Press

Repressive state and resurgent media under Nigeris's military dictatorship, 1988-98

Upphovsperson:	Olukotun, Ayo
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Nigeria, media, Press, military government, censorship, political opposition, Democratization

This study documents a crucial dimension of the resistance of Nigerian civil society to a repressive and monumentally corrupt military state in the late 1980s and 1990s in Nigeria. Employing a neo-Gramscian theoretical framework, the study relates how a section of the media defied censorship laws, outright bans, incarceration and the assassination of opposition figures, to prosecute the struggle for democracy. It captures the tensions and contradictions between a pliant section of the media, which sought to legitimise the state and a critical section of the same media, which in alliance with radical civil society, invented rebellious outlets to carry on the struggle against dictatorship.The study seeks to make fresh departures by documenting not only the role of the national media in the throes of democratic struggle, but that of the international media whose role was influential in the years studied.Finally the report offers empirical proof of the mechanisms by which a vibrant civil society can curb the ravages of a predatory state in an African country.

Media, public discourse and political contestation in Zimbabwe

Upphovsperson:	Melber, Henning
Utgivare:	Nordiska Afrikainstitutet | Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
År:	2004
Ämnesord:	Civil rights, Freedom of information, Journalism, Mass media, political development, Press, Zimbabwe, Political science, Statsvetenskap

The current situation in Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF government shows increasing signs of abuse of power by those in political control. They also direct their desire to suppress criticism towards the media. Press organs in private ownership have been closed down and journalists have been physically harassed, arrested and expelled. Laws are abused to regulate and manipulate public opinion by a policy of banning. Worldwide condemnation of the growing restrictions upon the freedom of expression goes hand in hand with the protests inside the country against the growing tendencies of totalitarian rule. Current events are critically reflected upon and the background to these developments is summarised in this publication. It is based on some of the contributions to a recent conference on Zimbabwe organised by the Nordic Africa Institute and offers insights into the contested space of public opinion in Zimbabwe. The critical analyses of current developments are there-by complemented with particular reference to the media sector in the ongoing battle for hegemonic control over the public sphere.