African media in the new reality: from mediation to Afrikological mediatization

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Postcolonial Africa has turned out to be one of the world's hotbeds of conflictogenicity, acontinent of military clashes (often escalating into wars) and internal social conflicts – ethno-political, inter-ethnic, religious. Conflicts are becoming mediatised and the media are becoming more deeply involved (Wasserman, 2019). Changes in the media systems of African countries after independence are becoming more and more significant, with the media influencing the discourse of politics and democratic processes. However, how significant is their impact on society? In other words, is mediation moving to a more sophisticated level of mediatisation (Hepp, 2012) or media transgression (Shilina, 2022)? Does de-colonization also mean de-westernization in media studies? Do the researchers focus on specific Afrocentric paradigms?

Initially reflecting colonial interests, state-controlled media dominated the landscape, serving political propaganda in various forms. However, the 1990s marked a turning point with the emergence of private outlets and a shift towards a more open media environment, coinciding with broader democratization movements. The 21st century brought further changes with the advent of the internet and social media, democratizing information dissemination but also posing challenges such as fake news (Gupta et al., 2023), misinformation and disinformation (Humprecht et al., 2023), which significantly affect not only public opinion but also human ecology (Petrova, 2017; Volkova, Lazutova, 2017).

The development of digital media has accelerated the process of “information pollution” in the world and Africa as well (Druzhilov, 2013; Mustapha et al., 2022). Social networking platforms have become the main channels for the dissemination of false information, due to the ease of sharing content, the “information omnivore” of the audience, “consumer promiscuity in conditions of total mediatization” (Soloviev, Moreva, 2018) combined with an ineffective regulatory framework (Polyakov, 2023).

Compounded by low levels of media literacy and digital literacy, the dissemination of fake news intensifies, particularly during election periods. Significantly impacting societies, this complex interplay between political power, media freedom, and technological advancement has shaped the evolution of the African media landscape, media systems – which seem to be a specific paradox of mediatization in Africa.

Russia's historical ties with many African countries, especially during Soviet times, have seen a resurgence in recent years with efforts to build a multipolar world order, the concept of strengthening the countries of the global South (Yakovlev, 2021). Some African governments, including South Africa and Egypt, are aligning closer with Moscow within the BRICS+ format. Russian influence in Africa is perceived as friendly and constructive, and Russian-African interaction is growing stronger. Various types of problems and conflicts are reflected by Russian media and researchers.

Academia and media continue to analyse problems in Africa amidst these challenges of mediation and mediatization. How do the media of African countries reflect the specifics of the New Reality, crisis and conflict phenomena? What is the “quality” of media impact on crises and conflicts in politics and society in Africa today?

To answer these research questions this special issue focuses on mediation of problems conflicts and crisis in African nations. Our contributors from African and European countries, Russia and Canada, from different scientific schools aim to contribute to the media discourse on African media, particularly regarding conflicts and crisis. This special issue explores various aspects of this theme, utilizing diverse research methodologies to critically examine existing theories and frameworks. The authors introduce new empirical material into the scientific discussion.

The researches of this special issue are grounded on well-known classical paradigms, but also demonstrate redirection of the academic discourse on African media to africacentric frameworks which corresponds to a growing repositioning of African media studies aiming to find the “domestic” fundumentals of the research in the new reality (Mutsvairo, 2018; Nyamnjoh, 2020).

Afrocentricity as an intellectual concept privileges the centricity of Africans within the context of their own historical experiences. Africanisation “outside the Western paradigm” does not mean excluding Western cultures, but finding the African identity (Mano, Milton, 2021).

The rise of Africa-centered concepts in research was inspired by the ideas of Afrology as the Afrocentric study of African phenomena, and Africology as a research method of its analysis and evaluation (Asante, 1980; Uzong, 1969). These concepts are widely used among academics not only in media and communication studies, but in many other fields, such as history, sociology, education, etc. F.e., in media studies, since the early 1960s scholars have concentrated on fundamentals of African journalism based on media ethics, and this process is not finished yet (Skjerdal, 2012).

The latest concept of Afrokology is the first from Africa (Nabudere, 2006) and presents the holistic vision that goes beyond critiques of the marginality of previous African approaches in media and communication studies (Mano, Milton, 2021). It is not only about knowing and researching, but doing media (Nyamnjoh, 2020). Afrokology recognises different sources of knowledge and needs dialogue between and among them.

We do hope that the ideas of the contributors of this special issue will provoke further Africa-centered, Afrokological dialogue and discussion on the topic.

African problems in global media agenda. The opening section of this special issue addresses the new challenges facing African media and journalists in escalating political conflicts. African and Canadian researcher Isaac Bazie  examines the characteristics of political journalism on China-Africa relations in a changing global order. The author declared that political journalism plays a vital role in shaping public opinion on political issues and actors, particularly concerning contentious topics such as China-Africa relations. Professor Bazie explores trends in political analysis in the Francophone space in Africa, France, and Canada, shedding light not only on journalism but on the intersection of national and foreign political ideologies.

Research conducted by Elena Vartanova, Denis Dunas, Anna Gladkova, Polina Kireeva, and Daria Maluchenko, from the Faculty of Journalism at Lomonosov University, scrutinizes publications in leading Russian daily periodicals such as “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Izvestia”, and “Kommersant” newspapers in 2023. Their study focuses on media representations of conflicts in African states. It highlights the tendency of Russian newspapers to portray Africa through a Russia-centric lens, emphasizing political shifts in the global arena and positioning Africa as a significant supporter of Russia. Despite conflicts in the region, Russian media tends to depict Africa positively, even amidst negative contexts.

