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Social Media and Everyday Life in South Africa

Tanja E. Bosch

London; New York: Routledge (2021), x, 157 pp.

"This volume explores how, over the past decade, social media platforms have deeply penetrated the fabric of everyday life. The author considers South Africans’ use of wearable tech and use of online health and sports tracking systems via mobile phones within the broader context of the digital dat ... more

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Media and the Coronavirus Pandemic in Africa (Part Two)

Journal of African Media Studies, volume 13, issue 3 (2021), pp. 305-490

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Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change
Top Insights

Jan Servaes (ed.)

Singapore: Springer (2020), 2 vols.

"The book contains 85 chapters written by persons who have been on those frontlines of communication and development [...] A variety of case studies appear in the book. For example, Kriss Barker and Fatou Jah – in a chapter titled “Entertainment-Education in Radio: Three Case Studies from Africa ... ” – explore in detail projects in Nigeria, Burundi and Burkina Faso that used a communication intervention approach advanced by the Population Media Center. Other chapters in the Handbook take the reader to Spain, Kenya, South Africa, Kazakhstan, and beyond. Song Shi examines “ICTs and Modernization in China,” revealing that assumptions and theories of the modernization paradigm have significantly influenced the policies and projects on ICT4D in contemporary China. And, Song Shi writes, discussion on the potential of other approaches in ICT4D in China has also emerged among scholars. Hina Ayaz discusses the “Multiplicity Approach in Participatory Communication” in Pakistan – wherein the country adopted the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – only to run into negative perceptions and banning of polio vaccinations. However, a shift to a more successful approach, grounded in UNICEF’s social mobilization and communityinvolvement communication strategy, brought significant success. While many of the Handbook case studies incorporate participation as a significant development factor, they also address a wide range of social and political issues including, for example, civic engagement, sexual harassment, empowerment, and community voices. In addition to an abundance of case studies from around the world, the Handbook delves into various research methods that are being used to understand and design communication for development and social change interventions [...] Handbook editor Jan Servaes' own chapter (with Rico Lie), “Key Concepts, Disciplines, and Fields in Communication for Development and Social Change ” identifies five clusters of concepts and practices that are evident in the field today and which determine the activities and approaches in communication for sustainable development and social change interventions: The clusters are (1) a normative cluster of concepts; (2) a cluster of concepts that sets an important context for communication activities for development; (3) a cluster of strategic and methodological concepts; (4) a cluster of concepts that relate to methods, techniques, and tools; and (5) a cluster of concepts that addresses the practices of advocacy, (participatory) monitoring and evaluation, and impact assessment. The authors extend their discussion into three subdivisions: (1) health communication, (2) agricultural extension and rural communication, and (3) environmental communication (including climate change communication). This leads the reader into issues related to (1) right to communicate; (2) education and learning; (3) innovation, science, and technology; (4) natural resource management; (5) food security; (6) poverty reduction; (7) peace and conflict; (8) children and youth, women, and senior citizens; and (9) tourism. Some of the forerunners of development communication have not been forgotten. In “Daniel Lerner and the Origins of Development Communication”, Hemant Shah links Lerner’s 1958 book Passing of Traditional Society to today’s modernization and faith in technology to solve social problems. Also contributing to the foundation of this field is Paulo Freire who contributed much to idea that participation should be a vital part of the development dialogue. Ana Fernández-Aballí Altamirano’s chapter on "The Importance of Paulo Freire to Communication for Development and Social Change" highlights his main work Pedagogy of the Oppressed as a "before-and-after" in the fields of education, research, and communication, initially in Latin America and later in both North and South. Particularly in the case of development communication and communication for social change, the author stresses, Freire’s work had a definitive impact ..." (Review by Royal Donald Colle, Journal of Development Communication, vol. 30 (2), page 92-94) more

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Social Media and Politics in Africa: Democracy, Censorship and Security
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Maggie Dwyer, Thomas Molony (eds.)

London: Zed Books (2019), xiii, 299 pp.

"Drawing on over a dozen new empirical case studies – from Kenya to Somalia, South Africa to Tanzania – this collection explores how rapidly growing social media use is reshaping political engagement in Africa. But while social media has often been hailed as a liberating tool, the book demonstra ... more

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Media, Communication and the Struggle for Democratic Change: Case Studies on Contested Transitions

Katrin Voltmer, Christian Christensen, Irene Neverla, Nicole Stremlau, Barbara Thomass, Nebojsa Vladisavljevic, Herman Wasserman (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2019), xvii, 305 pp.

