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South African Media and Politics: Is the Three Models Approach Still Valid After Two Decades?

Bernardine Jones, Adrian Hadland

Media and Communication, volume 12, issue 7723 (2024), 12 pp.

"When Hallin and Mancini (2004) produced their watershed three models theory, South Africa was a new democracy barely a decade old. Even then, along with other countries of the Global South, the experience of a young democracy posed certain critical challenges to Hallin and Mancini's understanding o ... more

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Mapping a Surge of Disinformation in Africa

Washington, DC: Africa Center for Strategic Studies (2024)

"Disinformation campaigns have targeted every region of the continent. At least 39 African countries have been the target of a specific disinformation campaign. Disinformation tends to be concentrated. Half of the countries subjected to disinformation (20 of the 39) have been targeted three or more ... times, up from just seven countries meeting that threshold in 2022. African countries experiencing conflict are subject to much greater levels of disinformation—facing a median of 5 campaigns– highlighting the connection between instability and disinformation. Countries confronting disinformation typically face multiple disinformation actors. At times, these actors amplify one another’s misleading narratives, while at others, they clash or stay in separate lanes. Nearly 60 percent of disinformation campaigns on the continent are foreign state-sponsored—with Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Qatar as the primary sponsors. Russia continues to be the primary purveyor of disinformation in Africa, sponsoring 80 documented campaigns, targeting more than 22 countries. This represents nearly 40 percent of all disinformation campaigns in Africa. These 80 campaigns have reached many millions of users through tens of thousands of coordinated fake pages and posts. Aggressively leveraging disinformation is a mainstay of Russia’s use of irregular channels to gain influence in Africa. Russia has promulgated disinformation to undermine democracy in at least 19 African countries, contributingto the continent’s backsliding on this front. African elections provide prime opportunities for disinformation. Some employ mercenary disinfo-ops teams. One private Israeli group, dubbed “Team Jorge,” has reportedly implemented disinformation campaigns to disrupt over 20 African elections since 2015. Domestic actors have also increasingly integrated disinformation into their political playbooks, notably during Kenya’s 2022 and Nigeria’s 2023 election. African countries that uphold presidential term limits (i.e., those with stronger checks and balances) are less exposed to foreign sponsored disinformation, with an average of 1.5 campaigns compared to an average of over 3 campaigns for countries without term limits. This underscores the common aim of foreign disinformation to prop up authoritarian actors." (Highlights) more

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‘Journalism in another form’: How exile experiences from Burundi renegotiate key elements of journalism

Louisa Esther, Richard H. Thomas

Media, War & Conflict, volume 18, issue 2 (2024), pp. 273-294

"Since the renewed outbreak of the ongoing crisis in Burundi in May 2015, triggering a media crackdown, over one-third of the country’s reporters have gone into exile. They therefore joined an increasing number of journalists worldwide who are forced into exile. Between 2015 and 2021, many of the ... more

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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.

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The vexed question of Ethiopian identity-driven politics and the discourse of political communication in the digital media sphere

Dessalegn Yeshambel Wassie, Mulatu Alemayehu Moges, Biset Ayalew Nigatu

Cogent Arts & Humanities, volume 11, issue 1, 2308727 (2024), 18 pp.

"This study aims to examine the interplay between political communication and discursive practices in the emerging new media landscape after the recent political reform in Ethiopia. The study employs interpretative textual analysis in qualitative research approach to analyze political communication ... more

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Internet Shutdowns, Sovereignty, and the Postcolonial State in Africa

Nicole Stremlau

Global Policy (2024), 8 pp.

"Despite strong international condemnation, there is growing acceptance of internet shutdowns as a legitimate response to online content that governments—particularly in Africa—find concerning. This article explores government decision- making around internet shutdowns during contentious periods ... more

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Image-centrism in Africa’s political communication: A social semiotic analysis of self-presentation practices by women political candidates in Kenya’s social media space

Nancy Gakahu

Information, Communication & Society, volume 27, issue 8 (2024), pp. 1687-1711

"This study explores self-visual presentation practices by female political candidates on Facebook during Kenya’s political campaigns that culminated in the national elections of 2022. The unit of analysis is the Facebook profile image of the women leaders. Image-centrism is operationalized as the ... more

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Genre, journalisme et pouvir: Rôle des femmes journalistes dans les salles de rédaction d'Afrique francophone

Catherine Gicheru, Khady Sakho (eds.)

