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- Volume 1, Issue 2, 2009
Journal of African Media Studies - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2009
Volume 1, Issue 2, 2009
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South African media in transition
By Colin SparksThe development of the South African media since 1990 is one instance of a more general process of democratization observable in many parts of the world during the same period. The theory of elite continuity in such political changes is presented and tested against the evidence. While the mass movement in the final years of the Apartheid regime influenced early debates about broadcasting, subsequent developments have made SABC more and more a prisoner of the economic realities of the new South Africa, where white economic power remains largely intact. In the press, ownership has mostly been transferred to Black Economic Empowerment enterprises, who have also gained from new commercial broadcasting licences. As divisions have opened in the ANC, so there have been increasing signs of the politicization of SABC. The evidence fits the theory of elite continuity, but the South African situation necessitates modification to fit this reality better. The importance of elite renewal is very clear in this case: political power has shifted completely to a new governing elite. Secondly, the fact that the apartheid regimes faced protracted mass opposition means that there are still traces of potentially radical changes to the media, for example in community media.
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The democratic functions and dysfunctions of political talk radio: the case of Uganda
More LessThis article explores the promise and limits of Ugandan radio political talk shows as avenues of citizen participation and political competition. In particular, it examines the democratic functions and dysfunctions of political talk shows based on interpretive interrogation of data from content analysis, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with content producers and audiences. The results appear to suggest that these programmes constitute a public sphere(s) where citizens seek and acquire information, carry out dialogue and debate on collective public problems and policy, challenge holders of official power into public accountability, send feedback upward to the political system, or simply let off steam. At another level, the government, political groups and other organised interests also use the talk shows to gauge public opinion. These political elites also use these programmes as platforms for political mobilisation, campaigning and advocacy. In other words, the civic space facilitated by talk radio is open to political groups and other organised interests as well as private citizens. However, it is not all bliss in the electronic public sphere. Political talk radio also appears to peddle misinformation and distortions; to invite adulterated debate that excites and inflames rather than informs; to give the public the illusion of influence; and, arguably, to lead to political inertia. At the group level, talk radio may have created an illusion of competition to the extent that it provided voice to oppositional political groups that were otherwise not fully free to participate in the political process. What we have, then, is an imperfect public sphere but a sort of public sphere nonetheless. Implications of these developments for democratic transitions in Africa are discussed.
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Think imperially: the private press mediation of state policy and the global economy within colonial and postcolonial Nigeria
More LessMany writers have argued that critical voices in the private press denouncing the military state indicated the presence of a resilient civil society in Nigeria since 1985. This article locates the advocacy of the press as watchdog of the state within the discourse of structural adjustment policy in order to examine the extent to which the private press constitutes an autonomous public sphere of debate within Nigerian civil society. It is argued that under structural adjustment programmes, education budget cuts and higher living costs diminish popular participation in press debates. While some civil society groups have contested government policies under colonialism and structural adjustment, this article examines how private Nigerian press publications have worked within the terms of successive political regimes to mediate the interests of the commercial elite within the global economy.
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Picturing Zimbabwe's 2008 elections
More LessElections in Africa often bring out passionate political activity that epitomize Africans' quest for genuine democracy. This visual essay presents images taken from the bitterly contested 2008 election in Zimbabwe, involving Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's longtime ruler (since 1980) and Morgan Tsvangirai, from the Movement of Democratic Change (formed in 1999). The images presented here carry ideologies, passions and multiple messages on Zimbabwean politics and politicians. They reflect intricate relationships between the ruled and the rulers, political promises, adoration and fallouts, together with electoral aspirations and feelings of betrayal held by ordinary voters. Altogether the visual essay captures the possibilities and limitations of the visual media in representing the choices of voters in Zimbabwe, one of Africa's most troubled democracies.
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Regulatory independence and the public interest: the case of South Africa's ICASA
Authors: Dumisani Moyo and Siphiwe HlongwaneThe emergence of independent regulatory authorities (IRAs) in many countries is but one of the many effects of globalisation in the communications sector. As a result of the process of globalization, developing countries like South Africa have recently also instituted IRAs. The challenge everywhere, though, has been the question of the independence of these regulatory authorities. This is particularly evident in developing countries, where traditionally regulation of the communications sector has been the preserve of the state. Using a combination of institutional analysis, informant interviews and document analysis, this paper explores the independence of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). The assessment of ICASA's independence is mainly based on three indicators identified by the Constitutional Court in relation to regulatory and other state institutions in South Africa, namely institutional independence, administrative independence and financial independence. The paper argues that ICASA's independence is severely undermined by interference from the Minister of Communication in its regulatory activities, lack of clear constitutional protection and under-funding.
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The politics of broadcasting, language policy and democracy in Uganda
More LessThis article examines the interweaving between socio-political history, broadcast policy and regulation, and political participation. Although the article primarily discusses the Ugandan situation, it draws conclusions that could be helpful in examining similar situations in Africa and in other parts of the world. The research was conducted in Uganda in three phases over three years (20032006) and additional research was conducted between 2007 and 2008.1 The first phase of the research constituted a socio-historical analysis of Uganda's media and politics. The second phase focused on the language debate in Uganda and the final phase sought to interpret the Ugandan language debate in light of the findings from the socio-historical analysis. The article is conceived within a critical media studies framework and the methodology is inspired by J.B. Thompson's (1990) depth hermeneutics. The study employed qualitative interviews and an analysis of media, communication and education policy documents and other archival sources to elicit information at various levels on indigenous language broadcasting policy in Uganda. Placing the debate on indigenous language policy in historical context made it possible to critically examine the relationship between language policy and political participation in Uganda. The article concludes that effective future policy and regulation must strike a balance between the priorities of government, media proprietors and audiences. It must also take cognizance of current commercial realities, while being sensitive to the socio-historical factors that determine attitudes towards the use of specific languages in the media.
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Yabis music: an instrument of social change in Nigeria
More LessWhen the late Nigerian Afro-beat proponent, Fel Anklp-Kt (formerly known as Fel Ransome- Kt) returned from a tour of the United States of America in 1970, his music witnessed a lot of transformation. First, he discarded with his erstwhile jazz-highlife style and came up with a new style he christened Afro-beat, a mixture of American jazz and Yorb folk music. Secondly, the content of his vocal music changed tremendously from abstract themes to day-to-day happenings among the common people in Nigeria. However, the protracted military rule in Nigeria, coupled with the large scale embezzlement and looting of the nation's treasury (which undermined the democratic processes), as well as the promotion of large scale violence by the nation's military junta, provided a new theme for Fel's vocal music from the mid 1970s. Thus the stage was set for a new phenomenon among Nigerian popular music; music known as the Yabis music became a site for political engagement, through which those who governed through coercion were ridiculed and their bad policies subjected to derision in several lyrics of many Nigerian popular musicians who later joined Fel in the 1980s and after. This paper examines the role and impact of Yabis music on the Nigerian music scene, as well as her political and socio-cultural milieu.
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Book Reviews
Authors: Guy Berger and Levi ObonyoTaking Journalism Seriously: News and the Academy, Barbie Zelizer, (2004) London: Sage, 296 pages, ISBN 0-8039-73144, Paperback, $46.95
50 Years of Journalism: African media since Ghana's independence, Elizabeth Barratt and Guy Berger (eds.), (2007) Johannesburg: African Editors Forum, 200 pages, ISBN 9780868104386, Paperback.
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