholars across the world, the volume is structured in seven parts, each exploring a particular aspect of local media and journalism that provide the framework to bring together and consolidate the latest research and theorisations from the field, ... more

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Access to Remote-Education Tools Unequal in Kenya: Radio Best Way to Reach Most

Thomas Isbell

Afrobarometer (2020), 11 pp.

"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across Africa, educators, policy makers, parents, and pupils face uncertainty about the path forward. In Kenya, the government has halted all in-person teaching at the primary and secondary levels and moved to remote teaching. Survey findings show, howev ... more

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Framing Democracy. Media Coverage of Tanzania's 2020 Presidential Elections: A Focus on Opposition Candidate Tundu Lissu

Johannesburg: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) (2020), 15 pp.

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Assessing the Limitations to Freedom of Expression on the Internet in Ethiopia Against the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights

Yohannes Eneyew Ayalew

African Human Rights Law Journal, volume 20, issue 1 (2020), pp. 315-345

"The Ethiopian government restricts freedom of expression on the internet and has adopted extraneous limiting measures. Most of these measures are incompatable with the African Charter. Restrictions to freedom of expression on the internet include internet shutdowns, hate speech and disinformation r ... more

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Communication for Development: An Evaluation Framework in Action
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Jessica Noske-Turner (ed.)

Rugby: Practical Action Publishing (2020), xiii, 124 pp.

"This book presents five cases that reflect on the experiences of using practices consistent with the 'Evaluating C4D framework' [published by June Lennie and Jo Tacchi in 2013]. Case studies are important to help move from a set of ideal principles to an understanding of how the framework may be op ... more

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The Views and Perspectives of Radio Ergo’s Female Listeners in Mogadishu and Baidoa, Somalia

Shukria Dini

International Media Support (IMS) (2020), 26 pp.

"According to the largely young, mostly educated female listeners interviewed in this study, Radio Ergo focuses on important humanitarian and social issues in Somalia and is refreshingly free from clan politics. The radio stimulates rich and healthy discussions and dialogues among Somalis living ins ... more

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"We Live in Perpetual Fear": Violations and Abuses of Freedom of Expression in Somalia

London: Amnesty International (2020), 50 pp.

"For the fifth year in a row, Somalia tops the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Global Impunity Index on countries where those who kill journalists escape prosecution. The Somali authorities rarely investigate cases of killings or attacks on journalists, media outlets and critics. At least ... more

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Communicating Science: A Global Perspective
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Toss Gascoigne, Bernard Schiele, Joan Leach, Michelle Riedlinger, Bruce V. Lewenstein, Luisa Massarani, Peter Broks (eds.)

Canberra: Australian National University (ANU) Press (2020), xi, 982 pp.

"This collection charts the emergence of modern science communication across the world. This is the first volume to map investment around the globe in science centres, university courses and research, publications and conferences as well as tell the national stories of science communication. How did ... more

The Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism Top Insights

Communication for Development: An Evaluation Framework in Action Top Insights

Communicating Science: A Global Perspective Top Insights

The Routledge Companion to Local Media and Journalism
Top Insights

Communication for Development: An Evaluation Framework in Action
Top Insights

Communicating Science: A Global Perspective
Top Insights