African media research in the era of globalization

This article revisits the position of African media and communication research in the era of globalization. It examines the settings and philosophy of African media research, and its development and enmeshment in the contemporary context of globalization. It asks: what is the status of African media research and what are its recurrent themes? How can African media researchers influence the dominant paradigms that have guided the field of media and communication research? Through a review of literature and dominant themes of media and communication research in Africa, the paper argues that the parameters for research in African media research have closely followed the research paradigms set by external scholars, especially Western scholars. Despite the increasing number of African media researchers, they have yet to extricate themselves from the methodological and theoretical entrapments that have hindered the growth of new models and theories that are inherently African in perspective.