The coronavirus befell the world in late 2019 resulting in the World Health Organisation declaring a global pandemic in March 2020. As governments and health authorities around the world struggled to control the pandemic, key components of their efforts include the publicizing of their services, informing citizens of good hygiene practices, keeping the nation informed of the spread of the virus and generally keeping citizens in a positive and focused frame of mind. These efforts fall within the definition of health marketing which applies marketing principles and theories combined with health strategies to promote people’s health. These efforts also draw on both traditional and new digital channels, including online and social media, to carry across the health-marketing message to citizens. Zimbabwe is no different. The Ministry of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe is the public authority responsible for healthcare in the country. This study reviews the three main digital channels used by the Ministry to communicate with Zimbabwean citizens, namely, their website, Facebook and Twitter. The review involves a longitudinal dissection of the communications shared across these three channels for the period from May to August 2020 and uses both content and thematic analysis to understand and critique the health communications being put out by the Ministry to its citizens. The review also takes into consideration the public comments on these communications to present a critical review of the effectiveness of these communications from a health-marketing perspective. The findings provide useful insight into the positive aspects and shortcomings of these communications and contribute to a conceptual framework for managing health-marketing communications in a time of crisis.
{"title":"A critical review of health marketing in Zimbabwe during COVID-19","authors":"Shupikai Kembo, C. Bothma","doi":"10.1386/jams_00094_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00094_1","url":null,"abstract":"The coronavirus befell the world in late 2019 resulting in the World Health Organisation declaring a global pandemic in March 2020. As governments and health authorities around the world struggled to control the pandemic, key components of their efforts include the publicizing of their services, informing citizens of good hygiene practices, keeping the nation informed of the spread of the virus and generally keeping citizens in a positive and focused frame of mind. These efforts fall within the definition of health marketing which applies marketing principles and theories combined with health strategies to promote people’s health. These efforts also draw on both traditional and new digital channels, including online and social media, to carry across the health-marketing message to citizens. Zimbabwe is no different. The Ministry of Health and Child Care in Zimbabwe is the public authority responsible for healthcare in the country. This study reviews the three main digital channels used by the Ministry to communicate with Zimbabwean citizens, namely, their website, Facebook and Twitter. The review involves a longitudinal dissection of the communications shared across these three channels for the period from May to August 2020 and uses both content and thematic analysis to understand and critique the health communications being put out by the Ministry to its citizens. The review also takes into consideration the public comments on these communications to present a critical review of the effectiveness of these communications from a health-marketing perspective. The findings provide useful insight into the positive aspects and shortcomings of these communications and contribute to a conceptual framework for managing health-marketing communications in a time of crisis.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73215256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gershon Dagba, Prince Opoku, M. Amankwa, I. Nyadera
What is the public perception of investigative journalism in Africa? This article seeks to examine the public perception and challenges facing investigative journalism in Africa. It uses the case of an investigative journalist called Anas from Ghana whose works have sought to expose corruption in the country and the continent. The article adopts a mixed-method approach that relies on descriptive, quantitative research design (basic numeral) based on an online survey from June to July 2019 (n = 208 respondents) and an in-depth analysis of existing literature. The objective of this study is to interrogate the role of journalists in combating corruption, a vice that continues to pose a serious threat to justice and development in many societies. The authors find that investigative journalism is attractive to many citizens but faces serious challenges that undermine its effectiveness. The article concludes with a set of recommendations that can further strengthen the practice of investigative journalism.
