"This article explores the events leading to the closure of the Zimbabwe Mirror Newspapers Group (ZMNG) in 2007. It narrates how the state in Zimbabwe, through its intelligence arm, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), covertly took over the privately owned newspaper stable, publishers of th
...
e Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, leading to the organization’s demise. The article is informed by critical political economy theory, particularly the Propaganda Model and the concept of Social Control in the newsroom, linking Mirrorgate to the narrative of media control by the state in Zimbabwe. Interviews were conducted with key personnel – former Mirror staff members – to collect data. Archival newspaper reports were also analysed to trace the development of Mirrorgate and its consequences on the Mirror’s performance as a media entity. The article also benefits from experiential data accumulated through observation by the author as a former Mirror employee." (Abstract)
more
"This study in a way established that soap operas have some positive contributions to the society. For example, the study shows that youth become more confident and social after watching soaps. However, in agreement with the objectives of this study, the negative effects of soap operas on young peop
...
le overwhelmingly outweigh the positive impacts. For example, this study showed how relationships break after watching telenovelas; In addition, outside-marriage affairs increased or are considered normal after youths’ watch telenovelas." (Conclusion remarks, page 41)
more
"ICTs in Developing Countries is a collection of conceptual and empirical works on the adoption and impacts of ICT use in developing societies. Bringing together a wide range of disciplines and contributors, it offers a rich examination of digital divide and ICT for development both in terms of cont
...
extual information and disciplinary perspectives." (Publisher description)
more
"This article challenges the traditional role ascribed by liberal and developmental media theory that journalists should either be watchdogs or developmental journalists but not both at the same time. As part of the South African leg of the Worlds of Journalism (WJS) project this article argues that
...
it is indeed possible that the media can fulfil both roles. Utilizing the WJS 2014 questionnaire and based on a provincial face-to-face (n=37) and a national electronic survey (n=371) the results from the WJS South African project show a potential new trend in the way South African journalists see their role. This article reports in the main on the background to the face-to-face survey, while utilizing data from the national survey reported on elsewhere. Data analysis showed when both roles were compared to one another it was apparent that the watchdog and developmental roles were statistically significantly related to one another." (Abstract)
more
"This document takes an in-depth look at the conversion to 100% solar power operation at a small community radio station called Mayardit FM in Turalei, South Sudan. Since the installation of the solar system in March 2016, the station has operated on 100% solar power (including its transmission), br
...
oadcasting up to 16 hours a day, every day of the week. To date, the system has had zero downtime. This report was written to share learning with others who may be considering whether solar power would be suitable for their station(s). The first section describes the South Sudan context, background, and purpose of the project. The second section provides a case study of the solar power conversion at Mayardit FM, including technical specifications, user-centered design considerations, costings, and lessons learned from the first months of operation. The third section serves as a “how to” manual, which can be used by anyone interested in designing a solar system and weighing its feasibility for their own radio station." (Executive summary)
more
"Using the case of the hybrid media system of Uganda and Schimank’s approach of agent-structure dynamics, this article argues that media freedom and journalists’ autonomy first and foremost depend on society’s expectations of the media system. Closely linked to those informal structures of exp
...
ectations which are path and time dependent, journalists’ room for manoeuvre is limited by the resources allocated to individual and collective media actors. In a first step and following Schimank’s approach, the article presents a category system that could drive the analysis of media freedom in Uganda and beyond. The empirical study is based on research material consisting of 30 expert interviews, two elite round tables on site in Uganda and documents. This material shows that both journalists’ working conditions and (related to this and even more important) their perception among the ruling elites, public administrations and those governed, limit media freedom. It is precisely the media’s relative societal position which allowed the government to implement a system of media laws and media regulation authorities which creates arbitrariness and, therefore, a feeling of insecurity within the profession." (Abstract)
more
"There are a sizeable number of people who have never had access to any form of media or device. Roughly one in three (34%) respondents have never had access to radio, television, newspapers, internet, or mobile phones. Furthermore, media is less accessible for women than it is for men. It is more c
...
