FACULTY OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF JOURNALISM AND MEDIA STUDIES
PROGRAMME: MSC Media and Journalism
FULL NAME OF STUDENT: Mirriam Mhlanga PIN: N0239994P
MAILING ADDRESS: mimymhlanga@gmail.com
CONTACT TEL/CELL: 0784257998 I.D No: 08-849542R08
COURSE NAME: Media and Society
COURSE CODE: IJM 5111
LECTURER: Professor Mphathisi Ndlovu
ASSIGNMENT Title:
“For many years, scholars have accepted the pedagogic, practical, and theoretical
universalization of journalism standards. Benchmarks on what journalists, teachers, or
researchers should do in their day-to-day activities were set in the West. While a small group
of scholars questioned or openly challenged this philosophy, many acquiesced. However, the
era of sustained Western discourse dominance seems over if unremitting calls for re-
theorization are anything to go by.” (Mutsvairo et al, 2021:1).
Discuss the epistemological perspectives that provide new analytical frames for re-imagining
African media studies. [50
marks]
DUE DATE: 05 November 2023
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For many years Africa has been in the shadow of West. From colonisation up to the present
day the global north and its epistemologies have attained dominance over the global south
epistemologies. This hegemony of western knowledge systems has been naturalised and
accepted as the norm in Africa. Knowledge as we know it has been produced by the West and
Africans are consumers of that knowledge. Educationalists, researchers and the media itself
have naturalised and normalised Western hegemonic discourses. Colonialism may have
ended in Africa but Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu bemoans that coloniality still continues. Ndlovu
in Omanga (2020:45) submits that despite the “physical empire” of colonisation having been
pushed back, “colonialism as a power structure continues as a metaphysical process and as an
epistemic project”. This statement reveals that western discourse dominance still persists
even though African countries claim independence from Western powers.
According to Mutsvairo et al (2021), there has been unceasing and persistent calls for re-
theorization of African media studies. Some African researchers and scholars have insisted
that African stories be told by Africans the African way. They have challenged the
universalisation and hegemony of western knowledge systems. The media as the mirror and
gatekeepers of information have a role to play in this re- theorisation of media studies in
Africa. In this essay, l will discuss the new perspectives and theories that have been
propounded by African theorists in a bid to re -imagine African media studies. I will also link
and explain how these theories can be used to study the media today. These five theories are
the Decoloniality theory, Afrokology theory, Ubuntu, Afriethics African Cultural Studies and
the African Womanism theory.
The Decoloniality theory asserts that colonialism may have ended in Africa but coloniality
still remains. Coloniality is a system of unequal relations between the global north and the
global south. Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu (2015:488), asserts that
"Coloniality, instead, refers to long-standing patterns of power that emerged as a
result of colonialism, but that define culture, labour, intersubjectivity relations, and
knowledge production well beyond the strict limits of colonial administrations. Thus,
coloniality survives colonialism. It is maintained alive in books, in the criteria for
academic performance, in cultural patterns, in common sense, in the self-image of
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peoples, in aspirations of self, and so many other aspects of our modern experience. In
a way, as modern subjects we breathe coloniality all the time and every day.”
This means that coloniality is now so deeply imbedded in our being and in our societies that
we cannot separate ourselves from it instead we strive to be immersed in it because that is
what society dictates and accepts as normal.
The Decoloniality theory asserts that Africans have been colonised in terms of three concepts
or units of analysis and these are coloniality of power, knowledge, and of being. Coloniality
of power manifests itself as global north countries controlling all the international institutions
and structures of power. Sabelo Gatsheni- Ndlovu (2015:489) advances that the concept of
coloniality of power enables delving deeper into how the world was bifurcated into ‘Zone of
Being’ (the world of those in charge of global power structures and beneficiaries of
modernity) and ‘Zone of None-Being’ (the invented world that was the source of slaves and
victims of imperialism, colonialism, and apartheid). The Western countries are under the
Zone of Being while the global south is the Zone of None-Being as argued by Ndlovu. The
scales of power are skewed in favour of the global north. Africa has little or no say when it
comes to major decision making in international bodies. For example financial institutions
like the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the judiciary like the ICC (International
Criminal Court) as well as international organisations like the United Nations. The media
always portray Africans as receivers of aid from the IMF as if the IMF only borrows African
countries yet even Europeans countries benefit from the fund. The ICC has also been labelled
as the International Court for Trying Africans because African scholars and leaders feel the
court is biased and only punishes African leaders while ignoring atrocities committed by
world powers such as America and China (Cannon et al 2016:9). African leaders are always
portrayed as greedy savages who are not democratic yet even in Europe Aristocracies and
Monarch governments still exist. Dove (1988:517),buttresses this point by opining that ‘the
White race, recognized as the most powerful, militarily and economically, essentially
controls, directs, and manages, through the structure of capitalism, the world's resources,
including the energies of the peoples.” This all points to the asymmetrical power relations
that exist between the global north and south.
