Overview
Includes research based on interviews with journalists and editors located at the discussed news outlets
Illustrates the central role that media plays in shaping politics, and governments play in shaping media in developing states
Traces the ways that alternative media can emerge and grow out of nations where media independence is limited
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents(11 chapters)
About this book
This book examines the role played by two popular private newspapers in the struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe, one case from colonial Rhodesia and the other from the post-colonial era. It argues that, operating under oppressive political regimes and in the dearth of credible opposition political parties or as a platform for opposition political parties, the African Daily News, between 1956-1964, and the Daily News, between 1999-2003, played an essential role in opening up spaces for political freedom in the country. Both newspapers were ultimately shut down by the respective government of the time. The newspapers allowed reading publics the opportunity to participate in politics by providing a daily analytical alternative, to that offered by the government and the state media, in relation to the respective political crises that unfolded in each of these periods. The book further examines both the information policies pursued by the different governments and the way these affected the functioning of private media in their quest to provide an "ideal" public sphere. It explores issues of ownership, funding and editorial policies in reference to each case and how these affected the production of news and issue coverage. It considers issues of class and geography in shaping public response. It also focuses on state reactions to the activities of these newspapers and how these, in turn, affected the activities of private media actors. Finally, it considers the cases together to consider the meanings of the closing down of these newspapers during the two eras under discussion and contributes to the debates about print media vis-à-vis the new forms of media that have come to the fore.
Authors and Affiliations
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Simon Muzenda School of Arts, Culture and Heritage Studies, Department of History, Archaeology and Development Studies, Mashava Campus, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Sylvester Dombo
About the author
Sylvester Dombo is a lecturer in the Department of History and Development Studies at the Great Zimbabwe University, Mashava Campus, Zimbabwe. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where he researched on media and politics in Zimbabwe. His research interests include media, religion and politics, nationalism, democracy, violence, land reform and entertainment history.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Private Print Media, the State and Politics in Colonial and Post-Colonial Zimbabwe
Authors: Sylvester Dombo
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61890-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-61889-0Published: 24 October 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-87186-8Published: 18 May 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-61890-6Published: 14 October 2017
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 277
Topics: Journalism, African Culture, Development Communication, African Politics, Media and Communication