The three journalisms of Africa
Does it make sense to speak of a journalism philosophy unique to Africa? Indeed, several scholars believe so, and have argued strongly for a distinct ‘Journalism of Africa’. In this address, I take a retrospective look at 50 years of African media studies and identify major efforts to formulate unique African journalism philosophies. I argue that the efforts constitute three main streams: journalism for social change; communal journalism; and journalism based on oral discourse. The three streams are in tension between each other because they take different approaches to cultural essentialism and media interventionism. On this basis, I propose a model which seeks to explain why all three models are at odds with ‘Western’ libertarian journalism. The paradox, nevertheless, is that despite some strong calls for a unique African journalism model, in actual practice, journalism across Africa appears to have much in common with journalism elsewhere on the globe.
Publisert i Paper presented at the 3rd conference of the East African Communication Association (EACA), Nairobi, Kenya, 2013
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