- 15416534827
- University of Colorado, Boulder, Journalism & Mass Communication, Department Memberadd
- Dr. Gregory Gondwe ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor of Journalism studies at California State Uni... moreDr. Gregory Gondwe ([email protected]) is an Assistant Professor of Journalism studies at California State University – San Bernardino. He researches contemporary media ecosystems and their implications on society. His scholarly works interrogate the effects of persuasive media messages across cultural and geographical boundaries. His dissertation, China in African Newsrooms: Harnessing the Effects of Pro-And-Counter Attitudinal Chinese News Agenda in the Zambian Media, attests to some of his approaches. Some other works include cross-national studies about mis/disinformation in sub-Saharan Africa related to gender, geo-location, age, and media literacy. Dr. Gondwe’s research works have appeared in various peer-reviewed journals, including Digital Journalism, International Journal of Communication, Journalism Practice, Journalism Studies, and African Journalism Studies.
Dr. Gondwe received his journalism and political science education from the University of Colorado - Boulder, USA; University of Oregon, USA; and St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT). Previously, Dr. Gondwe served as a priest student where he studied philosophy and theology. His work experience includes serving as a journalist, a teacher, and a researcher both in the US and in several African countries.edit
This comparative study is threefold: to examine the audience's perception of fake news and mis/disinformation, the motivations for the conscious consumption of fake news, and the motivations for sharing fake news in countries with limited... more
This comparative study is threefold: to examine the audience's perception of fake news and mis/disinformation, the motivations for the conscious consumption of fake news, and the motivations for sharing fake news in countries with limited media freedom and the United States. Using data from Zambia, Tanzania, and the U.S., the results indicate that people in countries with limited press freedom were mostly pro-fake news and argued that it brought a different perspective to propagandist media. On the other hand, participants from the U.S. were anti-fake news and suggested that there be punitive measures to stop the spread of fake news. These findings contribute to the roles that fake news plays in various contexts and environments, and the motivations for consuming and sharing.
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The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of online incivility and political violence in Zambia. The study used the 2018 Chilanga Constituency by-election campaign messages and those of the 2019 Sesheke constituency to examine... more
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship of online incivility and political violence in Zambia. The study used the 2018 Chilanga Constituency by-election campaign messages and those of the 2019 Sesheke constituency to examine the problem. The study drew from the simulation effects (that communication with dissimilar others can encourage incivility and hate online) to assert that political elite campaign messages contribute to incivility/hate and subsequent violence during elections in Zambia. This assumption was tested using 5844 data points collected from various social media platforms owned or purported to be owned by either the Patriotic Front (PF) or the United Party for National Development (UPND) party. The findings support the paper’s hypotheses, and additional analyses suggest that men are more likely to practice incivility online than women. Second, findings suggest that while the PF party’s online platforms exhibit higher trends of partisanship, the UPND tend ...
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In recent years, the notion of "edutainment" has been emphasized in various African education systems. However, the vision of implementing this "edutainment" is still a blur. Advocates of edutainment... more
In recent years, the notion of "edutainment" has been emphasized in various African education systems. However, the vision of implementing this "edutainment" is still a blur. Advocates of edutainment have not yet defined the two amalgamated words: Education and Entertainment. To some, education is a bitter pill that needs to be galvanized and coated with some entertainment for it to be swallowed. Others perceive entertainment as western and argue that it corrupts the morals of its recipients. This article argues that there is needed to clearly define the composition and characteristics of education and entertainment for the African people before the notion of edutainment is advocated for.
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Debates on whether people in Zambia cast their votes for a presidential candidate based on the good policies of the party or the qualifications of their candidate are peppered with tales of ethnicity, tribalism, corruption, and the... more
Debates on whether people in Zambia cast their votes for a presidential candidate based on the good policies of the party or the qualifications of their candidate are peppered with tales of ethnicity, tribalism, corruption, and the education levels of the voters. These problems have undermined the credibility of the winning candidates as being put into office, based not on their qualifications, but on the desire for individual voters to have someone of their tribe as president. While some scholars have argued that people are not naïve to vote for a candidate irrationally, others hanker on the fact that party policies are barely known to the Zambian voter who takes different forms of communal identities. The two approaches underscore the nascent debates of voting behaviors in Zambia today. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the voting behaviors of Zambians in the 2011 Zambian presidential election. Quantitative evidence suggests that party policies and manifestos in the Za...
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This exploratory study contributes to the literature on numeracy in digital journalism studies by theoretically incorporating the audience/news consumers. While most studies have focused on journalists' perception and role in the use... more
This exploratory study contributes to the literature on numeracy in digital journalism studies by theoretically incorporating the audience/news consumers. While most studies have focused on journalists' perception and role in the use of numeracy, this study examines how audience perceive stories with numerical values. Through an experimental design, and by comparing the United States, Zambia, and Tanzania, the study was able to demonstrate that news stories with numerical values diminished audience/readers' affective consumption. In other words, news stories with numerical values were negatively associated with audience appeal. However, individuals with a lower understanding of probabilistic and numerical concepts seemed to trust news stories with numbers more than those with a higher level of numeracy. This was especially true in Zambia and Tanzania where most participants recorded lower numeracy levels. The overall sample in all the three countries seemed to favor news sto...
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This study contributes to the theory of gatekeeping by examining how community media journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa navigate through conflicting information. Using the case of COVID-19, the study examined how journalists from community... more
This study contributes to the theory of gatekeeping by examining how community media journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa navigate through conflicting information. Using the case of COVID-19, the study examined how journalists from community media in Zambia and Tanzania reported government information that conflicted with what the local communities they served believed to be untrue. Drawing from interviews with journalists from community media organizations, we were able to demonstrate that there was a schism between what the editors thought as newsworthy versus what the reporters believed as possessing journalistic values relevant for their communities. Unlike the reporters, most editors aligned much with what the government wanted the media to transmit. This is especially true in Zambia where reporters indicated that most of their stories were flagged as irrelevant by their editors. These findings are then examined through the lens of gatekeeping, particularly a focus on various
levels of analysis.
levels of analysis.