Africa Women Journalism Project (AWJP);International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) (2024), 66 pp.

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The Limits of Governmentality: Call-in Radio and the Subversion of Neoliberal Evangelism in Zambia

Alastair Fraser

Jounal of African Cultural Studies, volume 36, issue 1 (2024), pp. 41-57

"The spread of mobile telephones in Africa has enabled a broad range of citizens to join live conversations on call-in radio shows. Both African governments and foreign aid agencies claim that broadcasting such debates can raise awareness, amplify the voices of the poor, and facilitate development a ... more

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Zambia’s Support for the African National Congress’s Radio Freedom in Lusaka, 1967–1992

Peter Sekibakiba Lekgoathi, Thomas Kasonde Mukonde Mukonde

Journal of African Cultural Studies, volume 36, issue 1 (2024), pp. 24-40

"This article explores the contribution Zambia made to the liberation struggle in South Africa by hosting the ANC’s Radio Freedom in Lusaka. It relies on a combination of archival evidence (audio and documentary sources) from both countries, and interviews conducted with the broadcasters and other ... more

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Global Perspectives on Press Regulation. Volume 2: Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania

András Koltay, Paul Wragg

London: Hart Publishing (2024), 368 pp.

"In this ground-breaking two-volume set, world-leading experts produce a rich, authoritative depiction of the world's press, its freedom, and its limits. We want press freedom but we also want freedom from the press. A powerful press may expose corrupt government or aid it. It may champion citizens ... more

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Forte FM’s Programming Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Alice, South Africa

Oluyinka Osunkunle

Communicatio (2024), 19 pp.

"The advent of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019 brought great fear of the unknown to the whole world. It therefore became very important for people and nations around the world to get the needed information on how to cope with the novel virus. Community radio broadcasting was at t ... more

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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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Low-connectivity Educational Technology: A Case Study of Supporting Learning during Covid-19 via SMS with ‘Keep Kenya Learning’

Katy Jordan, Albina Mumbi, Phoebe Khagame, Lydia Njuguna

Journal of Learning for Development, volume 11, issue 3 (2024), pp. 553-562

"The use of Short Messaging Service (SMS) for education has grown in recent years, drawing particular attention to supporting school-level learners, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This renewed interest has prompted questions about how this form of educational technology could be used in the longer te ... more

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Vaccination Communication Strategies and Uptake in Africa: A Systematic Review

Winfred Ekezie, Beauty Igein, Jomon Varughese, Ayesha Butt, Blessing Onyinye Ukoha-Kalu, Ifunanya Ikhile, Genevieve Bosah

Vaccines, volume 12, issue 1333 (2024), 31 pp.

"African countries experience high rates of infectious diseases that are mostly preventable by vaccination. Despite the risks of infections and other adverse outcomes, vaccination coverage in the African region remains significantly low. Poor vaccination knowledge is a contributory factor, and effec ... more

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African Media Portrayals of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi

Brooke Chambers, J. Siguru Wahutu

International Journal of Communication, volume 18 (2024), pp. 2436-2455

"Much has been written about the media coverage of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. However, with few exceptions, much of this work has often focused on how the journalism fields from the global North framed the genocide, with little work on how African fields covered it. This article eschews th ... more

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Veiled transparency: Access to public information remains elusive despite progress on right-to-information laws

Anne Okello, Sophie Sunderland, Joseph Asunka

Afrobarometer (2024), 17 pp.

"Across 39 countries surveyed in 2021/2023, a majority of Africans express support for public access to information such as local government budgets, local government bids and contracts, and even the salaries of public officials and teachers. But although demand for public information is high, few c ... more