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This volume presents case studies of news media employing and integrating social media into their news production practices. It links social media use to journalistic practices and news production processes in the digital age of the Global South. Critically, the chapters look at seminal cases of start-up news media whose content is informed by trends in social media, ethical considerations and participatory cultures spurred by the wide use of social media.
There has been considerable research looking at the potential of new media technologies, traditional journalism and citizen reporting. The extent to which these new media technologies and 'citizen journalism' have morphed or reconfigured traditional journalism practice remains debatable. Currently, there are questions around the limits of social media in journalism practice as the ethical lines continue to become blurred. It is this conundrum of the role of social media in the reconfiguration of the media, news making, production and participatory cultures that requires more investigation. Social media has also turned the logic of the political economy of media production on its head as citizens can now produce, package and distribute news and information with shoestring budgets and in authoritarian regimes with no license of practice. This new political economy means the power that special interest groups used to enjoy is increasingly slipping from their hands as citizens take back the power to appropriate social media journalism to counter hegemonic narratives. Citizens can also perform journalistic roles of investigating and whistleblowing but with a lack off, or limited, regulation. This volume seeks to explore and untangle these issues, and provides an invaluable resource for researchers across the field of journalism, mass media, and communication studies.
List of contents
Chapter 1 Social Media Driven Journalism In Africa: Some Theoretical Perspectives.- PART 1 NEWSMAKING CULTURES AND DIGITAL MEDIA INNOVATIONS.- Chapter 2 Mobile Digital Apps And News Production At NTV Uganda.- Chapter 3 Urban Commercial Radio and the Making of Apolitical Youth: Ethiopia in Focus.- Chapter 4 Social Media Applications and The Changing Newsroom Cultures in Africa: A Case Study of Lesotho.- Chapter 5 The Mediatisation and Media Practice Of Citizen Media And GBV: A Case Of Etv scandal Soap Opera Facebook Page.- Chapter 6 Online Harassment Of Journalists In Zimbabwe: Experiences, Coping Strategies And Implications.- Chapter 7 'Digital first' as a coping measure for Malawi's print newspapers.- Chapter 8 Digital Newspapers As Watchdogs Of Corruption In '2nd Republic' Zimbabwe: A Critical Analysis Of Zimlive.Com And Zim Morning Post's 'Covidgate' Reports.- Chapter 9 Migrating from Traditional To Online-Only News Delivery Among Namibian Publications: An Assessment.- PART 2SOCIAL MEDIA, FUNDING MODELS AND PARTICIPATORY CULTURES.- Chapter 10 Exploring the Attitude of Tanzanian Journalists to Citizen Journalism.- Chapter 11 Monitoring the Fourth Estate: A Critical Analyses Of The Role Audiences In Watchdogging Journalists.- Chapter 12 Financial Sustainability of Social Media-Driven Publications In Zambia.- Chapter 13 Prospects and Challenges for Indigenous African Language Media in The Digital Age.- Chapter 14 Diasporic Media and The Appropriation of Technologies: A Case Of Nehanda Radio And Zimbabwean Politics.- Chapter 15 Reporting on Everyday Life: Practices and Experiences of Citizen Journalism In Mozambique.- Chapter 16 Misfiring Armoury In The Name Of Citizen Journalism: Reliability Of Xenophobia Reportage Through Social Media.
About the author
Trust Matsilele is senior lecturer in the Department of Media and Public Relations, Cape Peninsula University of Science and Technology, South Africa.
Shepherd Mpofu is Associate Professor of Media and Communication at UNISA, South Africa.
Dumisani Moyo is Executive Dean of Humanities at North West University, South Africa.
