Participatory Politics and Citizen Journalism in a Networked Africa

"This book's distinctive feature remains its ability to provide case-by-case analysis of citizen journalism's increasingly influential role in democratizing political institutions across sub-Saharan Africa, backing empirically-driven cases of Anglophone scholarship with critical examination of contemporary trends within the continent's French-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries." Christian Agbobli, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada.

"This book offers a first-hand, comprehensive and in-depth account of various aspects of what is labelled 'citizen journalism' in Sub-Saharan Africa. Based on an exploration of a wide range of countries and practices, it shows splendidly what has changed and what has not, insofar as the way through which information is disseminated amongst citizens and within the media systems since the arrival of the Internet, social networks and the mobile phones on the continent. An essential reading for anyone interested in social change in contemporary Africa." Marie-Soleil Frère, National Fund for Scientific Research, Belgium.

"The rapid growth of internet usage in Africa, overwhelmingly through mobile phones, has brought new communicative opportunities to millions of people across the continent. This ground-breaking volume brings together a wide range of articles exploring the impact of these developments on journalism, politics, health, agriculture, social inequality and human rights. Both the geographical and the conceptual scope of the contributions are extremely impressive, with studies ranging from the still-born attempt to repeat the Arab Spring in Ethiopia to the impact of new media in Lusophone Africa. Bruce Mutsvairo is to be congratulated on bringing together such a strong collection of original studies which will be of great value to scholars of media and communication, political science, and all interested in social change in Africa." Colin Sparks, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.