{"title":"Investigative journalism and anti-corruption: Public perception on Anas’s approach in Ghana","authors":"Gershon Dagba, Prince Opoku, M. Amankwa, I. Nyadera","doi":"10.1386/jams_00083_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00083_1","url":null,"abstract":"What is the public perception of investigative journalism in Africa? This article seeks to examine the public perception and challenges facing investigative journalism in Africa. It uses the case of an investigative journalist called Anas from Ghana whose works have sought to expose corruption in the country and the continent. The article adopts a mixed-method approach that relies on descriptive, quantitative research design (basic numeral) based on an online survey from June to July 2019 (n = 208 respondents) and an in-depth analysis of existing literature. The objective of this study is to interrogate the role of journalists in combating corruption, a vice that continues to pose a serious threat to justice and development in many societies. The authors find that investigative journalism is attractive to many citizens but faces serious challenges that undermine its effectiveness. The article concludes with a set of recommendations that can further strengthen the practice of investigative journalism.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"350 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76886440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Via content analysis, this study investigates the visual portrayal of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in US newspapers during the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Salience of identified frames and tone is assessed relative to findings identified in existing literature. Data were collected from the New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dallas Morning News. Findings suggest coverage did not favour victim-only frames, relative to other types of frames, whose visual tone became marginally less negative once Ebola patients were in the United States. Such results contribute to literature regarding African media studies, public perception of foreign affairs and press coverage of international health epidemics.
{"title":"The Africa the media showed us: A visual content analysis of the 2014 Ebola epidemic","authors":"Phillip C. Arceneaux","doi":"10.1386/jams_00086_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00086_1","url":null,"abstract":"Via content analysis, this study investigates the visual portrayal of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea in US newspapers during the 2014 Ebola epidemic. Salience of identified frames and tone is assessed relative to findings identified in existing literature. Data were collected from the New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dallas Morning News. Findings suggest coverage did not favour victim-only frames, relative to other types of frames, whose visual tone became marginally less negative once Ebola patients were in the United States. Such results contribute to literature regarding African media studies, public perception of foreign affairs and press coverage of international health epidemics.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78163764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In Zimbabwe, media activists have used several strategies to prise open the media space. The emergence of media policy reform activism (MPRA) in the last decade of the twentieth century in Zimbabwe has transformed media policies in several ways. However, the strategies of activism and the extent to which these strategies have influenced media policy transformation have not been adequately researched. Thus, using in-depth interviews with some MPRA under the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), the government, other media policy stakeholders and documentary analysis, this study examines the strategies used to impact media policy reforms and the extent to which the strategies have influenced the policy reform process. The study established that media reform activists in Zimbabwe use numerous strategies to open media systems. Nonetheless, there is a standoff between MAZ and the state over several issues which include but are not limited to the source of funding and ideologies.
{"title":"Towards media democracy: An examination of media policy reform activism and its impact on Zimbabwean media policy reform process","authors":"Alfandika Last, Ufuoma Akpojivi","doi":"10.1386/jams_00085_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00085_1","url":null,"abstract":"In Zimbabwe, media activists have used several strategies to prise open the media space. The emergence of media policy reform activism (MPRA) in the last decade of the twentieth century in Zimbabwe has transformed media policies in several ways. However, the strategies of activism and the extent to which these strategies have influenced media policy transformation have not been adequately researched. Thus, using in-depth interviews with some MPRA under the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ), the government, other media policy stakeholders and documentary analysis, this study examines the strategies used to impact media policy reforms and the extent to which the strategies have influenced the policy reform process. The study established that media reform activists in Zimbabwe use numerous strategies to open media systems. Nonetheless, there is a standoff between MAZ and the state over several issues which include but are not limited to the source of funding and ideologies.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"85 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79829968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Review of: Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance and Paradox, Emeka Umejei (2020) Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 142 pp., ISBN 879-1-49859-396-0, h/bk, $95
{"title":"Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance and Paradox, Emeka Umejei (2020)","authors":"Yu Xiang","doi":"10.1386/jams_00089_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00089_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Chinese Media in Africa: Perception, Performance and Paradox, Emeka Umejei (2020)\u0000Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 142 pp.,\u0000ISBN 879-1-49859-396-0, h/bk, $95","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"224 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75165737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study considers the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers. It is conceived as a response to western media portrayal of African nations, which has received extensive research attention. The outcome of this substantial body of research points to a negative representation of developing nations, which are characterized by poverty, violence and instability. However, little or nothing exists on the counter-representation of western nations in the African media, and this is the focus of our research. To this end, we employ quantitative content analysis to identify the tone and theme of the representation of western nations in two newspapers based in Lagos, Nigeria. Our findings show that, although the tone of western representation in the Nigerian media is complex, it is largely negative, and the theme focuses on the political and global power of western nations. We contend that this pattern of representation reflects the existence of structural imperialism, particularly in the news reports of Nigerian newspapers, almost all of which were dubbed from international news agencies. This leads us to argue that the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers indicates the existence of borrowed lenses, with implications for the construction of knowledge on regional and global affairs.
