commbox South Africa

Celebrity Humanitarianism and North-South Relations: Politics, Place and Power

Lisa Ann Richey (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2016), xv, 239 pp.

"This book examines what the diverse roster of celebrity humanitarians are actually doing in and across North and South contexts. Celebrity humanitarianism is an effective lens for viewing the multiple and diverse relationships that constitute the links between North and South. New empirical finding ... more

Participatory Politics and Citizen Journalism in a Networked Africa: A Connected Continent
Top Insights

Bruce Mutsvairo (ed.)

London: Palgrave Macmillan (2016), 308 pp.

"This book investigates the role of citizen journalism in railroading social and political changes in sub-Saharan Africa. Case studies are drawn from research conducted by leading scholars from the fields of media studies, journalism, anthropology and history, who uniquely probe the real impact of t ... more

External Link (10)

WorldCat (8)

Critical Perspectives on Applied Theatre

Jenny Hughes, Helen Nicholson (eds.)

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2016), xiv, 278 pp.

"This collection offers fresh perspectives on the aesthetics, politics and histories of applied theatre. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, the book illuminates theatre in a diverse range of global contexts and regions. Divided into three sections - histories and cultural memorie ... more

External Link (10)

Google Scholar (9)

WorldCat (9)

Digital Activism in the Social Media Era: Critical Reflections on Emerging Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bruce Mutsvairo (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2016), xv, 341 pp.

"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 ... more

Google Scholar (10)

Listening to the ‘Born Frees’: Politics and Disillusionment in South Africa

Vanessa Malila, Anthea Garman

African Journalism Studies, volume 37, issue 1 (2016), pp. 64-80

"This article presents work done with youngsters from South Africa's poorest province, the Eastern Cape, in an effort to listen to their experience of politics and to understand their use of the media – especially whether it enables them to speak out and be heard in the public sphere. Our research ... more

Journalists in South Africa

Arnold S. De Beer, Sean Beckett, Vanessa Malila, Herman Wasserman

Worlds of Journalism Study (2016), 6 pp.

"With regard to professional role orientations, South African journalists found it most important to report things as they are (92.5%), to educate the audience (86.8%), and to let people express their views (84.6%). The relevance of these roles was fairly undisputed among the interviewed journalists ... more

External Link (12)

Binary Opposites – Can South African Journalists be Both Watchdogs and Developmental Journalists?

Arnold S. De Beer, Vanessa Malila, Sean Beckett, Herman Wasserman

Journal of African Media Studies, volume 8, issue 1 (2016), pp. 35-53

"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 ... more

Google Scholar (9)

WorldCat (8)

Social Inequalities, Media, and Communication: Theory and Roots

Jan Servaes, Toks Oyedemi (eds.)

Lanham et al.: Lexington Books (2016), xxxix, 272 pp.

External Link (10)

WorldCat (9)

Who Owns the World's Media? Media Concentration and Ownership Around the World
Top Insights

Eli M. Noam (ed.)

Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press (2016), xix, 1412 pp.

"Media concentration has been an issue around the world. To some observers the power of large corporations has never been higher. To others, the Internet has brought openness and diversity. What perspective is correct? The answer has significant implications for politics, business, culture, regulati ... more

Civil Society, Political Activism and Communications in Democratisation Conflicts: A Literature Review

Rebecca Pointer, Tanja Bosch, Wallace Chuma, Herman Wasserman

Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) (2016), 35 pp.

"Given that the nature of civil society in different countries is different, and also often shifting in response to political changes, examining the relationship between civil society and media production (mainstream and alternative) in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa involves being sensitive ... more

Public Service Media Initiatives in the Global South

Anis Rahman, Gregory Ferrell Lowe (eds.)

Burnaby: Simon Fraser University Library (2016), xiii, 131 pp.

"While acknowledging the significant contributions of the public service broadcasting heritage in the Global North in efforts to establish such provision in the Global South, the contributors explain why simple imitation is unlikely to ever work well enough across such a diverse range of countries a ... more

South African Nonprofits and Social Media Survey 2015-2016

Ruendree Govinder

Nonprofit Network (2016), 20 pp.

"The survey shows that the vast majority of South African nonprofit organisations are seeing positive benefits through using social media. This is despite the fact that more than 80% of NPOs do not allocate a budget for social media, close to 50% said that staff lacked the expertise to manage social ... more

Hate Speech: Key Concept Paper

Charlotte Elliott, Wallace Chuma, Yosra El Gendi, Davor Marko, Alisha Patel

Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) (2016), 35 pp.

"Instead of seeking to provide an objective definition of hate speech, the paper’s empirical approach highlights that context matters. More specifically, analysis of the political and socio-economic context in which the speech act occurs and consideration of the nature of the speaker and audience ... more

Freedom on the Net 2016. Silencing the Messenger: Communication Apps Under Pressure
Top Insights

Sanja Kelly, Mai Truong, Adrian Shahbaz, Madeline Earp (eds.)

Washington, DC; New York: Freedom House (2016), 1021 pp.

"Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during antigovernment protests. Public-facing social media platforms like Fac ... more

Google Scholar (9)

WorldCat (8)

Health Communication in the Changing Media Landscape: Perspectives from Developing Countries
Top Insights

Ravindra Kumar Vemula, SubbaRao M. Gavaravarapu (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2016), xxv, 238 pp.

"This book advances new understandings of how technologies have been harnessed to improve the health of populations; whether the technologies really empower those who use information by providing them with a choice of information; how they shape health policy discourses; how the health information r ... more

Global Information Society Watch 2016: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Internet

Association for Progressive Communications (APC);International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2016), 269 pp.

"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 ... more

Comparative Analysis of Civil Society, Media and Conflict

Rebecca Pointer, Tanja Bosch, Wallace Chuma, Herman Wasserman

Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) (2016), 52 pp.

"This paper explores how Egyptian, Kenyan, Serbian and South African civil society organisations (CSOs) use communication and relationships with media to engage in democratic contestation. Individual interviews were conducted with 91 CSO members who participated in the various democratisation confli ... more

Journalistic Practices, Role Perceptions and Ethics in Democratisation Conflicts: Empirical Findings from Interviews with Journalists in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa

Judith Lohner, Sandra Banjac, Irene Neverla

Media, Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) (2016), 82 pp.

"This report provides an overview of core comparative findings from MeCoDEM interviews with journalists in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa. It investigates the role of journalistic actors in transitional societies across a set of comparable democratisation conflicts and themes of inquiry: jour ... more