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Through selective exposure, this study examined the role the US news media played in encouraging or discouraging minority races from getting vaccinated. Through content analysis and focus groups, we were able to demonstrate that most... more
Through selective exposure, this study examined the role the US news media played in encouraging or discouraging minority races from getting vaccinated. Through content analysis and focus groups, we were able to demonstrate that most media messages focused on prior beliefs in their reporting, therefore, discouraging the black and Latino minorities from getting the COVID-19 vaccinations. Further, while blacks and Latinos based their fears of the vaccines on health effects, white respondents were more concerned about government surveillance and the desire to go back to "normal" life after the quarantine. Ultimately, white respondents were more positive about vaccination arguing that they were tired of the quarantine and wanted normal life back.
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This study examined the effects of emotions on risk concerns and behavior change among sex workers in Zambia. The aim was to investigate which health communication ad campaigns elicit emotions that lead to behavior change. Two types of... more
This study examined the effects of emotions on risk concerns and behavior change among sex workers in Zambia. The aim was to investigate which health communication ad campaigns elicit emotions that lead to behavior change. Two types of HIV/AIDS ads were used for the analysis: Those focusing on eradicating the scourge by evoking negative emotions versus those aimed at fighting stigma with positive messages. Findings suggest that participants exposed to negatively framed ad campaigns were more likely to quit their sex working profession at follow-up than those exposed to ads designed to fight social stigma. In other words, negatively framed ad campaigns that invoked fear about HIV/AIDS were more likely to encourage behavior change among female sex workers in Zambia. The study speaks to the issue of risk versus crisis communication as they relate to how the Global North and South respond to stigma.
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This article reports on a study that contributes to the literature on gatekeeping, gatewatching and crowdsourcing in African contexts. It does so by significantly expanding the scope, and theoretically incorporating the value of... more
This article reports on a study that contributes to the literature on gatekeeping, gatewatching and crowdsourcing in African contexts. It does so by significantly expanding the scope, and theoretically incorporating the value of information and message content, through which the study revealed how citizen journalists only participate in the already existing media agenda. Citizen journalists are not professional journalists, instead they transmit information using social media platforms. By analysing a total of 2 418 stories from social media users and conducting surveys among 314 journalists, the study was able to demonstrate that journalists and the political elites are the main creators of news media agenda. The findings also suggest that journalists do not crowdsource to obtain a diversity of opinions, but rather to validate their already made agenda. These findings, although consistent with the extant literature, present an important topic to the so far understudied area of Africa.
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The internet of things (IoT) is the notion of all devices and products being connected to the internet rather than only computers and mobile devices, as has been the case until the recent past. The IoT is already booming, and its adoption... more
The internet of things (IoT) is the notion of all devices and products being connected to the internet rather than only computers and mobile devices, as has been the case until the recent past. The IoT is already booming, and its adoption will only accelerate in coming years. At the same time, the world continues to go wireless. Wired internet and telephone connections are becoming rarer with each passing year, and consumers expect and demand wireless communications more and more. One critical enabling technology for the IoT is wireless communications: IP-cameras, printers, kitchen appliances, and more deliver greater flexibility in their design when they do not need a wired connection to access the internet. In this paper, a flexible spectrum management framework to enable greater innovation, investment, and flexibility in IoT products, as well as the necessary architecture that will enable a wider deployment of IoT is proposed. An illustration and analogy from the success of the u...
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While research on misinformation in Africa has increased in recent years, and despite a growing body of theoretical and empirical work that considers the role of governments, platforms, and users in stopping misinformation globally, there... more
While research on misinformation in Africa has increased in recent years, and despite a growing body of theoretical and empirical work that considers the role of governments, platforms, and users in stopping misinformation globally, there is still a lack of empirical research addressing ways to curb its spread on the continent. Research has coalesced around the idea that no single approach will work in all contexts, and effective strategies need to include media literacy, fact-checking, changes in how news is produced and circulated, government oversight, and regulations as well as responses that take local contexts into account. Using data from 36 focus groups in six sub-Saharan African countries, we examine audiences’ experiences with misinformation and perceptions of institutional and personal roles and responsibility for both pre- venting and intervening in the spread of misinformation. First, we examine perceptions of misinformation with a particular focus on whether misinformation is perceived as “a problem.” Second, we examine perceived responsibility for addressing misinformation and possible solutions to the problem. Findings suggest that participants perceive misinformation as a problem if it has real or potential negative consequences and expresses a sense of shared responsibility among individuals and institutions for stopping the spread of misinformation.
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This exploratory study contributes to the literature on numeracy in digital journalism studies by theoretically incorporating the audience/news consumers. While most studies have focused on journalists' perception and role in the use of... more
This exploratory study contributes to the literature on numeracy in digital journalism studies by theoretically incorporating the audience/news consumers. While most studies have focused on journalists' perception and role in the use of numeracy, this study examines how audience perceive stories with numerical values. Through an experimental design, and by comparing the United States, Zambia, and Tanzania, the study was able to demonstrate that news stories with numerical values diminished audience/readers' affective consumption. In other words, news stories with numerical values were negatively associated with audience appeal. However, individuals with a lower understanding of probabilistic and numerical concepts seemed to trust news stories with numbers more than those with a higher level of numeracy. This was especially true in Zambia and Tanzania where most participants recorded lower numeracy levels. The overall sample in all the three countries seemed to favor news stories with less or no numeracy.
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This study examined the relationship between the consumption of computermediated news content characterized as partisan and depression among N= 518 participants above the age of 50 years. Drawing from Beck's (1967) theory of depression,... more
This study examined the relationship between the consumption of computermediated news content characterized as partisan and depression among N= 518 participants above the age of 50 years. Drawing from Beck's (1967) theory of depression, we were able to demonstrate that the effects of consuming news from the two aforementioned mainstream media outlets are mediated by radical political partisan affiliations. In other words, the more partisan an individual, the more likely depressed they would be, even when they only watched one station that supported their ideology. Further compounding suggests that the consumption of news from the two media, actually lessened depression when partisanship was controlled for.