Coloniality of knowledge entails the determination of what is known and accepted as the
‘truth’. It raises questions as to who determines what is known as the truth. Western
knowledge systems have been universalized while African knowledge systems are only said
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to be specific only to Africans. Western scholars do not use African theories to analyse their
circumstances yet western theories are universalized for example Fisk and Harbemas.
Decoloniality scholars argue that we need to produce our own knowledge and tell our stories
from our own perspectives. Scholars such as Gutto in Ndlovu(2018:100) have avowed that,
“education in Africa needs a fundamental paradigm shift which entails, among other things,
focussing on confronting with a view of correcting and departing from hegemonic knowledge
and knowledge systems that are predicated on racist paradigms that have deliberately and
otherwise distorted, the reality of who Africans really are”. The media needs to be
decolonized so that they discontinue the negative portrayal of global south cultures and
knowledge systems. The perpetual theme of Europeans coming in as saviours of Africans in
movies and films needs to be refurbished. Movies like The Black Panther and Shaka Ilembe,
which tell African stories from African perspectives should be applauded. Universities and all
knowledge producing institutions should produce knowledge that is relevant to African
contexts rather than importing Western ideas that are not applicable to a person in rural
Tsholotsho in Zimbabwe.
Coloniality of being speaks to the essence of being black or African. Whiteness according to
Gatsheni has gained ontological density over blackness. The media has demonized blackness
while sanitising whiteness. Sabelo Gatsheni Ndlovu (2015:491) postulates that,
“coloniality of being is very important because it assists in investigating how African
humanity was questioned as well as into processes that contributed towards
‘objectification’/‘thingification’/‘commodification’ of Africans.”
Africans have been classified as the racial Other. The continent itself has been associated
with wars, backwardness, savagery and corruption while Europe has been portrayed as
superior and pure. Movies that are filmed in both African and European settings portray a
stark contrast between the two settings with the former always being filmed in upmarket
suburbs while the latter is filmed in the dirtiest slums of Africa as if Europe does not have its
own slums and beggars. The media has been urged to reflect our societies and our culture in a
way that does not perpetuate negative stereotypes of African systems. In as much as Africa
has its own evils, it also has its purity and decoloniality scholars are saying that side of Africa
should also be portrayed as well in the media. The media should not always paint Africa
black and Europe white.
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The Afrokology theory stems from the Decoloniality theory. The proponents of this theory
Winstone Mano and Viola Milton developed it as a tool to study African media. They came
up with 3 approaches that can be employed to dismantle global north epistemologies. The
first approach is known as conviviality. This approach asserts that we need to marry and
combine the global north and south knowledge systems. These scholars argue that we cannot
dismiss global north epistemologies entirely but they should co-exist with our own
knowledge systems. For example there is a way to understand Habermas in our own context
without having Habermas dominate our knowledge systems in as much as they can apply the
concept of Ubuntu in their own contexts. Mano (2021:234) asserts that “we invoke
Afrokology within the context of decoloniality which considers how different worlds can
coexist, not submitted in one reality but in incommensurability”. This assertion encourages
equal adoption of both the global south and north knowledge systems because each of them is
unique and can address different problems in society.
The incompleteness and pluriverse of knowledge approaches submit that there is no
knowledge system that is able to adequately explain a phenomenon on its own and that in
order to fully grasp a concept one must apply multiple sources of knowledge and not just rely
on one hegemonic source. It argues that western knowledge systems are incomplete and
inadequate to address African situations and hence they should be combined with African
knowledge systems. Mudavhanu (2021:124), asserts that African journalism suffers not only
from imported material but also norms and practices adopted from the North. Therefore
African journalism and journalism research needs to develop local perspectives and
approaches and then combine their local perspectives with the global north perspectives in
order to get a holistic appreciation of issues.
