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The Sustainability Imperative in Media Development: A Critical Analysis of a Self-Serving Myth

Michel Leroy

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2025), xxiv, 396 pp.

"This book critically examines how the media assistance and broader "development" sectors have appropriated the catch-all concept of sustainability, originally rooted in economic and environmental fields, to suit their agendas. Analysing 289 project evaluations conducted globally between 1999 and 20 ... more

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Examining Perceptions of ‘peacebuildings’ in Radiophonic Debates: A Narrative Analysis of Media Talk in the Central African Republic

Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos

Journal of Radio & Audio Media (2025), 20 pp.

"Within [the radio debate programme) Patara, there was no explicit intention to reach a final conclusion on any given issue. The overall aim of the Ndeke Luka’s debate was to display arguments from different angles about certain specific matters without necessarily having to reach unanimous agreem ... more

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Unpacking the African media typology: Perspectives from journalists in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda

Meghan Sobel Cohen

International Communication Gazette (2025), ?? pp.

"The uniqueness of journalism cultures across African nations often highlights the inapplicability of normative, Western-centric theories. The newly proposed African media typology suggests that media systems in Africa would be best understood by thinking about them within the context of the type of ... more

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Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025
Top Insights

Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Craig T. Robertson, Amy Ross Arguedas, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2025), 170 pp.

"• Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows. This is particularly the case in the United States where polling overlapped with the first few weeks of the new Trum ... p administration. Social media news use was sharply up (+6pp) but there was no ‘Trump bump’ for traditional sources. • Personalities and influencers are, in some countries, playing a significant role in shaping public debates. One-fifth (22%) of our United States sample says they came across news or commentary from popular podcaster Joe Rogan in the week after the inauguration, including a disproportionate number of young men. In France, young news creator Hugo Travers (HugoDécrypte) reaches 22% of under-35s with content distributed mainly via YouTube and TikTok. Young influencers also play a significant role in many Asian countries, including Thailand. • News use across online platforms continues to fragment, with six online networks now reaching more than 10% weekly with news content, compared with just two a decade ago. Around a third of our global sample use Facebook (36%) and YouTube (30%) for news each week. Instagram (19%) and WhatsApp (19%) are used by around a fifth, while TikTok (16%) remains ahead of X at 12%. • Data show that usage of X for news is stable or increasing across many markets, with the biggest uplift in the United States (+8pp), Australia (+6pp), and Poland (+6pp). Since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022 many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently. Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon are making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news. • Changing platform strategies mean that video continues to grow in importance as a source of news. Across all markets the proportion consuming social video has grown from 52% in 2020 to 65% in 2025 and any video from 67% to 75%. In the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and India more people now say they prefer to watch the news rather than read it, further encouraging the shift to personality-led news creators. • Our survey also shows the importance of news podcasting in reaching younger, better-educated audiences. The United States has among the highest proportion (15%) accessing one or more podcasts in the last week, with many of these now filmed and distributed via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. By contrast, many northern European podcast markets remain dominated by public broadcasters or big legacy media companies and have been slower to adopt video versions. • TikTok is the fastest growing social and video network, adding a further 4pp across markets for news and reaching 49% of our online sample in Thailand (+10pp) and 40% in Malaysia (+9pp). But at the same time people in those markets see the network as one of the biggest threats when it comes to false or misleading information, along with Facebook. • Overall, over half our sample (58%) say they remain concerned about their ability to tell what is true from what is false when it comes to news online, a similar proportion to last year. Concern is highest in Africa (73%) and the United States (73%), with lowest levels in Western Europe (46%). • When it comes to underlying sources of false or misleading information, online influencers and personalities are seen as the biggest threat worldwide (47%), along with national politicians (47%). Concern about influencers is highest in African countries such as Nigeria (58%) and Kenya (59%), while politicians are considered the biggest threat in the United States (57%), Spain (57%), and much of Eastern Europe." (Executive summary, page 10-11) more

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Communication Rights in Africa: Emerging Discourses and Perspectives

Tendai Chari, Ufuoma Akpojivi (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xxiii, 257 pp.

"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 ... more

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De Gruyter Handbook of Media Economics

Ulrike Rohn, M. Bjørn von Rimscha, Tim Raats (eds.)

Berlin: De Gruyter (2024), xix, 566 pp.

