Online Journalism in Africa ─ Trends, Practices and Emerging Cultures

Very little is known about how African journalists are forging "new" ways to practise their profession on the web. Against this backdrop, this volume provides contextually rooted discussions of trends, practices, and emerging cultures of web-based journalism(s) across the continent, offering a comprehensive research tool that can both stand the test of time as well as offer researchers (particularly those in the economically developed Global North) models for cross-cultural comparative research. The essays here deploy either a wide range of evidence or adopt a case-study approach to engage with contemporary developments in African online journalism. This book thus makes up for the gap in cross-cultural studies that seek to understand online journalism in all its complexities.

Hayes Mawindi Mabweazara is currently a Lecturer in Journalism Studies at Falmouth University, UK. His research on the new media and journalism practice in Africa has been published in a number of leading journals and edited books. Mabweazara serves on the editorial board of Digital Journalism and is Book Reviews Editor of Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies.

Okoth Fred Mudhai is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism in the Media Department, Coventry University, on a 17-month Post-doctoral Research Associate secondment (2012-14) to the University of Cambridge. He has written extensively, and won awards, on ICTs. His recent publications include two journal articles in Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, a number of book chapters and co-editorship of African Media and the Digital Public Sphere.

Jason Whittaker is Head of the Department of Writing at Falmouth University. He has written extensively on William Blake and digital technologies, his most recent works including William Blake and the Digital Humanities and Producing for Web 2.0. He has worked as an editor and journalist for nearly twenty years.