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This study explores the state of data-driven journalism practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims at examining journalists' perceptions of data-driven journalism in Zambia and Tanzania as it attempts to redefine and demystify the concept.... more
This study explores the state of data-driven journalism practices in Sub-Saharan Africa. It aims at examining journalists' perceptions of data-driven journalism in Zambia and Tanzania as it attempts to redefine and demystify the concept. We base our hypotheses on the notion that most journalists in Zambia and Tanzania perceive data journalism as a field that cannot be defined outside quantitative methods-approaches mostly emphasized by Western scholarship. Our cross-national survey findings suggest that journalists from Zambia and Tanzania do not consider themselves as data journalists even when they practice it. This is because of the lack of advanced computer-assisted reporting equipment and the dwindling skills in advanced quantitative methods that are mostly accompanied by statistical software. Findings also suggest that female journalists showed more skepticism of data journalism practice, leading to fewer women with interest in pursuing data journalism in Zambia and Tanzania
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This study set out to examine how CNN and CCTV news covered the COVID-2019 pandemic from December 2019 to February 2020. The aim was to investigate the role that global mainstream media play in guiding public sentiments during the... more
This study set out to examine how CNN and CCTV news covered the COVID-2019 pandemic from December 2019 to February 2020. The aim was to investigate the role that global mainstream media play in guiding public sentiments during the impacting everyone across race, color, social status, and geographical boundaries. Comparative analyses suggest that both CNN and CCTV news were only partial in their coverage when reporting about themselves. When talking about each other, the two countries seemed to employ a problem-centered approach where stories focused on blame and economic ramifications. As CNN was being blamed for focusing on the social cost of the pandemic, CCTV news was equally blamed for the lack of transparency. Further findings suggest that both media failed to mediate the public concerns at a global level. In other words, both CNN and CCTV news failed to adopt a stabilizing role towards the panicking audience in the sense that they did not implement strategies of reassurance to the public in their reporting.
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In the proliferated age of technologies, the field of journalism has been faced with several challenges that have inevitably pushed journalism practice to unpreceded heights. Overtly, journalists have resorted to various strategies to... more
In the proliferated age of technologies, the field of journalism has been faced with several challenges that have inevitably pushed journalism practice to unpreceded heights. Overtly, journalists have resorted to various strategies to compete with various media platforms such as social media and other citizen journalistic strategies. Journalists have also resorted to the use of advertising/strategic communication methods to spice up their news stories and attract a large following. Particularly, journalists now use clickbait styles to draw more readership of their own stories. While this has been perceived as a pitfall for journalism, others have argued in favor of these strategies suggesting that they have no effect on the credibility of the media and journalism at large. This experimental study, therefore, set out to understand how the audience perceives clickbait-style headlines in relation to media credibility. Particularly, the study examined whether the Zambian and Tanzanian online news consumers observe the same distinction in the credibility of news content alleged to exist between clickbait and traditional news reporting and whether perceptions of clickbait headlines lead to lower credibility for news articles. The findings suggest strong statistical evidence that clickbait headlines pose negatives effects on the perceptions of journalistic credibility in Zambia and Tanzania.
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This study replicates existing research on crowdcoding, and content analysis approaches to test the validity and reliability of content analysis methods in the African setting. We use data from the 2020 Tanzanian presidential elections as... more
This study replicates existing research on crowdcoding, and content analysis approaches to test the validity and reliability of content analysis methods in the African setting. We use data from the 2020 Tanzanian presidential elections as a case study. Instead of MTurk for crowdsourcing, the study utilized WhatsApp groups and university students from Tanzania to code the data. Using a collected and controlled sample of 400 tweets to represent Tanzania’s ruling and opposition parties, respectively, our overall findings suggested that crowdcoding produced more reliable data than qualitative content analysis (QCA). However, further analysis suggests that although Crowdcoding recorded higher agreement on validity scores, trained coders seemed to provide more reliability accuracy scores. Besides, data indicates that the traditional training of the coders was statistically insignificant in providing accurate validity and reliability scores for QCA.
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The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between online incivility and political violence in Zambia. The study used the 2018 Chilanga Constituency by-election campaign messages and those of the 2019 Sesheke constituency to... more
The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between online incivility and political violence in Zambia. The study used the 2018 Chilanga Constituency by-election campaign messages and those of the 2019 Sesheke constituency to examine the problem. The study drew from the simulation effects (that communication with dissimilar others can encourage incivility and hate online) to assert that political elite campaign messages contribute to incivility/hate and subsequent violence during elections in Zambia. This assumption was tested using 5844 data points collected from various social media platforms owned or purported to be owned by either the Patriotic Front (PF) or the United Party for National Development (UPND) party. The findings support our hypotheses, and additional analyses suggest that men are more likely to practice incivility online than women. Second, findings suggest that while the PF party's online platforms exhibit higher trends of partisanship, the UPND tends to privilege tribal affiliations.
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This study set out to quantify the value of social media usage among journalists in Zambia and Tanzania. Using surveys conducted among journalists in both Zambia and Tanzania, findings suggest that most reporters from the two countries... more
This study set out to quantify the value of social media usage among journalists in Zambia and Tanzania. Using surveys conducted among journalists in both Zambia and Tanzania, findings suggest that most reporters from the two countries place more value on Facebook than any other social platform such as WhatsApp and Twitter as it relates to professional practice. Individual journalists' value perception suggests that unlike Facebook, the value of other social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Twitter were respectively tied to their usage in querying friends and sharing 'fake news' for entertainment purposes. While Facebook was also used for querying friends, most journalists significantly tied its value to activities associated to journalistic practices, such as contacting sources and performing research for a story.
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Notwithstanding the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, little substantive evidence is provided by Africans at the grassroots level about the actual effects of the pandemic. Most people in Africa have to rely on outside sources to... more
Notwithstanding the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, little substantive evidence is provided by Africans at the grassroots level about the actual effects of the pandemic. Most people in Africa have to rely on outside sources to provide them with information about the state of the pandemic in their local areas. This has led to questions of whether we can truly know the real impact of the pandemic in Africa. The Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) has a critical role to play in bringing African research and knowledge to the forefront to minimize this dependency.
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This study set out to understand the role of tabloid news content in establishing public news trust in Zambia. The study compared tabloid news stories (usually frowned upon as unprofessional by most African journalists and scholars) to... more
This study set out to understand the role of tabloid news content in establishing public news trust in Zambia. The study compared tabloid news stories (usually frowned upon as unprofessional by most African journalists and scholars) to professional news writing styles, which are rooted in Western journalism education. Drawing from studies that critique tabloid journalism as consumed by people lacking critical abilities to analyze professional news content, the study predicted that: (1) the consumption of tabloid news was not positively correlated to the lack of education/ability to critically analyze 'professional' news content; (2) individuals exposed to only professional news content in form of hard news will indicate lower levels of trust for the media if compared to those exposed to tabloid news content; (3) tabloid news will serve as a moderating factor between media trust and mistrust. This theoretical model was tested with quasi-experiments and surveys using data collected from over 319 participants from online media platforms belonging to selected media outlets in Zambia. The results supported the proposed model on the role of tabloid news content and public trust. Additional analyses suggested that there was no positive correlation between the consumption of tabloid news and education; therefore, debunking the idea that critical analysis of news content in Zambia resided among the educated individuals.
