Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.

The journey to the realisation of the African unity has been marked by many challenges that are political, social, cultural, commercial and historical. Arguably, the African dream is still alive and the effective communication of the African dream could be one of the pillars of its realisation. The...

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Main Authors: Orina, Gladys K., Mapuwei, Nyasha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Midlands State University 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11408/1965
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author Orina, Gladys K.
Mapuwei, Nyasha
author_facet Orina, Gladys K.
Mapuwei, Nyasha
author_sort Orina, Gladys K.
collection DSpace
description The journey to the realisation of the African unity has been marked by many challenges that are political, social, cultural, commercial and historical. Arguably, the African dream is still alive and the effective communication of the African dream could be one of the pillars of its realisation. The past decade however, has seen a consistent paling of the hope as media discourse in the form of editorials and commentaries reflect that the dream is an uphill task. This paper critically examines the impact of media coverage of the African Union. Specifically, this paper assesses how, why and to what extent media representations of the subject of African unity in editorials and commentaries affected its implementation. The paper looks at some of the African media, mainly newspapers and news agencies portrayal of the African Union. Key research methods used in this study include archival research, textual analysis and content analysis. Based on the mass communication theories of gate-keeping, agenda setting, representation, media and political economy theories, this paper argues that the media casting and portrayal of the AU has a direct impact on the success or failure of its agenda. The paper found out that the overall underlying tone of newspaper editorials were dismissive and negative and contributed very little towards helping the AU achieve its objectives.
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spelling ir-11408-19652022-06-27T13:49:06Z Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers. Orina, Gladys K. Mapuwei, Nyasha Media, editorial Journalism, African, Unity The journey to the realisation of the African unity has been marked by many challenges that are political, social, cultural, commercial and historical. Arguably, the African dream is still alive and the effective communication of the African dream could be one of the pillars of its realisation. The past decade however, has seen a consistent paling of the hope as media discourse in the form of editorials and commentaries reflect that the dream is an uphill task. This paper critically examines the impact of media coverage of the African Union. Specifically, this paper assesses how, why and to what extent media representations of the subject of African unity in editorials and commentaries affected its implementation. The paper looks at some of the African media, mainly newspapers and news agencies portrayal of the African Union. Key research methods used in this study include archival research, textual analysis and content analysis. Based on the mass communication theories of gate-keeping, agenda setting, representation, media and political economy theories, this paper argues that the media casting and portrayal of the AU has a direct impact on the success or failure of its agenda. The paper found out that the overall underlying tone of newspaper editorials were dismissive and negative and contributed very little towards helping the AU achieve its objectives. 2017-05-27T11:19:33Z 2017-05-27T11:19:33Z 2016 Article 1815-9036 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/1965 en The Dyke: A Journal of the Midlands State University;Vol. 10, No. 1: p. 89-103 open Midlands State University
spellingShingle Media, editorial
Journalism, African, Unity
Orina, Gladys K.
Mapuwei, Nyasha
Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title_full Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title_fullStr Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title_full_unstemmed Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title_short Reality or mirage? representations of African Union agenda in Kenyan and Zimbabwean newspapers.
title_sort reality or mirage? representations of african union agenda in kenyan and zimbabwean newspapers.
topic Media, editorial
Journalism, African, Unity
url http://hdl.handle.net/11408/1965
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