Special Issue of African Journalism Studies

Deadline: May 1, 2019

Guest Editors:

• Idil Osman, SOAS University of London, UK
• Susana Sampaio-Dias, University of Portsmouth, UK
• Judith Townend, University of Sussex, UK
• Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara, University of Glasgow, UK

This special issue seeks to provide an update on research about contemporary journalism practices and the evolving nature of journalism and media regulation in Africa. There has been a growing interest in studying journalism and media on the continent and the varying political landscapes in democratic and non-democratic or conflict-torn African countries highlight the need to critically analyse how the processes of media regulation and media policies are evolving in each particular context.

The circumstances for the practice of journalism and media production in Africa have often been debated from representation and ethics-centred perspectives; this special issue aims to gather a range of contributions that complement these studies by further exploring the complexity and range of prevailing regulation and policy matters that implicate and affect journalism practice. By acknowledging examples of emerging regulatory systems, the presence of old problems that may have taken new forms, or new problems that stem from old practices, we aim also to provide comparative insights that bring up to date and further our understanding of how journalism is protected, practised and regulated in Africa.

We welcome submissions that take a theoretically informed approach as well as studies that examine country-specific or comparative case-studies. We invite contributions across different and relevant disciplines, including collaborations between early career scholars. We particularly invite contributions addressing any of the following topics:

• Empirical and theoretical approaches to the examination of media law in Africa.
• The origin and development of media legislation, development of case law and regulatory systems governing, for example, the printed press, broadcasting, social media, election reporting and advertising
• Transnational relations between African journalists and diasporic counterparts
• Media regulation and implications for democratisation
• The relevance or irrelevance of former colonising countries in the development of news practices and legal/regulatory systems
• The globalisation of news and the challenges of international law, policy and regulatory influences
• Press freedom and media regulation in fragile contexts
• Media state funding, public service and or privatisation
• The impact of new technologies (including social media) on regulation and practice
• The digital divide, digital literacy and the challenge of regulating online media and ‘fake news’

Prospective authors should submit an abstract of approximately 250 words by email to the Guest Editors: Idil Osman (io7@soas.ac.uk), Susana Sampaio-Dias (susana.sampaio-dias@port.ac.uk), Judith Townend (judith.townend@sussex.ac.uk) and Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara (hayes.mabweazara@glasgow.ac.uk).

All abstracts will be reviewed by the editors and successful authors will be invited to submit a full manuscript via the African Journalism Studies ‘ScholarOne Manuscripts’ site where they will undergo peer review. The invitation to submit a full article does not guarantee acceptance of the final paper into the special issue.

Timeline:

• Deadline for abstracts – 01 May 2019
• Notification of proposal acceptance – 13 May 2019
• Completed papers – 31 August 2019
• Final revised papers due – 29 November 2019