This article examines the discourse surrounding Kibera, a highly populated low-income community in Nairobi, Kenya. Based on 11 months of fieldwork and interviews with 56 Kibera residents, this article discusses the disconnect between the lives experienced by residents and the hyperbolic and essentialised discourse that depicts Kibera as a community defined by sickness, crime and despair. While residents do not deny many of the hardships that are central to the Kibera discourse, they articulate maisha mtaani [life in the neighbourhood] as complex, diverse and contextual. Sadly, several groups that claim to serve the good of Kibera are partially responsible for perpetuating this harmful discourse. In fact, some NGOs, journalists and residents benefit from reproducing a discourse that actively marginalises Kibera and its people.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAngela DalyAngela Daly is a research fellow at Swinburne Institute for Social Research in Australia. She is also a PhD candidate at the European University Institute in Italy.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsYlva Rodny-GumedeYlva Rodny-Gumede is head of the Department of Journalism, Film and Television at the University of Johannesburg.
This article advances the discussion on the effect of mediated communication in cultural appreciation and integration, by examining one of the most important factors in news and how it impacts on media representation. Specifically, it interrogates the representation of Nigeria in the UK news media, to gauge the perception of global news media towards the strides made by African nations in adopting a democratic and more open and accountable form of governance. It identifies the role of sources, expert opinions and travel guides in representation, arguing that to appropriately understand the representation of Africa, a critical account must be taken of the nature and characteristics of sources accessed by international news media. It considers the wider social and economic implications of media-sources relations, and gives insight into the extent to which mediated communication can contribute to cultural understanding and global development.
Though Barack Obama was the first African American presidential nominee for a major party in the history of the US presidential election, his multiracial identity put him under intense scrutiny during the 2008 election - more than any other previous black aspirants for the White House. Using quantitative content analysis of election stories in the newspapers of four countries (New York Times - US; Times - Britain; China Daily - China and Daily Nation - Kenya), this comparative study examines the prevalence of four racial frames associated with Obama's multilayered racial identity: 'African American', 'black', 'Kenyan roots' and 'white roots'. In addition, the study investigates the four newspapers' valence coverage of the four racial frames in relation to Obama's candidacy. The findings indicate that 'Kenyan roots' was the racial frame which occurred most frequently, followed by the 'black' frame. Overall, Obama received more positive coverage than negative across the racial frames depicted in the four newspapers.
Inconclusive findings regarding South African young adults' interest in (television) news prompted this article's exploration of viewership trends (2006-2012). The focus is on the viewership of newscasts produced by the SABC and e.tv. Specific attention is paid to young adult viewers, who are then compared with older adults. It appears that in South Africa, newscast viewership has been declining across age categories. From a socialisation theory perspective, youth subsists in a cultural/social environment where news consumption is waning; hence youths' declining news consumption levels. The decline is sharper in the younger generation. Although viewership decline is universal, there is an increase in viewership of newscasts that incorporate elements of tabloid journalism and are trusted. Overall, viewership decline reflects Western trends and can be associated with citizens' withdrawal from the political public sphere.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsEverette NdlovuDr Everette Ndlovu is a lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications at Salford University, Manchester. He teaches alternative media, media texts and audiences and new media digital culture. Before joining the university, he worked as a television producer/director at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) for ten years. His interest is in the emancipatory role of digital technologies in restricted political environments.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsPaul ManningPaul Manning is a reader in Media Sociology in the School of Media and Film, University of Winchester.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsMegan Knight Megan Knight is senior lecturer in international journalism at the University of Central Lancashire. She is the co-author (with Clare Cook) of Social media for journalists: Principles and practice. London: Sage, 2013.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsLast Moyo Last Moyo is an independent media studies scholar, researcher and consultant. He previously lectured in and headed the media studies programmes at the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa), the UPeace Programme (East Asia) and NUST (Zimbabwe). His research interests are in digital media, critical political economy, comparative media systems and development communication.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAnthea Garman Anthea Garman is associate professor in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. She co-directs (with Prof Herman Wasserman) the research project into Media and Citizenship and edits the Rhodes Journalism Review.
"Echoes of colonial discourse in journalism." Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies, 35(1), pp. 1–2
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsToussaint Nothias Toussaint Nothias is a PhD student and teaching assistant at the Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds. His research interests intersect journalism, cultural and postcolonial studies. His PhD looks at French and British press coverage of African news through a critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles, news agencies wires, and interviews with journalists and editors.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsHerman WassermanHerman Wasserman is professor of Media Studies at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and editor of Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAyo OyeleyeDr Ayo Oyeleye is a senior lecturer in Media Studies and Director of the Media Postgraduate Awards Suite at the Birmingham School of Media, Birmingham City University. His current teaching and research interests are in the areas of communication for social justice, global and social justice journalism, critical pedagogy, and communication for social change and for sustainable development.
(2014). The variety of platforms and practices in African journalism. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies: Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 1-3.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsNeil Stevenson Neil Stevenson is a PhD candidate at the University of Westminster. His thesis looks at the production of political talk television across the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. His research interests include public service broadcasting, the production of news, communications policy, political communication and political theory.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAnne TaylorAnne Taylor is a senior lecturer in Journalism at Falmouth University, Cornwall, UK.
Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsTanja BoschDr Tanja Bosch is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape Town, where she teaches radio studies, new media and qualitative research.