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The concept of Power spans centuries of academic discourse. A plethora of literature has been identified in various geographical locations. However, the roots of classical Power discourses are especially attributed to European thinkers... more
The concept of Power spans centuries of academic discourse. A plethora of literature has been identified in various geographical locations. However, the roots of classical Power discourses are especially attributed to European thinkers that radically oriented politics, science, philosophy, and communication studies to the age of reasoning. The discourse on power is one of the most contested in critical theory and other related disciplines. Its inception is especially rooted in Karl Marx’s conceptualization of the bourgeoisie versus the Proletariat. This conception has chronicled a series of literature that agree with the existence of hegemonic powers yet varying in the way they tend to conceptualize them. While some scholars dwell on observable and structural power exertion, others look at power from a more abstract and probably ontological perspective. Among such are the French Scholar Michel Foucault and his counterpart Raymond William, an English scholar.
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Although considerable literature has grown around the motivations for social media use and consumption across Africa, there is still a dearth of research on trends of consumption across different cultures and particular demographic... more
Although considerable literature has grown around the motivations for social media use and consumption across Africa, there is still a dearth of research on trends of consumption across different cultures and particular demographic environments. Studies that have attempted to explore this field tend to focus on how social media and the internet as a whole have remedied individuals in different ways. Particularly, how social media usage has enhanced participatory governance economically improved people's lives. This chapter offers a rather nuanced synthesis and perception of social media usage and consumption in Zambia that underscores the motivating factors. Two major interpretations are identified: social media consumption that focuses only on the quantity of proliferated online content and social media usage that interrogates the various ways people in Zambia use social media to suit their tastes and needs. The two approaches underscore the debate in this chapter and highlight how most studies have downplayed the distinction between the two.
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Fast-moving changes in digital technologies are reshaping journalism. More so now than perhaps ever before, the authority of journalists and gatekeepers is being tested, in part because erstwhile audience members not only consume news but... more
Fast-moving changes in digital technologies are reshaping journalism. More so now than perhaps ever before, the authority of journalists and gatekeepers is being tested, in part because erstwhile audience members not only consume news but also create and distribute it. The paradigm shift not only relates to audiences but also to the machines and mechanisms that now play a big role in the news industries. According to this provocative book by Francesco Marconi, a journalist currently serving as the first R&D chief at the Wall Street Journal and an adjunct instructor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents newsrooms with new challenges. Will journalists be replaced by machines? Can machines be trusted? Can humans who are imperfect learn to work hand in hand with machines that rarely make errors? This book explores these and other questions in light of emerging trends and challenges that newsmakers face in the digital age.
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Burgeoning technological advancements have led to a quest for efficiency and haste in almost every area. This includes advanced technologies in transportation. Among such technologies are driverless cars that pose as perfect models for... more
Burgeoning technological advancements have led to a quest for efficiency and haste in almost every area. This includes advanced technologies in transportation. Among such technologies are driverless cars that pose as perfect models for promising technology engines. These cars have received much attention and appreciation from high-tech companies. Studies have shown that they are statistically much safer than traditional vehicles; however, many issues remain which must be corrected to make the driverless car even more safe and reliable. For example, cyber-attacks on driverless cars are a major safety concern. Like any new technology, innovations of autonomous and unmanned vehicles have led to the emergence of threats of cyber-attacks. Hackers see multiple attack surfaces and believe they can penetrate any targeted vehicle system, steal an owner's personal identity information and compromise the vehicles security. Therefore, driverless car industries must put into place an efficient cybersecurity framework which will effectively counter cyber-attacks on driverless cars. In this study, we propose implementing a cybersecurity policy framework that examines potential cybersecurity vulnerabilities against driverless car systems. Threats and attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities are then identified and analyzed. This study investigates current status quo policy, policy objectives, the role of technology, and mitigation strategies for cybersecurity to be used in the development of driverless car systems. Cybersecurity systems are proposed and discussed in the final section.
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This paper investigates the role that social media, and particularly WhatsApp mobile applications plays in venting stress and other related aggressive behaviors among African couples. It seeks to examine the relationship that exists... more
This paper investigates the role that social media, and particularly WhatsApp mobile applications plays in venting stress and other related aggressive behaviors among African couples. It seeks to examine the relationship that exists between WhatsApp usage and being happy, or rather catharsis. It leverages the existing datasets from the Afro-barometer (Africa Tracking Internet Progress-ATIP) website. Essentially the website maintains archives for all African network development and telecommunication datasets. Therefore, this study uses the aforementioned to argue that married women belonging to WhatsApp social groups in Africa have higher levels of catharsis. In other words, the finding of this study indicates that there was a strong and significant correlation between the time spent on social media (Duration-Drt) and the feeling of belonging (Bln) and therefore, catharsis (Eph).
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Against the backdrop of strident discussions and debates about COVID-19 safety measures, most sub-Saharan African countries continue to slowly revert to their ordinary lives. Despite the seemingly disregard for suggested measures, most of... more
Against the backdrop of strident discussions and debates about COVID-19 safety measures, most sub-Saharan African countries continue to slowly revert to their ordinary lives. Despite the seemingly disregard for suggested measures, most of these countries continue to record little or no COVID-19 cases. For some, it is because of the lack of testing equipment and the limitedness in their testing procedures. To others, COVID-19 is a conspiracy and mostly affecting the well-to-do economies – such individuals tend to believe that if the governments in sub-Saharan Africa are into the conspiracy and playing the World Health Organization (WHO) by inflating the number of cases with the intention of receiving financial support that could be diverted to something else.