{"title":"Borrowing lenses from the West: Analysis of an African media representation of western nations","authors":"V. Obia, Ismail A. Ibraheem, Charles C. Onwunali","doi":"10.1386/jams_00084_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00084_1","url":null,"abstract":"This study considers the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers. It is conceived as a response to western media portrayal of African nations, which has received extensive research attention. The outcome of this substantial body of research points to a negative representation of developing nations, which are characterized by poverty, violence and instability. However, little or nothing exists on the counter-representation of western nations in the African media, and this is the focus of our research. To this end, we employ quantitative content analysis to identify the tone and theme of the representation of western nations in two newspapers based in Lagos, Nigeria. Our findings show that, although the tone of western representation in the Nigerian media is complex, it is largely negative, and the theme focuses on the political and global power of western nations. We contend that this pattern of representation reflects the existence of structural imperialism, particularly in the news reports of Nigerian newspapers, almost all of which were dubbed from international news agencies. This leads us to argue that the representation of western nations in Nigerian newspapers indicates the existence of borrowed lenses, with implications for the construction of knowledge on regional and global affairs.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79262431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article provides insight into the media as ‘reproducers’ of racist ideologies in an African postcolonial context. In South Africa, a ‘racist’ Clicks TRESemmé advert, released in September 2020, triggered public outcry and protests and exposed pertinent issues to consider about a lack of diversity and transformation as well as colonial tropes of Blackness still circulating in the post-apartheid media. This article locates the ‘racist’ Clicks advert historically within apartheid-era constructions of Blackness, as well as globally and locally within a wider pattern of Blackness representation. I problematize the advert as a manifestation of systemic weaknesses in the media transformation agenda in terms of race, specifically (1) racial substitution, (2) racial hierarchy and (3) beyond policies of non-racialism. I argue for a need to adopt decolonial visibility (Maldonado-Torres 2007) of Blackness to strengthen the media’s transformation efforts and dismantle the embedded racial hierarchy that emanated from capitalist modernity (Grosfoguel 2007).
{"title":"Racism and the post-apartheid media: Problematizing the racist Clicks advert as a manifestation of token transformation","authors":"Prinola Govenden","doi":"10.1386/jams_00082_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00082_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article provides insight into the media as ‘reproducers’ of racist ideologies in an African postcolonial context. In South Africa, a ‘racist’ Clicks TRESemmé advert, released in September 2020, triggered public outcry and protests and exposed pertinent issues to consider about a lack of diversity and transformation as well as colonial tropes of Blackness still circulating in the post-apartheid media. This article locates the ‘racist’ Clicks advert historically within apartheid-era constructions of Blackness, as well as globally and locally within a wider pattern of Blackness representation. I problematize the advert as a manifestation of systemic weaknesses in the media transformation agenda in terms of race, specifically (1) racial substitution, (2) racial hierarchy and (3) beyond policies of non-racialism. I argue for a need to adopt decolonial visibility (Maldonado-Torres 2007) of Blackness to strengthen the media’s transformation efforts and dismantle the embedded racial hierarchy that emanated from capitalist modernity (Grosfoguel 2007).","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80525318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has unravelled the significance of having robust communication structures about health and disease to dynamic societies. The need to construct a mutual understanding of health issues has become imperative, and achieving a universal understanding of the disease burden requires robust information-sharing processes which can easily surmount the barriers to communication. What is challenging, however, is to communicate in a way and in a language that the majority of the population understands. In Malawi, where the majority of the population (84 per cent) live in rural areas, and without access to information technologies, it becomes more challenging when devising messages that should reach such hard-to-reach populations. This therefore begs the question: how effective is the COVID-19 communication to the Malawi public domain? This article attempts to answer this question by discussing the language choice vis-à-vis the lingua-cultural needs of the masses in COVID-19 awareness, and the strategies and modes of communication in COVID-19 communication. In view of this, the article argues that the government communication strategies concerning COVID-19 were not entirely effective. The article notes that the use of English in most of the COVID-19 messages has excluded the majority and has perpetuated the attitude of perceiving COVID-19 as a disease for the rich people. The modes being used in communicating COVID-19 do not effectively reach the masses since the media penetration is minimal resulting in most Malawians getting second-hand information and developing myths and conspiracy theories. The article concludes that it is imperative for Malawi to devise a contextually appropriate framework for communicating complex health messages.
