PAMBAZUKA NEWS 645: SPECIAL ISSUE: MEDIA IN AFRICA: THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM CONTINUES
Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839
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1 Features
INSIDE THE MEDIA IN AFRICA: INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE
Henry Makori
The media landscape in Africa is quite diverse. Campaigns for media freedom and freedom of expression have resulted in the repeal of repressive laws in some countries, but old and new challenges persist. There are interesting debates about the place of the media in the continent's development
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88877
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CAN AFRICA TELL ITS OWN STORIES?
Simon Allison
One of Africa's biggest problems is that it is not allowed to tell its own stories. There are imperfect solutions such as content-sharing agreements among journalists but ultimately Africa must set its own news agenda
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88860
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SUPPRESSING THE AFRICAN MEDIA INTO SUBMISSION
Pa Louis Thomasi
Since formal independence the media in Africa has been bludgeoned into capitulation to the state. To overturn this reality there must be decriminalisation of libel and legislation on the right to access to information must be enforced
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88861
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MEDIA: THE MISSING LINK IN AFRICA'S DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATISATION DISCOURSE
Odomaro Mubangizi
There lies enormous potential in a genuinely independent media in assisting in the development and democratization process in Africa
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88865
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NEW LAW STIFLES FREE EXPRESSION IN THE GAMBIA
Sanyu Awori
Whilst The Gambia remains a member of the Commonwealth that affirms freedom of expression as one of its core values, the government of President Yahya Jammeh has been clamping down on newspapers and journalists with zeal
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88863
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THE KENYAN MEDIA'S 'MOVE ON' MANTRA
Rasna Warah
Local media coverage of the 2013 Kenyan elections downplayed acts of violence and bordered on self-censorship despite the fact that social media reflected a deeply politically and ethnically divided society. The new Kenyatta government has now embarked on a charm offensive to co-opt the media
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88864
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ELECTIONS 2013: HOW THE MEDIA FAILED KENYA
Henry Makori
The media in Kenya continues to be the target of intense criticism over its coverage of the elections in March. It is thought to have shirked its watchdog role and focused on peace messages. But supporters say that was necessary, given the circumstances
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88874
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KENYA'S MEDIA BATTLES IDENTITY CRISIS
Abdullahi Boru Halakhe
By easily relinquishing a critical agenda setting role, the mainstream media in Kenya appears to have given up on its well-earned position as an accessory to the second liberation for which it paid a steep price. Today, media content is generally vacuous
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88878
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THE CHANGING FABRIC OF KENYAN SOCIETY
Aamera Jiwaji
A study of how young Kenyan women engage with Cuando Seas Mia suggests that the Mexican telenovela is not a cultural imperialist product but one that helps them redefine their identities as modern African women
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88873
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TWENTY YEARS OF INSIGHTFUL SERVICE TO GHANA AND AFRICA
Ali-Masmadi Jehu-Appiah
The Insight newspaper is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Its contribution to the democratization of Ghana and its founder's indefatigable spirit are outstanding
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88866
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ONE YEAR ON, STILL NO JUSTICE FOR DAUDI MWANGOSI
Paul Kimumwe
The brutal murder of the TV journalist by police officers was the first among several attacks on journalists. Within the past year, Tanzania has gone from being the beacon of hope in the region to one of the worst human rights offenders
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88867
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IS BURUNDI'S PEACEBUILDING PROCESS UNDER THREAT?
Amanda Lucey
A draconian law passed recently is symptomatic of a larger concern: a shrinking of political space in the country and continued human rights violations that jeopardise the fragile peacebuilding process
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88868
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24 HOURS IN HARARE, THEN A STATE ESCORT BACK HOME
Charles Omondi
A Kenyan journalist's harrowing experience in Zimbanwe where he had gone to cover the July elections provides ample evidence of the state of media freedom in Zimbabwe, even as President Robert Mugabe never ceases his pan-Africanist and anti-imperialist rhetoric
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88869
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HUBAAL'S EDITOR TALKS ABOUT PRESS IN SOMALILAND
Tom Rhodes
Few publications have faced such an onslaught by authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland as Hubaal. Its speaks on the experience
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88871
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REORGANISING POWER: TELLING MEANINGFUL BLACK STORIES IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
Thapelo Tselapedi
Black stories are in the form of service delivery protests, which are characterized by angry mobs stealing electricity, invading lands and tossing poo. Such stories don't engage Black politics in any meaningful way – they are not written nor seen through Black people's experiences
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88872
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MOBILIZATION IN THE AGE OF PARALLEL MEDIA
Citizen journalists, social movements and the use of information and communication technologies
Maha Bashri
This is a case study of the successful use of ICTs by activists and citizen journalists to engage and mobilize audiences in Sudan after the flooding crisis in August 2013
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88875
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TANZANIA: MEDIA PRACTITIONERS CALL FOR EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE
Nizar Visram
There is growing fear and self-censorship in Tanzanian newsrooms following violent attacks on journalists in recent months. The country is fast losing its reputation as a peaceful and tolerant society
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88876
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STATISTICS IN THE MEDIA: A BOOK REVIEW
Peter Lawrence
This timely book should be required reading on any statistics and media studies programme in African universities, if not everywhere. As an accompaniment to standard statistics texts, it would act as a constant reminder to students as to the limitations of statistical methods without due regard to the socio-economic context in which the data is being collected, analysed and presented
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/88870
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