"The handbook presents key contributions from scholars worldwide, providing a comprehensive exploration of current trends in media industries from diverse perspectives. Within the framework of understanding contemporary and future trajectories in media markets and industries, the volume delves into ... more

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Reading Justice Claims on Social Media: Perspectives from the Global South

Phillip Santos, Cleophas T. Muneri (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xxi, 326 pp.

"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 ... more

Examining the Safety of Journalists in Benue State, Nigeria

Paul Aondover Igbashangev, Oliver Ayangeaor, Ahangba Andrew Akpam

[author] (2024), 16 pp.

"Journalists play a crucial role in disseminating information and ensuring transparency in society. However, in many regions around the world, journalists face significant risks and threats to their safety, hindering their ability to fulfill their professional duties effectively. This article focuse ... more

Exploring the Impact of Information Disorder on Crises in the Lake Chad Region: Unveiling the Shift from Arms to Information Warfare

Silas Jonathan

Abuja: Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) (2024), 7 pp.

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Gendered Threats and Attacks in and outside the Newsroom: Nigerian Female Journalists' Experiences with Harassment

Moyosore Omowonuola Alade

In: Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma; Trust Matsilele; Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga; Sadia Jamil (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), pp. 67-87

"This chapter explores Nigerian female journalists’ lived experiences with harassment in and outside the newsroom. Using a qualitative approach, 12 in-depth interviews were conducted with female journalists in broadcast media houses in Nigeria, and themes that emerged from the data obtained via in ... more

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Disability and Media: An African Perspective

Tafadzwa Rugoho (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xvii, 269 pp.

"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 ... more

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Authoritarian Journalism: Controlling the News in Post-Conflict Rwanda

Ruth Moon

Oxford: Oxford University Press (2024), viii, 210 pp.

"This book examines journalism practice in Rwanda to draw conclusions applicable to journalism fields everywhere. Drawing on seven months of fieldwork, the book argues that this field of journalism is weak in part because of powerful but murky political boundaries but also because journalists themse ... more

Sexual Harassment in the Nigerian Media Environment

Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye

In: Sexual Harassment and the Law in Africa

Furaha-Joy Sekai Saungweme; Carol Chi Ngang; Graham Towl (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), 19 pp.

"The media industry of Nigeria has been significantly impacted by sexual harassment and it has had a very negative effect on women media workers. One major issue which I will articulate in my chapter is the absence of an overarching media policy framework addressing sexual harassment with clear pena ... more

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Media Capture and Perspectives for Media Development in a Fragile Media System: Debating Journalistic Roles in Guinea-Bissau

Johanna Mack

Central European Journal of Communication, volume 2, issue 36 (2024), pp. 204-222

"Guinea-Bissau's media have negotiated their roles and freedoms within the postcolonial national construct since its official independence from Portugal in 1974. While the current media landscape is relatively pluralistic, journalists experience constraints from various sides: political pressures, u ... more

Remembering Mass Atrocities: Perspectives on Memory Struggles and Cultural Representations in Africa

Mphathisi Ndlovu, Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Shepherd Mpofu (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xvii, 303 pp.

"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 ... more

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La télévision au Cameroun : Regards croisés sur les pratiques et les usages dans un système sociotechnique

Christian Abolo Mbita

Paris: L'Harmattan (2024), 453 pp.

"Après environ quarante ans d'existence au Cameroun, la télévision est l'objet d'un ouvrage qui la présente en faisant émerger les interrogations qu'elle suscite sur ses représentations politique, juridique, économique, culturelle et esthétique. Elle a pris une importance substantielle dans ... more

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Media in Africa: Issues and Critiques

Toks Oyedemi, René A. Smith (eds.)

New York; London: Routledge (2024), 232 pp.

"Featuring contributions from global scholars, that represent both new and established voices on the African continent and the diaspora, this volume explores themes of decolonization, media freedom, media censorship, identity, representation, pluralism, media framing, political economy of the media ... more

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Social Media, Youth, and the Global South: Comparative Perspectives

Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2024), xix, 292 pp.

This book illuminates the complex relationship between social media, identity, and youth in the Global South. By examining the profound impact on the psychosocial well-being and economic prospects of young people across diverse regions, the collection present empirical evidence from scholars spannin ... more

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Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism

Lungile Augustine Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Mbongeni Jonny Msimanga, Sadia Jamil (eds.)

New York: Routledge (2024), xvii, 251 pp.

"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 ... more