{"title":"Linguistic and communication exclusion in COVID-19 awareness campaigns in Malawi","authors":"Peter Mayeso Jiyajiya, Atikonda Mtenje-Mkochi","doi":"10.1386/jams_00088_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00088_1","url":null,"abstract":"The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has unravelled the significance of having robust communication structures about health and disease to dynamic societies. The need to construct a mutual understanding of health issues has become imperative, and achieving a universal understanding of the disease burden requires robust information-sharing processes which can easily surmount the barriers to communication. What is challenging, however, is to communicate in a way and in a language that the majority of the population understands. In Malawi, where the majority of the population (84 per cent) live in rural areas, and without access to information technologies, it becomes more challenging when devising messages that should reach such hard-to-reach populations. This therefore begs the question: how effective is the COVID-19 communication to the Malawi public domain? This article attempts to answer this question by discussing the language choice vis-à-vis the lingua-cultural needs of the masses in COVID-19 awareness, and the strategies and modes of communication in COVID-19 communication. In view of this, the article argues that the government communication strategies concerning COVID-19 were not entirely effective. The article notes that the use of English in most of the COVID-19 messages has excluded the majority and has perpetuated the attitude of perceiving COVID-19 as a disease for the rich people. The modes being used in communicating COVID-19 do not effectively reach the masses since the media penetration is minimal resulting in most Malawians getting second-hand information and developing myths and conspiracy theories. The article concludes that it is imperative for Malawi to devise a contextually appropriate framework for communicating complex health messages.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"435 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77816430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Technology, language and media sociality in Africa","authors":"L. L. Mukhongo","doi":"10.1386/jams_00081_2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00081_2","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"71 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83861516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines the coronavirus pandemic against a burgeoning culture of post-truth in social media. The theoretical narrative reviews the social media cum post-truth epoch and identifies network fluidity of the medium, absence of gatekeepers, tempering of human thinking with machine thinking, and supremacy of alternative facts over truth as basic ingredients that oil-free reign of manipulative and propulsive forces of coronavirus’ conspiracy theories, forged news, tricky data, and disinformation. The article asserts that as the bubbles of post-truth swear up in the online media, conned objectivity and rationality are conjured to stimulate strong sentiments capable of making individuals uphold wrong beliefs about coronavirus. The study suggests the use of human actions in managing coronavirus information rather than surrendering it to machine-based computational procedures. It recommends the teaching of media literacy in African schools to moderate the consumption of information in a world suffused with infodemics.
{"title":"Conspiracy theories, misinformation, disinformation and the coronavirus: A burgeoning of post-truth in the social media","authors":"Majority Oji","doi":"10.1386/jams_00087_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00087_1","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the coronavirus pandemic against a burgeoning culture of post-truth in social media. The theoretical narrative reviews the social media cum post-truth epoch and identifies network fluidity of the medium, absence of gatekeepers, tempering of human thinking with machine thinking, and supremacy of alternative facts over truth as basic ingredients that oil-free reign of manipulative and propulsive forces of coronavirus’ conspiracy theories, forged news, tricky data, and disinformation. The article asserts that as the bubbles of post-truth swear up in the online media, conned objectivity and rationality are conjured to stimulate strong sentiments capable of making individuals uphold wrong beliefs about coronavirus. The study suggests the use of human actions in managing coronavirus information rather than surrendering it to machine-based computational procedures. It recommends the teaching of media literacy in African schools to moderate the consumption of information in a world suffused with infodemics.","PeriodicalId":43702,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Media Studies","volume":"31 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81999592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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