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The recurring themes of political violence in the recent past years in Zambia have been attributed to the rise in social media participation. Not long ago, Zambia was considered one of the most peaceful countries in the world. This was... more
The recurring themes of political violence in the recent past years in Zambia have been attributed to the rise in social media participation. Not long ago, Zambia was considered one of the most peaceful countries in the world. This was because of the smooth transition of political leadership since the emergence of the democratic era in the 1990s. As of today, Zambia might be the only country in Africa, if not in the world, that has witnessed the reign of three different political parties in less than 30 years. Scholars such as Chikulo (1991) attribute such peaceful transitions to the lower levels of engagement in politics among the public in Zambia. Studies have pointed to the fact that political participation in Zambia are multifaceted to include not only the process of how and why people get involved in politics (Chilcote, 1981) but also consisting of "those legal activities by private citizens that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of government leaders" (Verba, Nir & Jae (1978). Such participation was mostly informed by individuals attending community meetings and rallies. In their study, for example, Bratton, Alderfer, & Simutanyi (1997) found that Zambian voters' participation was punctuated by three-dimensional elements: "Contacting, and Communing, Voting". According to the authors, community-based action and face-to-face interactions with political representatives (contacting) were regarded as more important than the messages they received from the media (Baldwin, 2013). Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, most of such community activities were dominated by public opinion leaders who decided on behalf of their communities. Further, other studies have shown that institutional arrangements such as chiefdoms, tribal and religious affiliations, were the second important in characterizing how people chose to vote for one candidate over the other: Voter registration and political party membership were not a driving factor. This argument affirms Gondwe (2018)'s recent study on whether people in Zambia voted based on policy or not. Gondwe's findings indicated that policy did not matter for the Zambian people because their decisions were influenced by either the living conditions or the tribe of the candidate they were voting for. His findings indicated that many people in Zambia were inclined to vote on tribal lines. Today, such forms of interactions
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This study aims at contextualizing the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of agenda-setting theory amidst cultural traditional values in Africa. First, it tests the influence of agenda-setting theory in the Zambian presidential... more
This study aims at contextualizing the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of agenda-setting theory amidst cultural traditional values in Africa. First, it tests the influence of agenda-setting theory in the Zambian presidential elections and then asserts perceptions of what the voters believe influences their choices for a presidential candidate. The study investigates the plausibility and applicability of agenda-setting theory in a global context. It questions how the ruling governments that own(ed) and control(led) the mass media and its agenda (in the 1991 and 2011 Zambian presidential elections) could lose to the opposition governments that barely created a media agenda for their campaigns. Findings suggest that cultural variables were more statistically inclined to voters’ behaviors in the Zambian elections when compared to agenda-setting theory.
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We are pleased to inform you that the African Communication Research (ACR) journal is now inviting submissions for its 23rd issue scheduled for December 2020. The deadline for all manuscript submissions is September 30, 2020. ABOUT ACR... more
We are pleased to inform you that the African Communication Research (ACR) journal is now inviting submissions for its 23rd issue scheduled for December 2020. The deadline for all manuscript submissions is September 30, 2020. ABOUT ACR The African Communication Research is a research-based and peer-reviewed journal, issued once a year in December. ACR is a service of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications at St. Augustine University of Tanzania, for communication researchers of Africa. The journal accepts articles from all scholars, irrespective of country or institution of affiliation. The journal has been publishing since 2008 and selected articles can be viewed at the follow URL: http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/african-comms-research.aspx As an open access journal, ACR is hosted by the UNESCO Chair of Communication based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. The journal seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of communication and media studies and welcomes articles in all areas of communication and the media including, but not limited to: mass communication, mass media channels, traditional communication, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, development communication, public relations, advertising, information communication technologies, the internet and computer-mediated communication.
This study used the 2019 online Hong Kong protests to understand whether negative messages serve as mediators between incivility and civic engagement, and to investigate whether incivility does trivialize the value of information and the... more
This study used the 2019 online Hong Kong protests to understand whether negative messages serve as mediators between incivility and civic engagement, and to investigate whether incivility does trivialize the value of information and the message intended. The study sought to examine the impact of two types of incivility in online discourse on online participation and showed that the relationship is mediated by information value and message importance. Through ‘netnographic’ research, quasi-experiments, and online surveys, the findings were able to demonstrate that incivility (good) was necessary for increasing online participation, therefore, allowing negative messages to serve as mediators with indirect effects. The mediating effects were observed in the arousal of emotions that led to participation. Second, findings suggested that (good) incivility defined the importance of information and the content of the message.
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This paper set out to explore the dominant measures of media credibility that have stood as a hallmark since the 1930s. By investigating their origins, the paper appends an old, and yet overlooked measure-"the local context", to the... more
This paper set out to explore the dominant measures of media credibility that have stood as a hallmark since the 1930s. By investigating their origins, the paper appends an old, and yet overlooked measure-"the local context", to the already existing ones: source, message, medium, and web credibility. The paper highlights historical antecedents that support the claim and the argument that credibility, and especially in the digital age requires an extended understanding that includes the context or environment. By so doing, we would be able to explain why people choose to believe in inaccurate or false information. Predominantly, the paper interrogates why individuals in eco-chambers believe that a particular source, message, medium, or web is credible regardless of the content of the message.
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This study aims at contextualizing the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of agenda-setting theory amidst cultural traditional values in Africa. First, it tests the influence of agenda-setting theory in the Zambian presidential... more
This study aims at contextualizing the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of agenda-setting theory amidst cultural traditional values in Africa. First, it tests the influence of agenda-setting theory in the Zambian presidential elections and then asserts perceptions of what the voters believe influences their choices for a presidential candidate. The study investigates the plausibility and applicability of agenda-setting theory at a global context. It questions how the ruling governments that own(ed) and control(led) the mass media and its agenda (in the 1991 and 2011 Zambian presidential elections) could lose to the opposition governments that barely created a media agenda for their campaigns. Findings suggest that cultural variables were more statistically inclined to voters' behaviors in the Zambian elections when compared to agenda-setting theory.
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To many scholars around the world, African media and communication research is either a terra incognita or an amalgamation of Western thought. The theories that underpin media and communication research in Africa are deeply rooted in the... more
To many scholars around the world, African media and communication research is either a terra incognita or an amalgamation of Western thought. The theories that underpin media and communication research in Africa are deeply rooted in the frameworks of Western thought. And it is through these lenses that African scholars execute and operationalize Communication Research in Africa. This book, therefore, provides new approaches for undertaking media and communication scholarship in the postcolonial era. It highlights a number of approaches adopted to navigate and interrogate issues that Western theoretical frameworks are incapable of answering. It further suggests new frontiers for rethinking media and communication research in Africa while providing empirical evidence as to why some of the methods conceptualized in the West will not work in African scenarios. The result is a thorough appraisal of crucial issues of controversy about the fluidity of the media and its identity in Africa.
