Journalism in Africa: New Trends

Dear Colleagues,

There is scholarly evidence that journalism as a profession and the media as an institution function are coterminous with their structural environment, which could range from social or cultural to political, technological, or economic environments. Meanwhile, the last few decades have spawned seismic transformations within African society. New digital technologies have emerged and changed how journalism has been practiced; governance systems have seen drastic changes with contrasting consequences for media freedom; the public sphere continues to assume new forms in Africa; and different audiences have found new voice within new digital discursive spaces. These changes undoubtedly challenge old conceptions of journalism and the media in Africa, and therefore excite intellectual curiosity regarding journalism and the media’s response to these structural shifts in Africa. Subsequently, this Special Issue welcomes papers that would deepen our understanding of how journalism and the media in Africa are responding to these structural transformations. We therefore invite papers that contribute to the theme of African media and structural change.

This Special Issue would therefore cover the following broad areas:

• The rise of digital media and social media in Africa and how this is changing the way news is produced, distributed, and consumed on the continent.
• The challenges facing African journalists and media organizations, such as censorship, government repression, and economic pressures.
• The emergence of new forms of journalism in Africa, such as data journalism, investigative journalism, and citizen journalism, and the impact these new forms are having on the media landscape.
• The role of African journalists and media organizations in promoting democracy, human rights, and social justice on the continent.
• The opportunities and challenges presented by international partnerships and collaborations between African and non-African media organizations.
• Press performance, accountability, and the problem of journalistic corruption.
• Gender roles and demographic make-up of Africa media landscape.
• Commercial implications of audience fragmentation for media viability.

Prof. Dr. Folu Ogundimu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journalism and Media is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• digital media
• African media and democracy
• journalism trends in Africa
• African media institutions
• political economy of African media