Trust Matsilele – författare

This volume examines the trends and patterns of journalists’ harassment in Africa and assesses the policy interventions and protection mechanisms that are put into place in the region.Drawing from case studies from selected African countries, an international team of authors offer a broad insight into the state of harassment across the continent, while building new theoretical perspectives that are also context-specific. The chapters bring previous theories and research up to date by addressing the continual change and development of new discourses, including the use of big data and artificial intelligence in harassing and intimidating journalists and mental health issues affecting journalists in their line of duty. More so, the authors argue that the state and form of harassment is not universal, as location and context are some of the key factors that influence the form and character of harassment.Offering new theoretical insights into the scope of journalism practices in Africa, this book will interest students and scholars of journalism, African studies, political science, media and communication studies, journalism practice and gender studies.

This volume examines the trends and patterns of journalists’ harassment in Africa and assesses the policy interventions and protection mechanisms that are put into place in the region.Drawing from case studies from selected African countries, an international team of authors offer a broad insight into the state of harassment across the continent, while building new theoretical perspectives that are also context-specific. The chapters bring previous theories and research up to date by addressing the continual change and development of new discourses, including the use of big data and artificial intelligence in harassing and intimidating journalists and mental health issues affecting journalists in their line of duty. More so, the authors argue that the state and form of harassment is not universal, as location and context are some of the key factors that influence the form and character of harassment.Offering new theoretical insights into the scope of journalism practices in Africa, this book will interest students and scholars of journalism, African studies, political science, media and communication studies, journalism practice and gender studies.

This pioneering volume presents a comprehensive assessment of generative artificial intelligence's impact on African journalism, bringing together insights from academics, technologists, and practicing journalists across the continent.Featuring diverse case studies from South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Eswatini, the collection explores how African newsrooms are adopting generative AI. Contributors analyse the use of AI presenters, audience perceptions of AI-generated content, gamification strategies in newsrooms, and the barriers journalists face in accessing these technologies. Painting a picture of the complex political economy of AI-driven news production and consumption, the volume also addresses ethical concerns around AI appropriation, highlighting how existing legal frameworks struggle to regulate generative AI in journalism.Positioned at the intersection of technology and African media studies, this book offers essential insights into the future of journalism across the continent.Trust Matsilele is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Birmingham City University, UK, and a Research Fellow in the Communication Department at the University of South Africa.Lungile A. Tshuma is a Researcher in the Centre for Communication and Culture, Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Tshuma is also a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Communication and Media, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

This book takes a critical approach to the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the media and communication landscape.The book argues that as technology is a social construct reflecting existing power dynamics, those in the Global South, and in Africa in particular, are bound to be marginalised and have their knowledge, systems overlooked as the Global North dominates technological developments. The birth of AI has ignited debates about its benefits to lower income countries, with some highlighting its potential to advance businesses and grow economies. However, this book argues that AI tools have been produced to serve Western needs, and that instead there is a need for countries in Africa to have home grown solutions defined by local values. Drawing on case studies and analysis from across the continent, the book seeks to caution, challenge, and proffer solutions to the use and understanding of Generative AI for media and communication in non-western societies.At a time when generative AI is threatening to shape the future of media and communication around the world, this book is a vital and timely contribution to debates within critical data studies and African media studies.

Since its launch ten years ago, TikTok has become a global cultural phenomenon, with more than 1 billion monthly users worldwide, 100 million of which are in Africa. Investigating this transformation from a range of perspectives, this book demonstrates that TikTok is not merely a space for entertainment, but also a platform through which African youth articulate dissent, perform identity, and mobilize for social and political causes.The book argues that rather than simply importing global digital trends, TikTok users in Africa use the platform to reflect and rework pre-existing cultural norms and values. The book begins by exploring political and social justice movements, youth engagement, and activism on TikTok. It then goes on to investigate how personal identities and culture are expressed on TikTok, and how the platform can be used for youth culture, livelihoods, performance and monetization. The book also shows how TikTok has introduced new modes of protest in Africa, via performative activism, hashtag dances, and meme politics that challenge traditional ideas of what political engagement looks like.Overall, the book demonstrates that TikTok in Africa has become a key space where political consciousness, cultural identity, and creativity intersect. Its findings will be of interest to researchers and civil society actors across the fields of digital media, communication studies, popular culture, journalism, and African studies.

Edited by Lungile Tshuma, Trust Matsilele, Shepherd Mpofu and Mbongeni Msimanga, Media, Social Movements, and Protest Cultures in Africa: Hashtags, Humor, and Slogans provides a rich array of protest cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa, delving into the motivations for protests, how protests are carried out and how those targeted by protests try to undermine the protesting movements. Organized into three parts, this book examines social media and social movements, online protest strategies, and media texts used in various protest movements within Sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors shed light on the brutality of various post-colonial regimes in Africa while also giving the reader hope for the current movements that seek to wrestle their societies from the jaws of autocratic leaders. This book offers a theoretically rich and methodologically diverse engagement of protest cultures in countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. The wide tapestry of how these protests are formulated and executed speaks to Africa's diversity and dynamism. This book makes an important intellectual contribution on social and political movements and is relevant to policy makers and researchers in the social sciences and digital humanities.

Bringing together interdisciplinary scholars, this book explores how African musical traditions and dance act as political commentary and forms of resistance in Africa.The volume draws on Christopher Small's concept of "musicking" to explore the intersection between music, dance, and politics across the diverse cultural landscapes in Africa, particularly South Africa, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. Chapters cover case studies of how music and dance have been used as tools of political messaging and means of performing, visualizing and localizing activism, resistance, propaganda, and power in politics.It is structured into three main parts. The first part examines how music and dance serve as vessels for communal memory and heritage. Part two explores the role of music and dance as a tool to fight for democracy and justice. Part three highlights the role of dance and music in elections.This book is essential for scholars and students interested in music and dance as conceptual tools for studying politics as a cultural phenomenon in Africa.

This book proposes a new theorisation when studying cyber dissidents in an African digital sphere. It argues that social media dissidents are a recent development in a long lineage of dissidents in African societies. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the study locates contemporary dissidents in the same family with other historical dissident figures found in African orature, the Chimurenga wars, through music, poetry and other forms of expression. The book argues against techno-deterministic approaches to studying social media-born digital dissidence in Africa. It is aimed at scholars dedicated to studying social media movements in African contexts and the global south generally, prompting them to re-evaluate their earlier conclusions and adopt a more nuanced and contextspecific approach.

This book proposes a new theorisation when studying cyber dissidents in an African digital sphere. It argues that social media dissidents are a recent development in a long lineage of dissidents in African societies. Using Zimbabwe as a case study, the study locates contemporary dissidents in the same family with other historical dissident figures found in African orature, the Chimurenga wars, through music, poetry and other forms of expression. The book argues against techno-deterministic approaches to studying social media-born digital dissidence in Africa. It is aimed at scholars dedicated to studying social media movements in African contexts and the global south generally, prompting them to re-evaluate their earlier conclusions and adopt a more nuanced and contextspecific approach.

This volume presents case studies of news media employing and integrating social media into their news production practices.