The Ubuntu philosophy is premised on the African culture of humanness and collectiveness
instead of individualism. Ubuntu philosophy says that journalists should be part of the
community rather than being aloof and objective as western media ethics dictate. Ubuntu
emphasises on respect for human life and dignity. According to Fourie (2008:49), the
emphasis of the media thus moves from the media as informant, gatekeeper, entertainer and
educator, to the media as mediator; from the media as observer, to the media as participant
and negotiator, from the media as watchdog to the media as guide dog. This means that
journalists become part and parcel of the community that they are serving. According to
Ubuntuism, journalists can not only evaluate their stories from the community’s right to
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know standpoint only but should also consider the potential harm a story may do to the
community. For example in Zimbabwe in 2021 social media was awash with voice notes
allegedly intercepted from Vice President Kembo Mohadi’s cellphone revealing his dirty
sexual escapades. (Bulawayo 24News Feb 2021, iHarare News 2021, Newsday 2021). Those
voice notes were shared because journalists felt the country had a right to know and hold
leaders to account but they failed to consider the potential harm that story could do to the
person of the Vice president, his family as well as the families of the alleged girlfriends some
of whom were married women with families as well. According to Ubuntuism, it is morally
unacceptable to deliberately tarnish the image of a person because we are our brothers’
keeper. Sharing of graphic pictures of accident scenes and also reporting on minors is
considered inhuman and insensitive.
Francis Kasoma’s Afriethics theory is another theory that can be used to re imagine media
studies. This theory laments that journalism as a practise is no longer ethical. Kasoma argues
that journalists should draw inspiration from precolonial values and traditions and be guided
by them in their daily work. Kasoma in Banda (2009:227) calls for a move away from money
and power-centred journalism to a society-centred journalism that is grounded on traditional
African communal values. Western media philosophy places emphasises on the political
economy of the media. The people with the money to pay journalists and media houses are
the people who determine the headlines of the day. Those in power and authority own,
influence and gate keep information. For example in Zimbabwe the state owned media
houses like Zimpapers always publish stories that advance hegemonic ruling party discourses
while private owned media houses advance the agenda of their owners who are mostly anti -
government.
The African cultural studies is a theory that seeks to decolonise cultural studies. It argues that
the Birmingham school of cultural studies should not be hegemonic. In Africa we have our
own cultural experts like Ngugi and Chinua Achebe. They assert that the Birmingham school
of thought should be provincialized. According to Handel K Wright (2015:39), the
Kamiriithu centre of Cultural studies in Kenya was the one that gave rise to a fully-fledged
Birmingham school of cultural studies. Wright (2015:40) advances that “my assertion is that
hegemonic western cultural studies in its present form and with its present history ’stands’ or
performs its enabling functions at the expense of what ’stands besides it’, that is, the Other
histories and contemporary manifestations of cultural studies. This means that the
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Birmingham school of cultural studies exists beside other schools of cultural studies hence it
should not be seen as the only one and it should not be universalised but it must be
provincialized as it applies to Western countries and not to Africans. The media as a mirror of
society has a role to popularise our African cultural schools and epistemologies. For example
in the movie industry we have Nollywood, an African movie industry that tells African
stories by Africans. Hollywood as a movie industry should not be hegemonic because Africa
has its own stories to tell as well.as that is, the hi
The last theory is the African Womanism theory. This is a branch of feminism that seeks to
address challenges faced by black women in Africa. African womanists claim that gender,
race and ethnicity contribute to women’s suffering. They argue that a black woman’s
struggles are different from white women’s struggles hence the media should capture that
difference. Alice Walker in Ogunyeni (1985:64) implies that womanists are concerned with
overcoming not only gender discrimination but also discrimination based on race or
socioeconomic status. She stresses that an African womanist,
"will recognize that, along with her consciousness of sexual issues, she must
incorporate racial, cultural, national, economic, and political considerations into her
philosophy" Moreover, an African
womanist must deal with, among other things, "interethnic skirmishes and
cleansing, . . . religious fundamentalism, . . . the language issue, gerontocracy
and in-lawism"
These analyses point to the fact that African women have specific problems that apply only to
them and therefore should be addressed using approaches specific to them.
In conclusion, African media studies need to be re -theorised so that the media can accurately
depict African values, beliefs and epistemologies. African knowledge systems should be
embraced for the development of Africans. This call for decolonization does not mean the
outright discarding of Western Knowledge systems but it’s a call to combine the two so that
media studies attains a holistic perspective of issues in society.
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References
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Cannon et al (2016). The International Criminal Court and Africa. African Journal of
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Fourie PJ (2008). Ubuntuism as framework for South African media practice and
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Mudavanhu S. L (2021). Propositions for Decolonising African Journalism and Media
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