ommon (39%) for women to never have had access to any type of media than for men (26%). Overall, radio remains the most commonly accessed type of media (51%) and, not surprisingly, has a larger weekly reach (38%) than all other forms of media. This means that 4 out of 10 respondents listen to a radio on a weekly basis, roughly triple the rate of respondents who watch television on a weekly basis (13%) or read a newspaper on a weekly basis (10%). While access to television, newspapers, and internet remains sparse, mobile phone penetration levels are nearing levels of radio access." (Executive summary, page 3)
more
"This book probes the vitality, potentiality and ability of new communication and technological changes to drive online-based civil action across Africa. In a continent booming with mobile innovation and a plethora of social networking sites, the Internet is considered a powerful platform used by pr
...
o-democracy activists to negotiate and sometimes push for reform-based political and social changes in Africa. The book discusses and theorizes digital activism within social and geo-political realms, analysing cases such as the #FeesMustFall and #BringBackOurGirls campaigns in South Africa and Nigeria respectively to question the extent to which they have changed the dynamics of digital activism in sub-Saharan Africa. Comparative case study reflections in eight African countries identify and critique digital concepts questioning what impact they have had on the civil society. Cases also explore the African LGBT community as a social movement while discussing opportunities and challenges faced by online activists fighting for LGBT equality. Finally, gender-based activists using digital tools to gain attention and facilitate social changes are also appraised." (Publisher description)
more
"This mapping study investigates the ways in which the Kenyan government and other actors have initiated or engaged in multistakeholder processes in order to address cybersecurity-related matters in the country. Based on this, it will identify best practices, gaps and missing links, as well as oppor
...
tunities and recommendations for improving the cyber policy landscape in the country. The assessment of Kenya’s cybersecurity landscape in this report will identify actors within the government and civil society, as well as existing laws and frameworks, and address the proposed ones, based on the information that is currently available. Unless otherwise stated, all institutions and legislative documents listed here are existent and/or functional." (Page 7)
more
"The role of journalism in contemporary society is highly debated and highly contested all over the world, even more so in the context of young democracies. We note that in societies where journalism faces constant threats of tighter government control and where even the most innocuous piece of repo
...
rting might be criticised, undercover journalism treads a particularly thin but necessary line between the institutionally censored and the ethical-legal. Where journalists are subjected to rebukes, harassment, and worse, by government and public officials, we argue that we need not only re-affirm the role of journalism but even more so investigative journalism, and undercover journalism in particular. As such, we make a call for, as well as investigate the possibility for a reaffirmation of undercover journalism as a practice that describes an essential role that journalism can and should play in society. Taking South Africa as a case study, we investigate the view that at least some journalists, in various ways, do acknowledge that deception and ‘trickery’ are often crucial to uncovering hidden truths as well as new meanings that advance the cause of deepening democracy." (Abstract)
more
"An academic revolution in higher education during the past half century has been marked by transformations unprecedented in scope and diversity. Simultaneously, the significant changes in the ‘mediascape’ of southern and eastern Africa over the past two decades have replaced total state control
...
with a degree of liberalization, while the digital revolution has changed the access to, and the content of, media programming. The article argues that the production of postgraduate scholars, particularly at the doctoral level, is a useful indicator of the way in which capacity building in higher education – specifically, higher education for media and journalism studies – is being undertaken. This desk research article synthesizes the trends in media and academia under six headings: 1. structure and regulation; 2. end users – audiences, readers and viewers and students; 3. content delivery – programmes and curricula; 4. human resources; 5. digital technology and new media; and 6. financial sustainability." (Abstract)
more
"This descriptive, empirical study gives context to how print journalists in two politically different African nations, Senegal and Ethiopia, use Twitter and Facebook to report the news and to what extent. We ask, ‘how is this new model of online reporting manifesting itself in Ethiopian and Seneg
...
alese newsrooms, given Senegal’s track record of democratic government and free press and Ethiopia’s infamously authoritarian control and censorship of the country’s journalists?’. The method is a content analysis of 60 days of posts on ten print newspapers’ Twitter and Facebook pages, to establish a comparative assessment of the two nations. Findings are also given context by comparing the print newspapers’ popularity on Twitter and Facebook against each nation’s top 20 most popular Twitter and Facebook pages. Results show Ethiopia to be markedly behind in Twitter posts, but the newspapers of each country show similar rates of posting to Facebook. Journalists in both nations are not livetweeting events, but instead are linking content on social media to the newspaper’s main home page." (Abstract)
more
"Now in paperback for the first time, the Handbook is an academic adaptation of information contained in the Global Report on the Status of Women in News Media, a study commissioned by the International Women's Media Foundation. The book's editor was the principal investigator of the original study.
