Participation, citizen journalism and the contestations of identity and national symbols: A case of Zimbabwe’s national heroes and the Heroes’ Acre

Mpofu, Shepherd

doi:10.1080/23743670.2016.1209223

Cited by 17 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In several African countries, citizen journalism also has social and political influence. Mpofu (2013Mpofu ( , 2015Mpofu ( , 2016 has carried critical research that shows the power of citizen journalism in South Africa and Zimbabwe, while Sitoe (2017) has delved into the cases of Mozambique and Kenya to conclude that citizen journalism is mainly used for whistleblowing. Such research also illustrate how forms and objectives of citizen journalism are transformed in time and space.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is citizen journalism dead? An examination of recent developments in the field

Mutsvairo

Salgado

2020

Journalism

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The reliance on untrained reporters with limited or no understanding of journalistic standards has become increasingly widespread particularly in less democratic environments and these practices have impacted news gathering and reporting. There however has been some debate about the conceivability, capacity, reliability and acceptability of citizen journalists due to the lack of the professional standards associated with the profession. Even so, diverse forms of citizen journalism continue to emerge and develop in several countries in the Global South, such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique, examined in-depth in our study of the current frameworks, trends, practices and principles of citizen journalism in Africa. Buoyed by what appears like a slump in global citizen journalism research, we identify specific cases to rethink the concept, seeking to theoretically contribute to new directions on the phenomenon’s role in African societies. Our analysis suggests that a reconceptualization of citizen journalism is imperative thanks to several factors, including improved access to the Internet and changing attitudes toward political dissent and participation, citizen journalism in Africa is taking new directions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is citizen journalism dead? An examination of recent developments in the field

Mutsvairo

Salgado

2020

Journalism

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“…[Trans: Zimbabwe was won through the spilling of blood! ]’ (Mpofu, 2016a: 33). Mugabe thus used the contested concept of the hero status and adulterated the meanings of the national shrine for the burial of heroes for politically expedient purposes.…”

Section: Deathscapes: Heroes Acre As a Contested Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…What is key to note is that Mugabe used dead heroes’ bodies for political expediency as his eulogies that seek to shepherd Zimbabweans behind a Mugabeist and Zanuist ideology. Presidential speeches at the burials are critical as they are ‘important rhetorical rituals’ (Mpofu, 2016a: 31) and ‘governing tools since “. .…”

Section: Deathscapes: Heroes Acre As a Contested Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Ruling from the Grave? The Political Instrumentalization of Robert Mugabe’s Corpse in Contemporary Zimbabwean Politics

Mpofu

2022

Journal of Asian and African Studies

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This qualitative research is a critical analysis of news media reports, political debates, and political and family behaviours to interrogate the centrality of death, corpses, funeral and mortuary rituals in African politics by using the death of Zimbabwe’s former President, Robert Mugabe as a case study. At death, it became clear what a polarizing and yet unifying figure Mugabe was. His dead body became a contested political asset. The paper explores how Mugabe’s family resisted President Mnangagwa’s attempts at gaining control of Mugabe’s dead body for political expediency after he disposed of him in a military coup in 2017. The paper concludes that, true to Mugabe’s wife’s assertions that he will rule Zimbabwe from the grave, Mugabe, as a dead man, caused some considerable political tensions between his family and ruling magnifying the coup architects’ legitimacy challenges and his power in Zimbabwean politics.

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“…Moreover, citizen journalism has made valuable contributions to events of great social impact (Mano and Milton 2016;Konow-Lund and Olsson 2017), showing its ability to offer information in real time directly from the place where events are happening (Hänska-Ahy and Shapour 2013; Hung 2013; Barranquero-Carretero and Meda-González 2015; Moyo 2015;Mpofu 2016;Odabaş and Reynolds-Stenson 2018). For this reason, we might consider that audiences may perform "acts of journalism" (Holt and Karlsson 2014) in a complementary way to the work carried out by the news media.…”

Section: Audiences' Lack Of Interest and Problematic Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mediatised Participation: Citizen Journalism and the Decline in User-Generated Content in Online News Media

Peña-Fernández,

Larrondo-Ureta,

Agirreazkuenaga

2024

Social Sciences

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The second generation of web tools shook the journalist profession approximately two decades ago with the proactive incorporation of audiences into the media. Citizen journalism and user-generated content arose as an object of interest due to the democratising value of participation attributed to them, with empowered citizens who could emulate the professional and institutional practises of journalists. However, difficulties soon came to the surface, and audience participation in news media began to be limited. Within this context, this article conducts a critical review of studies on audience participation in news media based on a systematic literature review. The results indicate that, in general, audiences showed low interest in the creation of informative content and that their participation has grown increasingly problematic. In addition, journalists are reticent as they defend their professional role above all else, while company strategies have prioritised making participation profitable. For this reason, the idea of citizen journalism that offers user-created content through the media appears to be a thing of the past, with many characteristics that could define it as a failed innovation. Therefore, the text concludes that audience participation in the media could be defined as mediatised participation.

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Participation, citizen journalism and the contestations of identity and national symbols: A case of Zimbabwe’s national heroes and the Heroes’ Acre

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Is citizen journalism dead? An examination of recent developments in the field

Is citizen journalism dead? An examination of recent developments in the field

Ruling from the Grave? The Political Instrumentalization of Robert Mugabe’s Corpse in Contemporary Zimbabwean Politics

Mediatised Participation: Citizen Journalism and the Decline in User-Generated Content in Online News Media

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