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Virtually all forms of racial, ethnic, and religious stereotypes have a history of “colonial” occupation that seeks to advance a highly authoritarian narrative of global governance. This system, which is perceived as a hallmark for what... more
Virtually all forms of racial, ethnic, and religious stereotypes have a history of “colonial” occupation that seeks to advance a highly authoritarian narrative of global governance. This system, which is perceived as a hallmark for what we consider as a conventional and normative episteme, could be translated into economic hegemonies and other forms of stereotypes that tend to be reinforced through “colonial” education, naturalized as “formal” and acceptable. Such tendencies thus breed persistent austerities of cultural subjugations and continue to reinforce and inculcate a sense of inherent inferiority and obedience to “authority” among the minorities. Defying such stereotypical complexities is seen as destructive and a menace to society. This is an area that Nabil Echchaibi courageously ventures into throughout his book.
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The aim of this study is twofold: It first replicates previous studies on methods used in communication research, and then textually analyses each article in the five high ranking Communication journals of the United States published in... more
The aim of this study is twofold: It first replicates previous studies on methods used in communication research, and then textually analyses each article in the five high ranking Communication journals of the United States published in the year 2016. A total of 160 articles were analyzed for their use in qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods, as well as the particular type of design qualitative or quantitative used. Findings indicate that most journals prefer quantitative articles as opposed to qualitative or mixed methods research. 59.37% of the articles were quantitative, while qualitative and mixed methods recorded 38.75 and 1.87% respectively. Further, findings also indicated that descriptive quantitative methods (53.68%) were mostly preferred over correlations, quasi-experiments and experiments. Similarly, findings over qualitative research suggested that grounding theory method (31%) was the most preferred over the four other qualitative research designs. The study therefore concludes that quantitative research articles with a focus on descriptive methods had a higher chance of being published in the US Communication Journals than qualitative methods. The lowest chances of publication were in mixed methods and ethnographic qualitative methods that recorded less than 2% probability of being published.
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Tales of unethical reporting, conflict of interest, biases, and corruption characterize media practice in Zambia today. The advent of technology and the mushrooming of media houses have ironically magnified this trend. Such tendencies... more
Tales of unethical reporting, conflict of interest, biases, and corruption
characterize media practice in Zambia today. The advent of technology and the mushrooming of media houses have ironically magnified this trend. Such tendencies have compromised ethical reporting, thus undermining journalistic credibility. While some scholars call for a return to African ethics, others hanker for greater professionalism.
This study offers an overview of the media in Zambia with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and The POST Newspaper as its case study. The study looks at how virtue ethics would be effective in reclaiming media credibility. Using qualitative methods, data were collected via theoretical and methodological triangulation. Open-ended questions were designed and distributed among 10 Zambian journalists. The interviews were conducted within a period of one month. Findings indicated that media credibility in Zambia has reached unprecedented
levels of suspicion and that virtue ethics, if well applied, would redeem the lost credibility.
characterize media practice in Zambia today. The advent of technology and the mushrooming of media houses have ironically magnified this trend. Such tendencies have compromised ethical reporting, thus undermining journalistic credibility. While some scholars call for a return to African ethics, others hanker for greater professionalism.
This study offers an overview of the media in Zambia with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation and The POST Newspaper as its case study. The study looks at how virtue ethics would be effective in reclaiming media credibility. Using qualitative methods, data were collected via theoretical and methodological triangulation. Open-ended questions were designed and distributed among 10 Zambian journalists. The interviews were conducted within a period of one month. Findings indicated that media credibility in Zambia has reached unprecedented
levels of suspicion and that virtue ethics, if well applied, would redeem the lost credibility.
Research Interests:
Debates on whether people in Zambia cast their votes for a presidential candidate based on the good policies of the party or the qualifications of their candidate are peppered with tales of ethnicity, tribalism, corruption, and the... more
Debates on whether people in Zambia cast their votes for a presidential candidate based on the good policies of the party or the qualifications of their candidate are peppered with tales of ethnicity, tribalism, corruption, and the education levels of the voters. These problems have undermined the credibility of the winning candidates as being put into office, based not on their qualifications, but on the desire for individual voters to have someone of their tribe as president. While some scholars have argued that people are not naïve to vote for a candidate irrationally, others hanker on the fact that party policies are barely known to the Zambian voter who takes different forms of communal identities. The two approaches underscore the nascent debates of voting behaviors in Zambia today. Therefore, the aim of the study is to examine the voting behaviors of Zambians in the 2011 Zambian presidential election. Quantitative evidence suggests that party policies and manifestos in the Zambian elections do not matter because people base their votes on ethnic alignments.
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This journal highlights current research on the Media in Africa. The main aim of uploading this file is to make the articles visible and uplift African scholarship and the works that African scholars are doing on grassroots.
The aim of this experimental study is two-fold: First, it seeks to find out the most believed news sources between those generated by Western media and those generated in Zambia and Tanzania. Second, it measures the levels of contagion... more
The aim of this experimental study is two-fold: First, it seeks to find out the most believed news sources between those generated by Western media and those generated in Zambia and Tanzania. Second, it measures the levels of contagion within those news stories from two different continents. Using Zambian and Tanzanian online news sources, the study employs experiments to determine the acceptability of a news story, and its level of contagion. The study examines NWICO and the McBride Commission’s arguments on the imbalance flow of information, and whether there is a difference in the level of contagion among Africans between the news from the West, that barely has effect on them, and that from within Africa with a proximity impact. Findings indicate that the 1978 debates are still relevant in today’s digital age when African media can create their own image and rebrand their images.
Research Interests:
AFRICAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH ISSN 1821 – 6544 Call for Papers We are pleased to inform you that the African Communication Research (ACR) journal is now inviting submissions for its 23rd issue scheduled for December 2020. The... more
AFRICAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH
ISSN 1821 – 6544
Call for Papers
We are pleased to inform you that the African Communication Research (ACR) journal is now inviting submissions for its 23rd issue scheduled for December 2020. The deadline for all manuscript submissions is September 30, 2020.