...
This text draws together the most robust data from that original study, presenting it in 29 chapters on individual nations and three additional theoretical chapters. The book is the most expansive effort to date to consider women's standing in the journalism profession across the world. Contents organize nations in relation to their progress within newsrooms, with those most advanced in gender equality representing diversity in terms of region and national development. Contributing authors are, in most cases, the original researchers for their respective nations in the Global Report study." (Publisher description)
more
"Project locations experienced general improvement with regards to social cohesion and conflict resolution. This was particularly the case in Wau, where results were encouraging. In contrast, Bor continued to feature more negative results than other project locations, although the county saw importa
...
nt improvements since the undertaking of the baseline study in January 2015. This suggests a general positive impact of project activities. Indeed, project activities were at large seen as effective in fostering peacebuilding among local communities. Respondents held particularly positive views about the role of [the radio talkshow] Hiwar al Shabab in the promotion of peacebuilding. In contrast, the sustainability of the trainings and theatre performances, and divergent expectations and miscommunication within the UNICEF-SFCG partnership were highlighted as the weak links in the implementation of the programme. Despite this, research participants underscored the potential for media as a useful tool for peacebuilding." (Page 2)
more
"This publication will contribute to ensuring that the breadth of human rights violations in Eritrea becomes known, and that the issue of human trafficking migrates more strongly upwards into the public eye." (Back cover)
"Commercial Nationalism intervenes in discussions of the fate of nationalism and national identity by exploring the relationship between state appropriation of marketing and branding strategies on the one hand, and, on the other, the commercial mobilization of nationalist discourses. The book's uniq
...
ue contribution is to consider an emerging formation characterized by the following complementary (and related) developments: the ways in which states come increasingly to rely on commercial techniques for self-promotion, diplomacy, and internal national mobilization, and also the ways in which new and legacy forms of commercial media rely on the mobilization emerging configurations of nationalism for the purpose of selling, gaining ratings, and otherwise profiting. We see this formation as a unique reconfiguration of the formation of nationalism associated with the contemporary context. Often these processes are approached separately: what is the economic role of nationalism and how do media participate in the formation of national identity?" (Publisher description)
more
"The 45 country reports gathered here illustrate the link between the internet and economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs). Some of the topics will be familiar to information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) activists: the right to health, education and culture; the socioec
...
onomic empowerment of women using the internet; the inclusion of rural and indigenous communities in the information society; and the use of ICT to combat the marginalisation of local languages. Others deal with relatively new areas of exploration, such as using 3D printing technology to preserve cultural heritage, creating participatory community networks to capture an “inventory of things” that enables socioeconomic rights, crowdfunding rights, or the negative impact of algorithms on calculating social benefits. Workers’ rights receive some attention, as does the use of the internet during natural disasters. Ten thematic reports frame the country reports. These deal both with overarching concerns when it comes to ESCRs and the internet – such as institutional frameworks and policy considerations – as well as more specific issues that impact on our rights: the legal justification for online education resources, the plight of migrant domestic workers, the use of digital databases to protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy, digital archiving, and the impact of multilateral trade deals on the international human rights framework. The reports highlight the institutional and country-level possibilities and challenges that civil society faces in using the internet to enable ESCRs. They also suggest that in a number of instances, individuals, groups and communities are using the internet to enact their socioeconomic and cultural rights in the face of disinterest, inaction or censure by the state." (Back cover)
more
"The exponential diffusion of mobile phones in Africa and their ability to interact with other media have created new avenues for individuals to interface with power. These forms of engagement, however, have primarily been interpreted through the lenses of the ‘liberation technology’ agenda, whi
...
ch privileges the relationship between citizens and the state, neglecting the variety of actors and networks that intervene in shaping governance processes, alongside or in competition with the state. Through an ethnography of two local radio stations in Kenya, this article offers a more realistic picture of mobile–radio interactions and their repercussions on governance. The findings illustrate that (1) while these interactive spaces are open to all listeners with access to a phone, they are in practice inhabited by small cohorts of recurrent characters often connected to existing power structures; (2) even in places where basic services are offered by actors other than the state, including non-governmental organizations and criminal networks, the state continues to represent the imagined figure to which listeners address most of their demands; (3) in contrast to the expectations that authorities will act on claims and grievances made public through the media, other factors, including ethnicity, intervene in facilitating or preventing action." (Abstract)
more