"This book investigates the role of media and communication in processes of democratization in different political and cultural contexts. Struggles for democratic change are periods of intense contest over the transformation of citizenship and the reconfiguration of political power. These democratiz ... more

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Perspectives on Political Communication in Africa

Bruce Mutsvairo, Beschara Karam (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2018), xxiii, 272 pp.

"Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally drawing comparisons with other regions of the world, this book critically addresses the development of the field focusing on the current opportunities and challenges within the African context. By using a wide variety of case studies that include Moza ... more

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The Palgrave Handbook of Media and Communication Research in Africa
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Bruce Mutsvairo (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2018), xxix, 497 pp.

"This handbook attempts to fill the gap in empirical scholarship of media and communication research in Africa, from an Africanist perspective. The collection draws on expert knowledge of key media and communication scholars in Africa and the diaspora, offering a counter-narrative to existing Wester ... more

Broadcasting Democracy: Radio and Identity in South Africa

Tanja Bosch

Cape Town: HSRC Press (2017), vii, 176 pp.

"The media play a key role in post-apartheid South Africa and is often positioned at the centre of debates around politics, identity and culture. Media, such as radio, are often said to also play a role in deepening democracy, while simultaneously holding the power to frame political events, shape p ... more

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Questioning the Media-Democracy Link: South African Journalists’ Views

Wallace Chuma, Herman Wasserman, Tanja Bosch, Rebecca Pointer

African Journalism Studies, volume 38, issue 1 (2017), pp. 104-128

"It is often assumed that a robust, free and independent media will contribute to the deepening of democracy by keeping governments accountable and broadening citizen participation in deliberative democratic debates. But in new democracies such as South Africa, the deepening and broadening of democr ... more

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Memory Studies: A Brief Concept Paper

Tanja Bosch

Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) Media (2016), 9 pp.

"The paper presents: A discussion of the methods used in memory studies, explaining how attention to questions of methodology has been limited in memory studies because much research has been more concerned with theoretical issues. The paper reflects on the methods from oral history, as well as othe ... more

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Civil Society, Political Activism and Communications in Democratisation Conflicts: A Literature Review

Rebecca Pointer, Tanja Bosch, Wallace Chuma, Herman Wasserman

Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) Media (2016), 35 pp.

"Given that the nature of civil society in different countries is different, and also often shifting in response to political changes, examining the relationship between civil society and media production (mainstream and alternative) in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa involves being sensitive ... more

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Comparative Analysis of Civil Society, Media and Conflict

Rebecca Pointer, Tanja Bosch, Wallace Chuma, Herman Wasserman

Conflict and Democratisation (MeCoDEM) Media (2016), 52 pp.

"This paper explores how Egyptian, Kenyan, Serbian and South African civil society organisations (CSOs) use communication and relationships with media to engage in democratic contestation. Individual interviews were conducted with 91 CSO members who participated in the various democratisation confli ... more

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Building Capacity for a Changing Media Environment in Africa: A Focus on Training Needs and Gender Concerns

Journal of African Media Studies, volume 8, issue 3 (2016), pp. 247-318

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Digital Activism in the Social Media Era: Critical Reflections on Emerging Trends in Sub-Saharan Africa

Bruce Mutsvairo (ed.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2016), xv, 341 pp.

"This book probes the vitality, potentiality and ability of new communication and technological changes to drive online-based civil action across Africa. In a continent booming with mobile innovation and a plethora of social networking sites, the Internet is considered a powerful platform used by pr ... more

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Women as Radio Audiences in Africa

Tanja Bosch

In: The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender

Cynthia Carter, Linda Steiner, Lisa McLaughlin (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2015), pp. 514-522

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Digital Technologies and the Evolving African Newsroom: Towards an African Digital Journalism Epistemology

Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara (ed.)

London: Routledge (2015), xi, 120 pp.

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The Routledge Companion to Media and Gender

Cynthia Carter, Linda Steiner, Lisa McLaughlin (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2015), xviii, 670 pp.

"The 59 chapters in this volume, written by leading researchers from around the world, provide scholars and students with an engaging and authoritative survey of current thinking in media and gender research. The Companion includes the following features: With each chapter addressing a distinct, con ... more

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Community Radio

Tanja Bosch

In: The Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change

Karin Gwinn Wilkins, Thomas Tufte, Rafael Obregón (eds.)

Chichester: Wiley Blackwell (2014), pp. 426-438

"This chapter focuses on community radio as one form of community media, and explores how citizens and activists use community radio stations for development and social change, despite the challenges of financial sustainability. First, a brief history of community radio is provided, in an internatio ... more

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