Representation of Africa Online

Sourcing Practice and Frames of Reference

Bibliographic Data

ID19002237
AuthorsOlatunji Ogunyemi (University of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK,), Ola Ogunyemi (0000-0003-2469-0299, University of Lincoln, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume42
Issue3
Pages457-478
Publication date2011-02-22
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Black Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-9347 • E-ISSN: 1552-4566
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0021934710378747
OpenAlexW1979923618
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited10

The dominant perspective on the representation of Africa in the Western media claims that Western media coverage is bias and crisis oriented, and the liberal perspective claims that the coverage of Africa is not as negative as is often assumed. However, there is a paucity of literature on the representation of Africa online. This research inquiry is relevant because literature claims that the Internet has the potential to resolve the journalistic predicament of representing other culture through political participation and deliberation. But this requires a reorientation of the sourcing practice of news organization to embrace sensitivity to and knowledge of African cultures. Moreover, the journalistic predicament can be resolved or not depending on the newsgathering approach adopted by the news organization. Literature has identified two approaches, that is, “gatekeeping,” used mainly by dominant traditional media, and “gatewatching,” used by alternative media in their quest to counter mainstream ideology. This study examines the impacts of the gatewatching approach adopted by the Africa Have Your Say (AHYS) website on its representation and frames of reference of Africa. It uses onsite observation, in-depth interviews, and textual analysis to gather data. The study found that although the sourcing practice at the AHYS is elaborate and complex, the gatewatching approach makes its susceptible to second-level agenda setting. Hence, its frame repeats the attributes and tone used by the mainstream traditional media. However, a minority of users did not repeat this frame in their comments

Citizen journalism · Content analysis · Deliberation · Frame (networking) · Frame analysis · Gatekeeping · Ideology · Linguistics · Mainstream · Media studies · News media · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Representation (politics) · Social science · Sociology · The Internet · Tone (literature) · Computer Science · Law · Literacy, Media, and Education · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access