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Reinvigorating ‘Age-Old Questions’: African Journalism Cultures and the Fallacy of Global Normative Homogeneity

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Newsmaking Cultures in Africa

Abstract

This book contributes to a broadened theorisation of journalism by exploring the intricacies of African journalism and its connections with the material realities undergirding the profession on the continent. It carries theoretically driven studies that collectively deploy a wide range of evidence to shed light on newsmaking cultures in Africa—the everyday routines, defining epistemologies, as well as ethical dilemmas. The volume digs beneath the standardised and universalised veneer of professionalism to unpack routine practices and normative trends spawned by local factors, including the structural conditions of deprivation, entrenched political instability (and interference), pervasive neo-patrimonial governance systems and the influence of technological developments. It demonstrates that these varied and complex circumstances profoundly shape the foundations of journalism in Africa, resulting in routine practices that are both normatively distinct and equally in tune with (imported) Western journalistic cultures. The book thus broadly points to the dialectical nature of news production and the inconsistent and contradictory relationships that characterise news production cultures in Africa.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term ‘normative’ as used here is interpreted generically to mean ideal standards and values that underpin and inform the social practice of journalism in terms of decisions and actions taken by journalists. These standards relate to the core social and production practices, and even the very nature of journalism. In the words of Duff, ‘at their best, norms crystallise cherished values and give us a viable social morality’ (cited in Mabweazara 2013, 148).

  2. 2.

    Constructivist approaches take into account the social and cultural realities that impact on social practice, journalism in this case. They emphasise the ‘social shaping’ nature of practices within specific contexts.

  3. 3.

    This body of research, emerging mostly from Anglo-American scholarship, broadly constitutes the standard against which inquiry into journalism has been evaluated and is referenced widely as the established beginning of journalism studies (see Zelizer 2004).

  4. 4.

    The conditions include weak economic structures tangled in complex political systems, failed economic policies, conflict, over-dependency on foreign funding, and entrenched corruption and patrimonial relationships, among other factors.

  5. 5.

    It has often been seen by critics as reinforcing African exceptionalism which frames the continent as the ‘normative other’ relative to the economically developed regions of the North.

  6. 6.

    Several editors and ordinary citizens have been arrested and charged under this law. In 2003, the Daily News’ editor was arrested and charged under POSA for allegedly publishing advertisements insulting the president, see: http://www.ifex.org/zimbabwe/2003/06/27/third_editor_charged_under_public/. Accessed 9 July 2017.

  7. 7.

    The metaphor of the ‘brown envelope’ is not only used to capture the image of cash stashed in envelopes but also the clandestine and informal nature of the underhand dealings, which often occur at a very personal level.

  8. 8.

    Moonlighting is, however, a much wider culture in African newsrooms; it is not necessarily restricted to journalists working for the privately owned news organisations (see Chap. 5 in this volume).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Falmouth University, Falmouth, UK

    Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara

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  1. Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Writing and Journalism, Falmouth University, Penryn, United Kingdom

    Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara

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Mabweazara, H.M. (2018). Reinvigorating ‘Age-Old Questions’: African Journalism Cultures and the Fallacy of Global Normative Homogeneity. In: Mabweazara, H. (eds) Newsmaking Cultures in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54109-3_1

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