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- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Development institutions have in recent years realised the importance of indigenous culture as an important vehicle for communication. This has led to the creation of programmes in which local cultural forms have been "recruited" as the communication process for "selling" development strategies. The paper draws upon the author's experiences of theatre for primary health mobilisation and awareness in rural Malawi. The advantage of performing arts as a medium for development communication are that: 1) they provide a more entertaining form than monologous media, 2) they can easily use local languages and cultural forms such as songs and dances, 3) they encourage participation and debate in the audiences. The main disadvantage is that such intrumental use of the performing arts can lead to a cornmodification of culture which is manifested in: 1) the professionalisation of cultural workers in a context which is not normally commercial, 2) the reification and triviliation of community culture through the use of traditional external forms to convey messages totally at variance with their original context. Such cultural engineering, at its most insensitive can constitute a form of developmental imperialism which erodes rather than supports the cultural cement binding local communities. Suggested solutions demand agents' wide-ranging consultations, not only with development minded stake-holders, but also with those who possess cultural skills and interests.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper discusses the kind of mass communication research that is required in Africa. After a thorough review of the controversy between the adherents of the (American) administrative and (European) critical research schools, the author argues that as far as African mass communication research is concerned, the problem is not only that of conceptualization but also that of social research process and administration. The paper registers a general dissatisfaction with African social research based on foreign theoretical and methodological assumptions. It ends with a call for 'back to our roots', having outlined four major research agenda for African mass communication researchers.
- Date Issued:
- 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article sketches a broad overview of the problems and prospects of Africa communication. Beginning with Africa's economic handicaps which limit its potential to fully exploit the new array of modern communication technologies, it argues that it is class politics which excludes the mass of the African people from communication channels that constitutes the major impediment to communication in Africa. The remedy to this problem is, therefore, to be found in a communication strategy that accords due respect to African cultural traditions in which respect for truth, equality, social justice and the supernatural are the cardinal principles.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This is an incisive scientific evaluation of the existing curricula in journalism and communication training institutions in East Africa. The study pays close attention to most of the crucial elements of a good curricula, including the aims and objectives of the courses, the teaching methods adopted, the assessment methods of the courses and the flexibility of the courses to accomodate community, national, regional, continental and international needs. The aims of the study were five-fold: To provide emphirical evidence on the orientations, objectives and scope of the existing curricula in journalism and communication training in East Africa; to suggest variousways of re-modelling the curricula; to access the quality of training offered to journalists so as to find out if they are being adequately funded and teachers well remunerated and; to generate fresh data on journalism and communication training in the region which can be used by policy makers and implementors in shaping future training needs. Field survey research design was used to collect data from stations, newspapers, training institutions and governmental departments. A total of 19, 21 and 22 respondents from Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya respectively were interviewed. The study raises concern over two pertinent issues: the fact that the training institutions have less teaching staff and that the curricula used are relatively old with the newest having been drawn in 1994. The author suggests that there ought to be regular review of the curricula to make them responsive to the ever-changing media demands. Three track approach to the review of the curricula are recommended. They invite Unesco and other stakeholders to commission further studies aimed at a comprehensive improvement of the curricula so that the beneficiaries may be able to face the various complex communication challenges facing their communities and countries; the region, continent and the world.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article is a response to the quest for more relevant strategies for communication training in Africa. It reviews the liberal social theories upon which Third World studies have been anchored and rejects them for having led to the current crisis of theory in communication training. Opting for a Marxian political economy approach, it suggests, inter alia, the study of imperialism in all its manifestations as a way of understanding the current reality in Africa; the need to relate theory and practice (through field work) in communication training; and the incorporation of sufficient social science theories and applications thereof into communication syllabi of African training institutions.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper seeks to propagate the idea that Islam is a communicative religion. Allah is communicative God Who takes keen interest in the affairs of His creatures. Interpersonal communication, human interaction and societal relationships in Islam are two way processes of sharing ideas and concerns in open and free environments of love and dedication. The paper is a discussion on how Islam deals with every element of the communication process. The paper concludes that society has a duty to work for, preserve and enhance the unity, strength, integrity, tranquillity and development of society through interpersonal communication, human interaction and social relationships.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Conflicts have always been part of human society and mechanisms to resolve them have often tended to reflect the level of political organisation in a particular society. The traditional African society is rife with varied approaches to conflict management. Uganda, for example, is a heterogeneous society which prior to colonial rule was organised around chiefdoms among some tribes and clan elders among others. In the Kingdom areas such as Buganda, Ankore, Bunyoro, Toro and to some extent in Busoga the king ruled through institutions such as the hierarchy of chiefs and laws. In segmentary societies such as Kigezi, Bugisu, Bamba, Bakonjo and the Iteso, the political and social organisation was clan based, regulated by customs and values. In pre-colonial Uganda each society had set conventions, customs and traditions which regulated social behaviour, harmony and stability. These unwritten laws provided a set of acceptable behaviour and controlled deviants in society. Despite the differences in political organisation, it is generally agreed that each of these societies had elaborate systems of governance, rule of law, justice and administrative organs. Each member of society was supposed to know his rights and sanctions were imposed on those individuals who did not comply with the norms. This article will address the issue of conflict, how it was dealt with in traditional African culture, the methods of communication both in traditional and modern Uganda and the question of rights and responsibilities in promoting cross-cultural amity.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- African nations are at the crossroads. Some of their economies are tottering, and on the brink of collapse while social, cultural and political structures are becoming weaker by the day. There is need for better management of Africa's resources. The article advances an argument that communication is critical in the empowerment of civil society. It points out that communication is a doubleedged blade that can either empower or disempower a civil society. The paper highlights key areas in which communication can empower a society. These are in the economic, cultural and political spheres. The effects of modern communication technology especially the internet and e-mail among others, which have radically transformed information dissemination system are discussed. It includes that African countries must take cognisance of the role of communication and harness it for their benefit.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article outlines some of the recurring issues in mass communication research. Starting with a discussion of the perennial problem of defining the field of mass communication research, the article reviews the administrative-critical debate or the 'ferment' in mass communication research, and puts forward new concepts which seem to suggest new directions in the field. It finally suggests ways in which African communication scholars might contribute to the on-going debates in the field.
- Date Issued:
- 1989-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review