Social Media, the changing Newsroom and Electoral Politics in Zimbabwe
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6549/11424Keywords:
Zimbabwe, social media, electoral politics, journalism practice, newsroom changes, political communication, politicsAbstract
The rise of social media in Zimbabwe has instigated changes in journalism practice, politics and political communication. This paper examines the nexus between social media, journalism practice and politics in Zimbabwe, focusing on the 2018 general elections. The study is informed by the realisation that past studies on how social media interacts with society have tended to focus on a single dimension. Such single dimensions have included social media and newsroom changes, social media and journalism ethics, together with social media and political communication (Mabweazara 2014). No study, however, has attempted to show the connections between all these dimensions, which is a gap that is observable in social media studies. Using interviews with mainstream journalists in Zimbabwe and content analysis of political social media posts, the study shows that newsroom changes are tied to changes in political communication. The results also show that newsroom changes in Zimbabwe cannot be disconnected from political dynamics because journalism practice itself, even before the rise of social media, is shaped and structured by political dynamics so much that contrary to Marxian theorisation, in Zimbabwe, it is the political-consciousness base that determines the economic and other facets of the superstructure.
References
Alexander, J., and J. McGregor. 2013. “Politics, Patronage and Violence in Zimbabwe.” Journal of Southern African Studies 39 (4). https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2013.862100. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2013.862100
Brennen, B. S. 2017. Qualitative Research Methods for Media Studies. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315435978. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315435978
Chari, T. 2009. “Ethical Challenges Facing Zimbabwean Media in the Context of the Internet.” Global Media Journal 3 (1): 46–79. https://doi.org/10.5789/3-1-19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5789/3-1-19
Chibuwe, A. 2020. “Social Media and Elections in Zimbabwe: Twitter War between Pro-ZANU-PF and Pro-MDC-A Netizens.” Communication 46 (4): 7–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2020.1723663. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2020.1723663
Chuma, W. 2005. “Zimbabwe: The Media Market Failure and Political Turbulence.” Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies 26 (1): 46–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560054.2005.9653318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02560054.2005.9653318
Chuma, W., M. J. Msimanga, and L. A. Tshuma. 2020. “Succession Politics and Factional Journalism in Zimbabwe: A Case of the Chronicle in Zimbabwe.” African Journalism Studies 41 (1): 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2020.1731564. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2020.1731564
Cuman, K. 2012. The Role of Internet and Social Media in International Relations. Arab Revolution of 2011.
Davies, C. 2011. “Yemen’s Tribes “Put Differences Aside” to Protest for Change.” CNN World. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).
Dube, Zorodzai. 2018. “The Ancestors, Violence and Democracy in Zimbabwe.” Verbum et Ecclesia 39 (1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v39i1.1875. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v39i1.1875
Fowler-Watt, K., and S. Allan (Eds). 2013. Journalism: New Challenges, 1. Centre for Journalism and Communication Research, Bournemouth.
Hartin Iorio, S. 2014. Qualitative Research in Journalism: Taking it to the Streets. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410609557. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410609557
Khamis, S., and K. Vaughn. 2011. Cyberactivism in the Egyptian Revolution: How Civic Engagement and Citizen Journalism Titled the Balance, Issue 14 of Arab Media and Society.
Kolodzy, J. 2006. Convergence Journalism: Writing and Reporting Across the News Media. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Lewis, S. C., R. Zamith, and M. Coddington. 2020. “Online Harassment and its Implications for the Journalist-Audience Relationship.” Digital Journalism 8 (8): 1047–1067. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1811743. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1811743
Mabweazara, H. M. 2010. “New Technologies and Print Journalism Practice in Zimbabwe: An Ethnographic Study.” PhD thesis. School of Arts and Creative Industries, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland.
Mabweazara, H. M. 2014. Zimbabwe’s Mainstream Press in the “Social Media Age”: Emerging Practices, Cultures and Normative Dilemmas. Online Journalism in Africa: Trends, Practices and Emerging Cultures. London: Routledge.
Mano, W. 2010. “Between Citizen and Vigilante Journalism: ZimDaily’s Fair Deal Campaign and the Zimbabwe Crisis.” Communicare 29 (Issue Special Edit): 57–70. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v29ised-1.1675. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v29ised-1.1675
Marsh, K. 2013. “Investigative Journalism: Secrets, Salience and Storytelling.” In Journalism: New challenges, Centre for Journalism and Communication Research, edited by K. Fowler-Watt and S. Allan. Bournemouth.
Matingwina, S. 2019. “Partisan Media in a Politically Charged Zimbabwe: Public and Private Media Framing of 2018 Elections.” African Journalism Studies 40 (2): 51–66. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2019.1654534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2019.1654534
Mkandawire, T. 2020. “Zimbabwe’s Transition Overload: An Interpretation.” Journal of Contemporary African Studies 38 (1): 18–38. Doi:10.1080/02589001.2020.1746751. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746751. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2020.1746751
Moyo, L., O. O. Oluyinka, and T. Chabwinja. 2014. “Freedom of the Press, the Zimbabwean Situation up to 2009.” Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences 5 (27). https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1543. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1543
Mukasa, S. D. 2003. “Press and Politics in Zimbabwe.” African Studies Quarterly 7 (2&3).
Muleya, D. 2016. Bornwell Chakaodza Memorial Lecture 2016. “Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe.” Accessed August 27, 2016. http://www.vmcz.co.zw/index.php/news/438-keynote-address-2016-bornwell-chakaodza-memorial-lecture.
Ntini, E., and H. Mangeya. 2020. “A Dialogic Analysis of Audiences’ Interactions on Online Media Sites in Zimbabwe.” Communicatio 46 (2): 64–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2020.1762687. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2020.1762687
Papacharissi, Z. 2002. “The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere.” New Media and Society 4 (1): 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614440222226244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14614440222226244
Rabe, L. 2014. “Arguing the Case of the ‘Janus Element’ in Journalism Education: Journalism History as Essential Element in Journalism Curricula in Developing Democracies.” International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 10 (2): 203–211. https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.10.2.203_1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/macp.10.2.203_1
Source Watch. 2011. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=citizen journalism. Accessed August 13, 2017.
Waisbord, S. 2020. “Trolling Journalists and the Risks of Digital Publicity.” Journalism Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1827450. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1827450
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright will be vested in Unisa Press. However, as long as you do not use the article in ways which would directly conflict with the publisher’s business interests, you retain the right to use your own article (provided you acknowledge the published version of the article) as follows:
- to make further copies of all or part of the published article for your use in classroom teaching;
- to make copies of the final accepted version of the article for internal distribution within your institution, or to place it on your own or your institution’s website or repository, or on a site that does not charge for access to the article, but you must arrange not to make the final accepted version of the article available to the public until 18 months after the date of acceptance;
- to re-use all or part of this material in a compilation of your own works or in a textbook of which you are the author, or as the basis for a conference presentation.
Accepted 2022-11-22
Published 2023-04-03