ABOUT ACR
The African Communication Research is a research-based and peer-reviewed journal, issued once a year in December. ACR is a service of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications at St. Augustine University of Tanzania, for communication researchers of Africa. The journal accepts articles from all scholars, irrespective of country or institution of affiliation. The journal has been publishing since 2008 and selected articles can be viewed at the follow URL: http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/african-comms-research.aspx As an open access journal, ACR is hosted by the UNESCO Chair of Communication based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
The journal seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of communication and media studies and welcomes articles in all areas of communication and the media including, but not limited to: mass communication, mass media channels, traditional communication, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, development communication, public relations, advertising, information communication technologies, the internet and computer-mediated communication.
Guidelines for submitting manuscripts for publication
Authors should email their manuscripts as an attachment to Albert Tibaijuka at email: [email protected] with a note indicating that they would like the attached manuscript to be considered for publication in ACR.
The manuscript should provide, on the cover page, complete contact information for the senior or lead author (address, telephone, fax, email) and brief biographical summaries for each author (full name, highest earned academic degree, institution granting that degree and present academic or professional title).
The abstract page should contain an abstract not to exceed 200 words. Author information should be submitted on a separate page.
Manuscripts must follow the specifications of the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and the author should verify that the reference list for all materials cited in the text is complete and that references, tables and diagrams are in appropriate format. It is crucial that authors meticulously check citations and bibliographical information for consistency in matching the requirements set out in the Publications Manual of the APA. Any article failing to do this will be returned to the author for correction and might not be published.
All manuscripts must be double spaced, standard type size (12 point), standard margins and preferably in Times New Roman font. Documents should be submitted in Word format. Additional guidelines can be obtained, if necessary, from the coordinating editor.
To facilitate peer review, the copy submitted for consideration should have the title but not the author information (note that author information above is to be on a separate page).
Manuscripts must not have been published elsewhere or be currently under consideration for any other publication.
Please direct all correspondence to:
Albert Tibaijuka
Coordinating Editor
St. Augustine University of Tanzania
P.O. Box 307, Mwanza, Tanzania
Email: [email protected]
ISSN 1821 – 6544
Call for Papers
We are pleased to inform you that the African Communication Research (ACR) journal is now inviting submissions for its 23rd issue scheduled for December 2020. The deadline for all manuscript submissions is September 30, 2020.
ABOUT ACR
The African Communication Research is a research-based and peer-reviewed journal, issued once a year in December. ACR is a service of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communications at St. Augustine University of Tanzania, for communication researchers of Africa. The journal accepts articles from all scholars, irrespective of country or institution of affiliation. The journal has been publishing since 2008 and selected articles can be viewed at the follow URL: http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/african-comms-research.aspx As an open access journal, ACR is hosted by the UNESCO Chair of Communication based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.
The journal seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of communication and media studies and welcomes articles in all areas of communication and the media including, but not limited to: mass communication, mass media channels, traditional communication, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, development communication, public relations, advertising, information communication technologies, the internet and computer-mediated communication.
Guidelines for submitting manuscripts for publication
Authors should email their manuscripts as an attachment to Albert Tibaijuka at email: [email protected] with a note indicating that they would like the attached manuscript to be considered for publication in ACR.
The manuscript should provide, on the cover page, complete contact information for the senior or lead author (address, telephone, fax, email) and brief biographical summaries for each author (full name, highest earned academic degree, institution granting that degree and present academic or professional title).
The abstract page should contain an abstract not to exceed 200 words. Author information should be submitted on a separate page.
Manuscripts must follow the specifications of the Publications Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and the author should verify that the reference list for all materials cited in the text is complete and that references, tables and diagrams are in appropriate format. It is crucial that authors meticulously check citations and bibliographical information for consistency in matching the requirements set out in the Publications Manual of the APA. Any article failing to do this will be returned to the author for correction and might not be published.
All manuscripts must be double spaced, standard type size (12 point), standard margins and preferably in Times New Roman font. Documents should be submitted in Word format. Additional guidelines can be obtained, if necessary, from the coordinating editor.
To facilitate peer review, the copy submitted for consideration should have the title but not the author information (note that author information above is to be on a separate page).
Manuscripts must not have been published elsewhere or be currently under consideration for any other publication.
Please direct all correspondence to:
Albert Tibaijuka
Coordinating Editor
St. Augustine University of Tanzania
P.O. Box 307, Mwanza, Tanzania
Email: [email protected]
Research Interests:
The researcher in this study took a rather different perspective of Bongo Flava Television Programs. The whole quest was to find out the role of Bongo Flava television programs in influencing youth behavior in Dar es Salaam. This study... more
The researcher in this study took a rather different perspective of Bongo Flava Television Programs. The whole quest was to find out the role of Bongo Flava television programs in influencing youth behavior in Dar es Salaam. This study was guided by George Gerbner’s cultivation theory which argued that the information and ideas that people receive on a daily basis are the foundation of their own personal outlook. The whole idea in this was to exhibit that television has the power to shape our perceptions of reality and the world around by affecting our attitudes and certain ways of thinking. Further, the rationale behind this study was based on the following assumptions and in a similar way objective:
1. That the youth in Kinondoni district watch Bongo Flava programs
2. That Bongo Flava TV programs have an entertainment-education value that shapes youth behavior in Kinondoni district
3. That Bongo Flava TV programs have an influence on the behavior of the youth in Kinondoni district.
These objectives were only met by the use of a case study which involved a one to one interview with 50 youth from vijiwe of the five selected places in Kinondoni district, and 100 self-administered questionnaires to two randomly selected schools of the same district. The end result was that Bongo Flava TV programs had a positive influence on the youth in Dar es Salaam.
1. That the youth in Kinondoni district watch Bongo Flava programs
2. That Bongo Flava TV programs have an entertainment-education value that shapes youth behavior in Kinondoni district
3. That Bongo Flava TV programs have an influence on the behavior of the youth in Kinondoni district.
These objectives were only met by the use of a case study which involved a one to one interview with 50 youth from vijiwe of the five selected places in Kinondoni district, and 100 self-administered questionnaires to two randomly selected schools of the same district. The end result was that Bongo Flava TV programs had a positive influence on the youth in Dar es Salaam.
