This study examined public trust in the media through focus groups with young, educated urbanites in Rwanda. Despite the fact media in Rwanda incited violence during the 1994 genocide, results ...revealed that the Rwandan public highly trust their local news, especially state-run media. The findings suggest frameworks for studying media trust should consider the public’s trust in government, as the two might be linked, and also suggest scholars think deeply about conceptualizations of trust in different socio-political contexts, as trust is part of the culture of a polity, not simply a citizen’s judgment on how well news media are doing.
This study examines how journalists in Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya perceive their journalistic role orientations in light of the countries’ differing political systems, Rwanda representing the nation ...with the most restrictive political system, Uganda sitting in the middle and Kenya illustrating the nation that is home to the least restrictive political system. Data were analyzed from a comparative, quantitative online survey completed by 424 journalists from the three East African nations. Overall, the journalistic role orientations that emerged in each country align with the freedoms afforded by the political system in each country, revealing a trend that journalists in non-Western countries lean toward more interventionist roles (at times to the point of actively supporting their government), and journalists in countries with less restrictive political systems lean toward more adversarial roles (keeping their government in check).
Amid a rise of misinformation worldwide, this paper examines digital misinformation literacy as it relates to COVID-19 news in East Africa. The study is grounded in inoculation theory and contributes ...to the body of scholarship examining misinformation literacy beyond the Western world. Data came from a comparative, cross-national survey in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (N = 3,203), making this the largest known empirical investigation into digital misinformation literacy in the region within the context of a pandemic. Paper surveys were distributed throughout all three countries in 2021. The data revealed differences in actual and perceived misinformation literacy levels. Kenyans and Rwandans were better at detecting false COVID-19 statements in the media, whereas Ugandans were better at detecting true messages. Similarly, Kenyans' and Rwandans' perceived levels of digital misinformation literacy were higher than Ugandans'. Regarding perceived exposure to COVID-19 information, Kenyans felt they were exposed to fake COVID-19 news online more often than Ugandans, who felt more exposed than Rwandans. This research contributes to the growing literature on digital misinformation literacy, an area which isn't significantly studied in many world regions, especially in Africa.
Despite enduring "some of the worst political and economic chaos anywhere in the world" (Mwesige, P. G. 2004. "Disseminators, Advocates and Watchdogs: A Profile of Ugandan Journalists in the New ...Millennium." Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism 5 (1): 69-96. doi:10.1177/1464884904039556), for the last quarter century Uganda has seen significant progress under President Yoweri Museveni, who is credited with liberalizing the media and instituting a constitutional guarantee of free press (Kalyango, Y., and P. Eckler. 2010. "Media Performance, Agenda Building, and Democratization in East Africa." Communication Yearbook 34: 355-389). Now, Uganda has "one of the more vibrant media scenes in east and central Africa" (Freedom House.
2017
. Freedom of the Press 2017. Uganda. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2017/uganda, para. 5-6). Still, journalist continue to face challenges. This study utilized in-depth interviews to examine the challenges Ugandan reporters face and what could be done to alleviate them. Through the lens of Shoemaker and Reese's (2013. Mediating the Message in the 21st Century: A Media Sociology Perspective. Routledge) Hierarchy of Influences Model, findings reveal that journalists' challenges come from almost every level. At the individual level, journalists lack professionalism and engage in unethical behavior. Some of these challenges can be blamed on news organizations due to low pay and failed efforts to create a united professional organization to train reporters to act ethically. Extramedia forces, namely, government restrictions, also pose significant challenge. And some restrictions, such as limited access to information, are influenced by ideological factors. As Tabaire (
2007
. "The Press and Political Repression in Uganda: Back to the Future?" Journal of Eastern African Studies 1 (2): 193-211. doi:10.1080/17531050701452408) suggests, "Only a much more democratic Uganda will ensure a freer press" (208).
Rwanda has received international praise for its rapid development and is said to be undergoing a 'technology revolution' at the hands of President Paul Kagame who has been described as a 'Digital ...President'. This quantitative content analysis of Kagame's
official Twitter account analysed the first ten years of his tweets and found that he primarily tweets in English, with a positive sentiment about cross-government and cross-border interactions and, in doing so, presents Rwanda as a progressive, democratic player that is connected multilaterally
to both African and global affairs. Throughout the decade, Kagame's tweets evolved from being domestically focused on self-promotion to more globally focused on foreign engagement. While these findings could be indicative of a semi-authoritarian state, they also point to the presence
of 'Twitter diplomacy' and the use of soft power tactics, which become stronger and clearer in the latter part of the decade.
Press freedom is said to be a necessary pillar of democracy. As many sub-Saharan African nations move towards creating or strengthening democracies, examining their levels of press freedom may be an ...important element. This study utilizes public opinion data from 10 nations in the sub-Saharan African region and international press freedom rankings from Reporters Without Borders to better understand both how important (or not) citizens view press freedom to be in their country and how those beliefs compare to global metrices between 2011 and 2018. Results show clear differences in citizen beliefs about press freedom across countries, but no clear relationship between citizen beliefs and global rankings. A connection between individual perceptions and global rankings may take more time to manifest, and/or a nation’s cultural values and political landscape likely have the strongest impact on citizen beliefs.
Today, Kenya has a vibrant media landscape, one of the most sophisticated in the region. In particular, vernacular radio-radio stations that broadcast news and entertainment in indigenous ...languages-is thriving. Vernacular stations have grown in popularity and there are now more than 30 airing across the country. However, critics have suggested that vernacular stations played a role in the 2007 post-election violence that killed more than 1000 people. This study, qualitative interviews with Kenyan journalists, set out to understand what role vernacular radio plays in the contemporary journalism landscape in Kenya. The results revealed that while journalists recognize their value primarily for cultural preservation and for rural communities to obtain information, which can lead to increased development and political participation, there are negative aspects. Journalists see the stations as contemporary contributors to the tribal divisions that still exist in the country. Analyzed from the lens of social responsibility theory-that being, that media organizations should operate with some level of concern for the public good-vernacular radio as a journalism practice presents unique implications for development and continued democratization, as well as for the media to fulfill its social responsibility.
This study compared 50 years of the New York Times' international news (N = 20,765) with U.S. foreign aid allocations and country rankings in Freedom House's Freedom in the World report to understand ...how the amount of foreign aid relates to the amount and content of coverage of nations as well as whether/how political similarity impacts coverage and aid. Nations receiving the highest level of aid received the most news coverage and topics of coverage focused significantly more on politics, conflict and diplomacy. Coverage of nations that receive a high level of aid was largely split between free, partly free and not free, pointing to media attention not necessarily being linked to freedom status.
