Browsing by Author "Akpabio, Eno"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    Analysis of frames used by Namibian newspapers in their reportage of the San community
    (University of Namibia, 2020) Magadza, Moses E.; Akpabio, Eno
    This study involves an analysis of the representation of San people of Namibia in news stories published in The Namibian, New Era, Informanté, The Southern Times, The Villager, The Windhoek Observer and Namibian Sun newspapers over a two-year period - January 2012 to December 2013. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the stories. Content analysis and critical discourse analysis (CDA) were used to analyse data and point out binaries and dichotomies inherent in selected articles. The study found that balanced reportage of issues that affect San people is conspicuously absent. Much of the reportage is event-driven, lacking analysis and balance. The study recommends new media discourses
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    Efficacy of celebrities as behavioral influence models in the fight against Malaria in Tanzania
    (2020) Kahenga, Daichi; Akpabio, Eno
    Since the launch of the "Malaria Haikubaliki" campaign in 2010, little if any attention has been given to assessing the efficacy of celebrity endorsement in achieving the campaign is overarching objectives. The main objective of this study was to assess the component of the campaign that involved the use of celebrities. Using multi-stage cluster sampling, 197 participants were randomly selected in the three regions of Dares Salaam City: namely Kinondoni, II ala and Temeke. The findings of this study indicate that a majority of the respondents had positive perceptions and attitudes towards celebrities used in the "Malaria Haikubaliki" campaign and this had positive impact on their adoption of the behaviour in the anti-malaria message.
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    Failure of media self-regulation? documenting stakeholders’ attitude to the Botswana media complaints/ appeals committees
    (2018) Akpabio, Eno; Mosanako, Seamogano
    In Botswana, efforts at self-regulation resulted in the setting up of the Media Complaints and Appeals Committees in 2005 under the aegis of the Botswana Press Council. This study sought to find out the attitude of stakeholders to the committees by conducting intensive interviews with complainants, editors as well as members of the complaints and appeals committees. There were va-riances in our findings with complainants largely dissatisfied with the com-mittees’ work while the committees felt they had done a good job by provid-ing fair rulings. And media editors said that they complied with rulings of the complaints and appeals committees but complainants took the opposite view. While two press councils are in existence at the moment, the object lesson from the Botswana scenario is that if the media are effective in their self-regulation initiatives, this will likely keep government-initiated statutory press councils at bay. The study concludes that perhaps, citizen involvement would serve to break the present impasse and ensure a media that truly serves the public interest.
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    Framing of the baby dumping phenomenon by the Namibian print media
    (2017) Akpabio, Eno; Mwilima, Fred
    Baby dumping is regarded as a significant problem in Namibia and stakeholders have identified public awareness about contraceptives and options for dealing with unwanted pregnancies such as foster care, adoption and institutional care as solutions to this heartrending phenomenon. The media are a critical player in disseminating such awareness, hence this study set out to determine how the Namibian print media framed the baby dumping phenomenon more so as scholars have determined that what receives attention in the press is regarded as very important by audience members. The present study involved a content analysis of three newspapers: the government-owned New Era, and the privately owned tabloid, Namibian Sun as well as the highest circulating daily newspaper, The Namibian. over a period of four years (2011-14). From the findings, it was clear that the Namibian media showed a preference for straight-news reports about the phenomenon without any attempt at proffering solutions by surfacing shared values and appeal to basic humanity or providing in all instances individual and societal/communal intervention to stem this negative tide.
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    Graduate attributes and employability in journalism and mass communication
    (THE NAMIBIA CPD JOURNAL FOR EDUCATORS, 2021) Akpabio, Eno; Charles, Irigo; Mbise, Susanne
    There exist ambivalence in the literature and among scholars about employability and graduate attributes across theoretical and practical courses offered by higher educational institutions, hence this study set itself the task of tracking SJMC graduates to find out if the offerings at the University of Dar es Salaam have assisted them in terms of employability as well as finding out from selected employers about graduate attributes that the former bring to bear on the work environment. Using systematic sampling supplemented with snowball sampling based on the poor response rate of the former, the study found out that the graduates were largely satisfied even though they had a number of areas that they felt should be improved upon. Employers, on the other hand, even though they also had largely positive attitudes wanted more practical courses; a sentiment also expressed by the graduates. Graduates were also not satisfied with the level of currency of the offerings, hence the study calls for urgent curriculum review involving various stakeholders to better tailor course offerings to the demands of the marketplace.
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    Political cartoons in a model African state: A case study of Botswana newspapers
    (IGI Global, 2021) Akpabio, Eno
    Cartoonists’ stock-in-trade has been to lampoon the excesses and moral foibles of political power holders. Cartoonists have been most unkind to misrule, abuse of power, and authoritarianism. The overarching aim of this study was to find out if cartoonists would be gentle and kind to Botswana political figures seeing that they preside over a state which had been held up as beacon of hope and a model of good governance. Cartoonists employed Eko’s transilience to animalize African leaders for satirical purposes deterritorialization to remove them from familiar territories for ethical criticisms. This chapter examines the themes and direction of the cartoons, the study’s findings indicate that Botswana newspaper cartoonists largely engage in deterritorialization more than transilience. However, the global trend of irreverence and negative portrayal of politicians persists.
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    Students’ reflections from a media literacy and production approach to UNAM Echo: An online training publication
    (2017) Akpabio, Eno; Mwilima, Fred
    In this paper we describe the students’ experiences in the implementation of the first online newspaper, UNAM Echo, produced and managed by media studies. This rewarding experience is in sync with the concept of media literacy as espoused by Brown (1998) and Zettl (1998) which has come to embrace production of traditional and new media content and away from its earlier fixation with critical analysis and appreciation of literary works and effective communication.
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    Traditional versus online newspapers: The perspective of news audiences in Botswana
    (2014) Lesitaokana, William; Akpabio, Eno
    Contemporary studies of journalism and new media indicate that news audiences prefer to read online newspapers because they are generally interactive, host multimedia content and report breaking news. However, the literature on the impact of digital media technologies on traditional print publication consumption patterns in Botswana and the African continent is hard to come by. Thus, this study, using multistage cluster sampling and focus group discussions, sets out to explore how audience members in Botswana engage with online news vis-á-vis traditional newspapers. It finds out that news audiences have a favorable attitude towards online newspapers but still prefer traditional newspapers, and that in Botswana specifically, access to online and traditional newspapers is influenced by factors such as cost and convenience. The study’s findings indicate clearly that while new media technologies continue to influence new trends and practices in journalism globally, audiences’ experience with these technologies differ from country to country.
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    Women in the Tanzanian media: A critical analysis
    (2017) Akpabio, Eno
    Research reports that indicate that women are marginalized in the Southern African and Tanzanian media call for urgent redress. In the specific instance of Tanzania, male sources dominate at 79%, while radio has the lowest proportion of female sources at 13% – women are more likely to be seen than to be heard. Female voices are heard in the “soft” areas such as gender equality and gender-based violence and less so in the fields of mining, labor and housing, each of which registers at a paltry 10%. Their voices start to disappear when they attain the age of 50. Women’s commentary dominates in the categories of beauty contests, and in reports on sex workers and homemaking, and women are more likely to be identified by a personal tag. In the newsroom, women constitute only 25% of print reporters, they are more likely to feature in “soft” news beats, and women occupy just over a quarter of the top management positions and constitute 14% of sources quoted 169 by male reporters. This study, citing best practices, charts the way forward more even gender representation in the Tanzanian media.