Charting Theoretical Directions for Examining African Journalism in the “Digital Era”

Abstract

This essay provides a metatheoretical framework for understanding the complexities surrounding African journalism in the era of interactive digital technologies. It argues for the continued relevance of traditional theoretical paradigms, and submits that radical calls to develop new theories as well as to de-Westernise contemporary journalism studies through exclusively deploying “home-grown” concepts such as ubuntuism are not necessarily always viable. Rather, there is more to gain from appropriating traditional theories and identifying possible synergies between the “old”, predominantly Western approaches, and the “new digital phenomena”, and weaving out of that dialogue, approaches that are not radically different but are in tune with the uniqueness of African experiences. This approach, as the study argues, is particularly important given that journalism (including its appropriation of new technologies) always takes on the form and colouring of the social structure in which it operates. The study thus draws on social constructivist approaches to technology and the sociology of journalism, as well as an array of theoretical concerns from African journalism scholarship to offer a possible direction for a conceptual framework that can help us to capture the complex imbrications between new digital technologies and journalism practice in Africa.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• context
• culture
• new technologies
• social constructivist approach
• sociology of journalism
• technological determinism
• ubuntu

Notes

1. As a metatheoretical study, this paper is not anchored in its own primary empirical data; rather it draws on previous studies, including my own research and observations—both empirical and theoretical. In particular, the paper is informed by insights from my doctoral research (Mabweazara 2010a), and further develops an argument I make in Mabweazara (2010b) by amplifying the fact that African theoretical and conceptual paradigms such as ubuntu are not mutually exclusive from established Western theoretical perspectives. Thus, African experiences, and indeed, the unique socio-cultural characteristics of the continent can be examined effectively using an amalgam of established concepts and theories pulled from both worlds. Our primary challenge, in taking this approach, however, is to ensure that we do not lose sight of the contingent nature of experiences in Africa.