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- Description:
- This paper uses the Marxist postulatethat it is those segments of society which monopolize the production of knowledge and information which determine the general ideas and opinions that pervade society to analyse media coverage of Africa from the early days of explorers to the present time. It links the most salient images evoked by the mass media with the prevailing socioeconomic and political climates that have given impetus to current processes of ideological reproduction. Comparison of early reportage of Africa by European explorers and journalists (e.g. Stanley, Lugard) with contemporary media coverage of the continent reveals a persistent reference to Africans as barbaric, noble savages, communists and terrorists. Such references (images) have powerful ideological implications for the maintenance of the hegemony of a particular socioeconomic system over others. Just as they justified slavery and colonialism in the last century, such images now justify imperialism and military adventurism in Africa.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The paper discusses the themes of press responsibility and public opinion and their relevance within the current socio-political economic frameworks of African nations. It stresses the pertinent role of a democratized press in democratic political systems, and the role that the press can play within the democracies if they are conscious of the great responsibility that the current transition programmes of African nations places on them. In view of the rise of so many elites in Africa (those who almost always make headline news) and their great influence in mass media output as well as the economic considerations of many media organisations in news judgement, the paper reasserts the deep ethical and professional commitment of the mass media to protecting the underprivileged in society, interpreting their points of view and acting as the voice of the voiceless in society. The paper concludes that a holistic transition programme that recognises less government presence in mass media management and output is ideal for African nations. It also calls for more professional running of the press in Africa to ensure that they fit properly as society's watchdog, the fourth estate of the realm.
- Date Issued:
- 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper discusses the development of modern mass media as a necessary attribute of the evolution of an integral Nigerian nation out of the many traditional ethnic communities. It shows that the traditional media which were the precolonial channels of communication were limited in the conduct of national commerce, religion, education, politics and government. The paper, however, contends that the potentials of the traditional media have not been fully explored, and calls for research to establish what roles such media can play in modern politics, and in grassroot development generally.
- Date Issued:
- 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Interest in the concept of civil society received a boost from the demise of communism in Eastern Europe, as more attention became focused on nongovernmental actors. It is not surprising that the concept has engaged the minds of many social scientists. Among the various interpretations are civil society as an "external or inferior state" as "bourgeois state", and as "state per se". In Africa, the concept is a useful tool in explaining some of the development problems that have persisted through the years, especially in the areas of democracy and political communication. In the illustrative case of Cameroon, it is argued that poor professionalization among journalists is a major factor in the media's failure to promote democracy and civil society. The prospects for civil society are dim in Cameroon and many other African countries.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper discusses the contribution of the mass media to the transition from single to multi-party democracy in Kenya. Considering the media as part and parcel of civil society, the author argues that access to the mass media is critical to actors involved in the politics of transition from single to multiparty democracy. However, it is postulated that the role of the media in this enterprise can be greatly enhanced by the support of other democratic social forces in society. Both institutions need each other as they try to influence the direction, pattern and issues of democratic transition. The paper also discusses the problems encountered by the media in the process of promoting democratic politics. These include the legal and political environment in which the media operate, the absence of an effective media organization to protect the interests of journalists and the tendency to disregard professionalism by the media practitioners themselves.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This paper attempts to explain that developing nations cannot control DBS (Direct Broadcasting Satellite) airwaves from violating their national sovereignty. They can neither jam them nor outlaw DBS altogether. What they can do is to minimize the spillover and propaganda carried by DBS. They can do this by technical and legal means. However, most of the technical means require developing nations to have their own DBS, either individually or on regional basis. And they might prove too costly for developing countries to use them. International law would help minimize international propaganda and even spillover. However, developing countries need to rally enough support to pass clearly-defined conventions regulating DBS and a powerful agency to enforce them. This paper has left out the many opposing points on issues such as right of reply, codes of conduct, prior consent, monitoring and enforcing agency, which have come up in the new world information order debates.
- Date Issued:
- 1991-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article hypothesizes that the extent of democratization of the mass media in any society is a function of two factors: accessibility to information and the patterns of media ownership in the society. It holds that these two factors determine the extent to which there is free flow of information, the extent to which the citizens have access to information, the degree of mobilization and participation, and the extent to which the society can be described as democratized. It points out, however, that these two factors are not mutually exclusive because accessibility can be a function of ownership; but some factors which come under accessibility are not traceable to patterns of ownership. The articles also notes that mere guarantee of free press or free speech does not ensure that every citizen has access to information and to the channels through which he can express himself.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This article offers some reflections on the locus of peoples' stories, or their Sitz im Leben, i.e., leisure time. It explores this concept briefly from the perspectives of social anthropology and mass media studies. It then draws a political typology of peoples' stories which are of some significance to Africa's modern story-tellers, the mass media.
- Date Issued:
- 1988-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- This study uses communication model of feedback and signals to analyse the dynamics of nationalism, selflessness and discipline which are so essential in holding together African nations. Drawing from Miller and Rice's (1972) theory of systems organization, it points out that national systems must have attractions for individuals, groups, clans, and communities whose ideas compete for ascendancy in the national schema. National leadership, often rooted within clan or ethnic heritage, must eschew parochialism and allow for the expression of diverse group (ethnic) interests and opinions if nationhood (seen as an abstract term) is to acquire positive identification by the individuals, groups and communities.
- Date Issued:
- 1990-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The contention of this paper is that it is possible, though demanding, to develop a new type of journalism which would lead to the democratization of public communication. Based on the normative framework of the ultimate dignity of the human being, the paper argues that the African mass media are an aberration from the African democratic tradition. It observes that the conventional rules applied in the selection and management of news are obstacles to democracy. It ends by suggesting some ways in which the situation may be changed to allow for the development of a more democratic form of journalism.
- Date Issued:
- 1987-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review