This paper contributes to Journalism literature in sub-Saharan Africa, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically incorporating “Stretch and Split” Journalism as an emerging trend of reporting among journalists. The term... more
This paper contributes to Journalism literature in sub-Saharan Africa, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically incorporating “Stretch and Split” Journalism as an emerging trend of reporting among journalists. The term refers to the tendency among journalists to accept more than one assignment happening concurrently so as to maximize all the ‘Brown Envelopes’ and ‘Checkbooks’. Central to this practice is the argument that, despite their ethical implications, ‘Brown Envelope’ Journalism (BEJ) and ‘Checkbook’ journalism (CJ) are simply creative strategies among journalists that have sustained low-paid journalists and allowed journalism to flourish. The same argument is used for the “Stretch and Split” journalism to which journalists see themselves as moonlighting within the same field, and therefore, dedicating more time to the practice.
Research Interests:
This paper contributes to Journalism literature in sub-Saharan Africa, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically incorporating “Stretch and Split” Journalism as an emerging trend of reporting among journalists. The term... more
This paper contributes to Journalism literature in sub-Saharan Africa, by significantly expanding its scope, and theoretically incorporating “Stretch and Split” Journalism as an emerging trend of reporting among journalists. The term refers to the tendency among journalists to accept more than one assignment happening concurrently so as to maximize all the ‘Brown Envelopes’ and ‘Checkbooks’. Central to this practice is the argument that, despite their ethical implications, ‘Brown Envelope’ Journalism (BEJ) and ‘Checkbook’ journalism (CJ) are simply creative strategies among journalists that have sustained low-paid journalists and allowed journalism to flourish. The same argument is used for the “Stretch and Split” journalism to which journalists see themselves as moonlighting within the same field, and therefore, dedicating more time to the practice.
Research Interests:
The question about who qualifies to be called a public intellectual, or what actually poses as a hallmark for the public scholarship is still elusive. Even as late as the 1980s, Public scholarship was perceived through the lenses and the... more
The question about who qualifies to be called a public intellectual, or what actually poses as a hallmark for the public scholarship is still elusive. Even as late as the 1980s, Public scholarship was perceived through the lenses and the likes of the 1950 scholars such as John Kenneth Galbraith, Daniel Bell, C. Wright Mills, Jane Jacobs, etc. Such scholars who were deemed as capable of interpreting the political and social dynamics of their time into a language that the public could understand. The irony is that people like artists, political activists, such as Malcolm X, were less perceived as befitting the criteria despite the mention of non-academic intellectuals (p.7) – simply put, there is little mention about them even when the arguments seem to suggest their characteristics as the normative standards of what Jacoby tend to envision in a public intellectual. Emerging scholarship of the time questioned whether it was possible that the world or the ‘American environment’ would ever be blessed with such thinkers again. For Alan Heimert, an emeritus Harvard professor of American literature, that thinking now belongs to a terra-incognita era in the sense that the current climate in America does not support the development of such thinkers. To a large extent, this is the main threshold of Russell Jacoby’s provocative book.
Research Interests:
Debates about Chinese interests in Africa that have emerged in the wake of unprecedented financial investments are often peppered with tales of postcolonial narratives. In communication scholarship, such debates are often characterized by... more
Debates about Chinese interests in Africa that have emerged in the wake of unprecedented financial investments are often peppered with tales of postcolonial narratives. In communication scholarship, such debates are often characterized by a schism among African scholars who believe that China is there to uplift the African media through “constructively reporting” Africa, versus those who argue that China’s purported generosity is a “soft-power” strategy, as Caruso (2020) alluded (p. 55). In their studies, for example, Wasserman and Madrid-Morales (2018) and Benabdallah (2020) were able to demonstrate that China’s impact in the African media, and especially on journalistic values, is still questionable. These conclusions are mostly based on the study conducted in South Africa. There is still a dearth of scientific communication research documenting negative results, despite the underpinning theoretical assumptions. However, some dissertation work conducted in Zambia, where China now owns more than 60% of the government media, provides evidence of Chinese influence in the Zambian media. In my own forthcoming study, (Gondwe, forthcoming), I was able to demonstrate that China’s position in Zambian newsrooms has steadily been shifting toward a positive perception through the measure of sentiments and the interconnectedness of issue attributes (network agenda-setting). Regardless, these approaches take a Manichean prism that highlights the fears and hopes of Chinese presence in Africa. It is for this reason that Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox becomes a must-read
Research Interests:
Debates about Chinese interests in Africa that have emerged in the wake of unprecedented financial investments are often peppered with tales of postcolonial narratives. In communication scholarship, such debates are often characterized by... more
Debates about Chinese interests in Africa that have emerged in the wake of unprecedented financial investments are often peppered with tales of postcolonial narratives. In communication scholarship, such debates are often characterized by a schism among African scholars who believe that China is there to uplift the African media through “constructively reporting” Africa, versus those who argue that China’s purported generosity is a “soft-power” strategy, as Caruso (2020) alluded (p. 55). In their studies, for example, Wasserman and Madrid-Morales (2018) and Benabdallah (2020) were able to demonstrate that China’s impact in the African media, and especially on journalistic values, is still questionable. These conclusions are mostly based on the study conducted in South Africa. There is still a dearth of scientific communication research documenting negative results, despite the underpinning theoretical assumptions. However, some dissertation work conducted in Zambia, where China now owns more than 60% of the government media, provides evidence of Chinese influence in the Zambian media. In my own forthcoming study, (Gondwe, forthcoming), I was able to demonstrate that China’s position in Zambian newsrooms has steadily been shifting toward a positive perception through the measure of sentiments and the interconnectedness of issue attributes (network agenda-setting). Regardless, these approaches take a Manichean prism that highlights the fears and hopes of Chinese presence in Africa. It is for this reason that Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance, and Paradox becomes a must-read.
Research Interests:
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Research Interests:
Despite years of earnest research, a simple or definitive answer to the question of whether China's presence in sub-Saharan Africa is aiding the constructive reporting of Africa still eludes scholars. The question has become more complex... more
Despite years of earnest research, a simple or definitive answer to the question of whether China's presence in sub-Saharan Africa is aiding the constructive reporting of Africa still eludes scholars. The question has become more complex as the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration in the US embarks on resetting policies targeted towards Africa and China.