Mediation of intra-African crises: new reflection. Diana Stoica from Ubuntu Centre for African Studies in Romania, in her paper re-thought the images of journalism and the power of media and their provoking roles in crisis in Mali. The author invites the reader to more reflection on the interdependencies between the reality, the journalistic reality, and the journalist’s power or non-power to coin the two, to create and recreate new crises from the old ones. This management of crisis through deflection should be considered a new page turned in the history of crises.

Mustafa Adeitan (Higher School of Economics, Moscow) delves into the framing and agenda setting induced by newspapers' reportage on sanctions imposed on African countries. Specifically, his research focuses on Zimbabwe, Mali, and Niger Republic, examining how the media in these countries frames political and economic sanctions. By employing the Framing and Agenda Setting theories, Adeitan analyzed 204 sanction-related headlines from five media outlets in each country. The findings indicate a prevalent use of a generic framing approach across all three countries, with the responsibility and conflict frames consistently dominating.

The article entitled “The Impact of Opinion Polls on the Burkinabe Population during Election Periods”, authored by R.D. Balima and C.P. Sawadogo, provides a comprehensive analysis of the dissemination of opinion polls during electoral cycles. The study examines polls commissioned by the newspaper Bendre and conducted by the Institute of Research and Polling ahead of the November 29th, 2015 presidential and legislative elections in Burkina Faso, which faced significant public scrutiny and criticism for their perceived lack of credibility. The findings suggest that opinion polls had a limited influence on voters, attributed to low exposure and negative perceptions of their role in shaping political life.

Mediaframes of religious and ethnic conflicts. The article, authored by  Rasaq Adisa, Samuel Segbefia, Sadiq Mohammed and Galina Trofimova, delves into the impact of misinformation and disinformation on ethno-religious conflicts in Ghana and Nigeria. The study aims to understand how misinformation and  disinformation contribute to the escalation of ethno-religious conflicts, employing qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews to uncover the mechanisms through which false information shapes perceptions and deepens divisions. We especially note the methodology of this study.

Bukar's and co-authors study, “Peace Journalism Practice in Nigeria: War Language and Blasphemy Conflicts”, through quantitative content analysis and framing theory, examines the language used in 306 editions of Daily Trust and The Punch newspapers. The researchers found a significant use of war-related lexical indicators in the reporting of blasphemy incidents, with demonizing language being the most prevalent. The authors suggest that journalists covering ethno-religious crises should learn the principles of peace journalism as advocated by Johan Galtung.

The traditional section of the special issue features an interview with media expert and editor Zenebe Kinfu. Revealing details useful for understanding crisis and conflict situations, he analyses the media presentation of conflicts in Africa, discusses modern media systems and the peculiarities of mediation in African countries.

Mediation processes in Africa demonstrate profound changes not only in the production and consumption of news, but also in the media systems themselves. To draw analogies within the framework of systems theory, the African media landscape demonstrates the transition from simple forms of emergent structures that provide media connections within society to more complex ones: the emergent structure of the media system shows the consistent and continuous interaction of actors leading to significant changes. The preconditions for the development of more complex structures are traced, which (by analogy with humans) have their own genetic code, their own special unique DNA, which determines the internal reproduction of interaction formats and their forms as a whole. The research presented in this special issue proves that media systems in African countries are evolving, becoming more complex and increasingly influencing society – mediation is acquiring the effects of mediatisation. According to the authors, solving these problems requires interdisciplinary research, the development of media literacy, and the creation of reliable fact-checking mechanisms. It is necessary to strengthen journalistic ethical values and form a balanced legal framework, to intensify co-operation between media, educational institutions, scientists and civil society. This special issue of the journal contributes to these complex and highly significant processes.

RUDN University – Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba, a leading internationally recognised educational and research centre for training specialists for Africa, is actively developing joint research projects¹, that draw, among other things, on media resources. The Editorial Board is preparing for publication the results of new research on the mediatisation of the Global South.

 

^{1 RUDN University and Africa: the era of relations. Retrieved February 18, 2024, from https://rudn-africa.rudn.ru/}

About the authors

Marina G. Shilina

Plekhanov Russian University of Economics; Lomonosov Moscow State University

Author for correspondence.
Email: marina.shilina@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9608-352X

Dr. Sc., Professor, Professor of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Design, Plekhsnov Russian University of Economics; Professor of the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University

36 Stremyanny Pereulok, Moscow, 117997, Russian Federation; 9 Mokhovaya St, bldg 1, Moscow, 125009, Russian Federation

Isaac Bazie

University of Quebec at Montreal

Email: bazie.isaac@uqam.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5802-605X

expert on relations between Africa and the world, Full Professor, Department of Literary Studies

CP 8888, Centre-Ville, Montreal (Quebec), H3C 3P8, Canada

Mustapha M. Jamiu

RUDN University

Email: mustafa-md@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8239-5808

PhD in Philology, Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Philological Faculty

6 Miklukho-Maklaya St, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation

Irina I. Volkova

RUDN University

Email: volkova-ii@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2693-1204

Dr. Sc., Professor of the Department of Mass Communication, Philological Faculty

6 Miklukho-Maklaya St, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation

Anna N. Moreva

RUDN University; Moscow State Linguistic University

Email: annseasoul@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0009-0006-3404-285X

senior lecturer, Department of Communication Technologies, Deputy Director for Project Activities and Media Communications, Institute of International Relations and Social and Political Sciences, Moscow State Linguistic University; lecturer, Department of Mass Communications, Faculty of Philology, RUDN University

6 Miklukho-Maklaya St, Moscow, 117198, Russian Federation; 38 Ostozhenka St, Moscow, 119034, Russian Federation

References