Media, Communication and Popular Culture in Africa

The role of media, mediated communication and mediated popular culture in African societies has grown significantly in the past years. It is a result both of political, economic and social development leading to deregulation of the media, market liberalization, and both commercialization and democratization of the airwaves. Radio is all over, with community radio experiencing a boom; TV is rapidly expanding throughout the continent (mostly but not exclusively in urban areas); satellite TV is facilitating international TV access all over; internet access increasing in public domains; mobile telephones reaching out; African films gaining some momentum and increase in volume of production; media and communication is gaining importance in the African responses to HIV/AIDS, etc. In short - media, mediated communication and mediated popular culture, be it local, national or international content, is a growing part of the contemporary African reality, both as a natural part of everyday life and also as a strategic tool used for development objectives as combating HIV/AIDS.

The network gathers its interest around two lines of inquiry:

1. The first line is to explore the role of media, mediated communication and mediated popular culture in the everyday lives of African people with particular focus on youth. How are these phenomena influencing the lifestyles in transition, the reconfiguration of social and cultural practices in the light of parallel developments of cultural globalisation on one hand and socio-economic transformation and marginalization on the other?

2. The second line of inquiry is to explore the role of media, communication and popular culture as a strategic site for interventions with the objective to influence both behaviour change and social change. That is, how can radio, TV or other forms of communication and mediated popular culture become tools in HIV/AIDS prevention programs, in conflict resolution or in negotiating gender or social inequalities? Here the focus is on the generic potentials of strategic use of media and communication in different African contexts.

Network activities

Contact persons

Hilde Arntsen, University of Bergen, Norway hilde.arntsen@infomedia.uib.no

Thomas Tufte, Professor, Communication Studies, Roskilde University, Denmark ttufte@ruc.dk

Ylva Ekström, Doctoral Fellow, Media and Communication, Department of Information Science, Uppsala University, Sweden ylva.ekstrom@dis.uu.se