commbox West Africa

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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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

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The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South

Bruce Mutsvairo, Saba Bebawi, Eddy Borges-Rey (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xxiv, 491 pp.

"Responding to mounting calls to decenter and decolonize journalism, The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South examines not only the deep-seated challenges associated with the historical imposition of Western journalism standards on constituencies of the Global South but also the opp ... more

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Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Ghana

Reyn Anderson, Yaroslav Eferin, Kate Gromova, Vlad Manoil, Victor Teppeh

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project, external version (2024), 149 pp.

"Ghana is among Sub-Saharan Africa’s leaders in digital transformation. Over the past decade, the government has put the key institutions, legislative frameworks, strategies, and policies in place that are necessary to drive change. The Ministry of Communications and Digitalization leads and coord ... inates development and implementation of a core set of policies and strategies that are digitally transforming the government, economy, and society. The ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) Policy has guided this journey for more than a decade. A new Digital Economy Policy is drafted and under review to drive the next stage of Ghana’s digital development. The National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy and the National Cyber Security Policy and Strategy have also been key. Ghana adopted an inclusive approach to developing its cybersecurity strategy, which contributed to improved cybersecurity capacity and considered citizens’ online safety and freedoms. However, a clear strategy for protecting critical national infrastructure is missing. Ghana has been a pioneer and champion of digital government transformation in West Africa over the past decade, with funding and support from the World Bank. Important whole-of-government platforms and services have been put in place, including the Government Wide Area Network (GWAN), which provides internet connection to more than 1,000 district assemblies, hospitals, police stations, and post offices across the country; a National Data Center; the Smart workplace suite, which includes email and productivity tools for government employees; and Ghana.gov portal, a one-stop-shop for citizen services. Still, digital government transformation is incomplete. Easy, efficient, online government services are in demand, but the Ghana.gov portal options are limited, and most major government service providers have their own separate online services portals. The national identity Ghana Card could enhance digital service delivery by providing a universally recognized, secure, and easy-to-use means of digital identification and authentication for citizens when accessing both public and private digital services, but the current identification system is not integrated with other government-operated databases, significantly reducing its many potential applications. The Regional Coordinating Councils, and metropolitan, municipal, and district assemblies (MMDAs) are just now embarking on the digital transformation journey. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development coordinates their efforts. Challenges for Ghana’s remaining efforts at digital government transformation include adequate funding to manage and maintain its connectivity and data center infrastructure, affordable internet for regional governments, inadequate digital literacy and skills among mid-level and regional staff, or related national training programs. A big skill gap exists in cybersecurity; Ghana faces a deficit of skilled cybersecurity professionals. The government also needs to improve efforts at stakeholder engagement and awareness-raising when developing new policy proposals." (Executive summary, pages 11-12) more

Mass Communication in Africa: Conventions, Issues and New Paradigms. A Festschrift in Honour of Augustine Ufua Enahoro

Taye C. Obateru, Godfrey Naanlang Danaan, Daniel Cirman (eds.)

Augustine Ufua Enahoro (honoured person)

Jos, Plateu State (NI): University of Jos, Department of Mass Communication;Fab Anieh Nigeria Limited (2024), vii, 317 pp.

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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

“When One Finger Picks Oil, It Reaches Others”: An Examination of Nigerian Journalists’ Perspective on Motivations for Online Harassment

Temple Uwalaka, A. Fred Amadi

African Journalism Studies, volume 44, issue 4 (2024), pp. 289-309

"Online harassment of journalists is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon. Many attempts have been made to investigate the prevalence of the phenomenon. Unfortunately, findings prove that online harassment of journalists is indeed on the rise. What is lacking, so far, in the literature is an in ... more

Press freedom and safety of journalists in Ghana 2024: An assessment based on the African Media Barometer

Gabriel Baglo

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2024), 26 pp.

Trends in political communication on air: Implications for democratic consolidation in Ghana

Samuel Pimpong

Cogent Arts & Humanities, volume 11, issue 1 24338505 (2024), 14 pp.

"The role of media in democratic governance is pivotal, yet its impact on democratic consolidation remains debated. This study investigates the relationship between radio activism and democratic consolidation in Ghana, focusing on the influence of political news production and communication strategi ... more

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Commemorative Newsletter of the ACHPR Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa

Hlengiwe Dube (ed.)

Windhoek: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2024), 66 pp.

RSF and 547 Community radios call for the protection and support of community radio stations in the Sahel

Paris: Reporters Sans Frontières (2024), 34 pp.

"We, the signatories of the appeal for the protection and support of community radio stations in the Sahel [...] call on the political authorities of the Sahel countries to combat impunity for crimes committed against community radio journalists by systematically opening investigations to ensure tha ... more

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China’s image-building in Africa: The intersection of the media and economic development investment in Mali

Thomas Ameyaw-Brobbey

International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, volume 19, issue 2-3 (2024), pp. 137-160

"Since the 2000s, China has deepened public relations in its engagement with Africa primarily through economic investment and assistance. The present work looks at China’s African public relations and the mechanism that shapes public perception of China, focusing on Mali. Mali is not a major desti ... 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

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Mapping Lies in the Global Media Sphere

Tirse Erbaysal Filibeli, Melis Öneren Özbek (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), 224 pp.

"This volume addresses the concept of “(in)nocent lies” in the media – beyond the concept of misleading information online, this extends to a deliberate effort to spread misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories – and proposes a critical approach to tackle the issue in related i ... more

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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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Technologies socionumériques en Côte d'Ivoire : Formes d'engagement politique et médiatique

Tahirou Koné

Paris: L'Harmattan (2024), 166 pp.

"L'irruption du numérique et de l'Internet mobile a accéléré la transformation digitale de la société ivoirienne. Et, de plus en plus, des formes d'engagement politique et médiatique s'organisent avec l'utilisation des technologies socionumériques. Face à ces changements, la Côte d'Ivoire ... 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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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

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Environmental Communication

Anabela Carvalho, Tarla Rai Peterson (eds.)

Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton (2024), xx, 600 pp.

"This handbook reviews extant research and offers critical summaries of key topics and issues in the field, enriched by authoritative analyses of specific cases and examples. It displays pluralism across a number of axes: epistemological, theoretical, geographical, cultural, and thematic. The first ... more

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