Last Alfandika - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Last Alfandika

Development Naivety and Emergent Insecurities in a Monopolised World, 2018

Communicatio, 2020

This article reports on a study that focused on the radio broadcasting and licensing scene in Zim... more This article reports on a study that focused on the radio broadcasting and licensing scene in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020. The study interrogated the sincerity of the Zimbabwean government in advancing both media pluralism and diversity. Opposition political parties and civic organisations pressured Zimbabwe into adopting a liberal approach that they hoped would widen the political and media space. The study examined how the government has taken and implemented such a liberal approach. Drawing on the competitive authoritarianism concept, the study argued that the cosmetic application of contested and undemocratic media laws that pretended to be democratising the media was indeed gagging democracy. This is called a pseudo-progressive stance. The study gathered data using qualitative interviews with three media activists, three policymakers, two media professionals, and two media scholars in Zimbabwe. In total, 10 qualitative key informant in-depth interviews were carried out. The analysis revealed a silhouette of grandiose but empty media laws that have continued to impede democracy in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the study concluded that the monopoly of media influence and concentration of broadcasting media ownership within the ruling party is dire and not conducive to the development of diverse and creative content for the nation. Thus, collaborative efforts are needed for real change to be achieved in the broadcasting media in Zimbabwe.

African Journalism Studies, 2020

The struggle for media reform by media reform activists in Zimbabwe has revolutionised the media ... more The struggle for media reform by media reform activists in Zimbabwe has revolutionised the media sphere from various perspectives. Regardless of these changes, the media in Zimbabwe has remained undemocratic. This article explores the extent to which media reforms adopted in the post-2000 era have democratised the media. It further examines the contestation of ideas that characterised the media reform processes in Zimbabwe. Guided by the democracy theory, the article questions the extent to which media reforms in Zimbabwe have democratised the media space. Analysis of documents and in-depth interviews with media policy actors in Zimbabwe constitute the methodology of this study. The article argues that media reforms have changed the dynamics of media policy and practice in Zimbabwe. However, despite these changes, the media has remained undemocratic due to the hegemonic control of the media by the state.

African Journalism Studies, 2019

The promulgation of the Broadcasting Service Act (BSA), which contains a three-tier model of the ... more The promulgation of the Broadcasting Service Act (BSA), which contains a three-tier model of the broadcasting system, was supposed to revolutionise the broadcasting media sphere in Zimbabwe. It was supposed to change the dynamics of radio broadcasting in Zimbabwe by increasing the opportunity for public, commercial and community broadcasting sectors. However, the three-tier model of broadcasting has remained on the paper, creating a strong debate on community radio licensing among media activists, practitioners, academics, the government and other media policy stakeholders on the government's reluctance in issuing community radio licences. While some studies have focused on the strategies used by community broadcasting activists to communicate with their target audiences in Zimbabwe, this research seeks to contribute to the growing body of literature on community broadcasting policy and the contestations which have resulted in the impasse of the licensing of community radios in Zimbabwe. Based on the Four Theoretical Approach to Community Media, in-depth interviews with Zimbabwean media policy stakeholders as well as documentary analysis, this study explores the contestation of ideas that characterised community broadcasting reform processes in Zimbabwe.

Communicatio, 2020

The aim of this article is to analyse protest popular music representing and communicating the ca... more The aim of this article is to analyse protest popular music representing and communicating the captured media space in Zimbabwe. The article argues that the media space in Zimbabwe in the post-1990 period has been constricted, projecting a silhouette of a public service communication and information system that has long been dysfunctional. Leonard Zhakata's song Sakunatsa decries unequal treatment before the laws that regulate the media of the country and the impartiality of the regulatory system under the ZANU-PF government. The article adopts a qualitative research approach that is rich in description to analyse how music as a form of media represents and communicates captured communication space in a country where human rights such as freedom of expression and access to information have suffered still birth. The article argues that the government used the law as an instrument of coercion to advance its hegemony and thwart media democracy in Zimbabwe. The emerging patterns after the discussion in this article point to the fact that when communication is captured, culture is under siege and the upshot is a combination of (media) activism, spiral of silence and suffocation of the masses.

African Journalism Studies, 2018

The advent of digital media, which incorporates social media, has increased the visibility of the... more The advent of digital media, which incorporates social media, has increased the visibility of the othered indigenous people. The Tonga people of Zimbabwe belong to the othered/ marginalised. Very few studies have examined the adoption of digital media by the marginalised members from a Zimbabwean perspective. This study examines the extent to which digital media have increased the participation and visibility of the marginalised Tonga people of Zimbabwe and how they have redefined, supplemented or replaced traditional journalism in Zimbabwe. Despite their rich heritage, the Tonga people in northern Zimbabwe lack a suitable local public platform to express themselves, with the only online publication being mulonga.net, launched on 25 March 2001 in Vienna, Austria. Using online content analysis of mulonga.net, this study examines how the new forms of citizenship, participatory cultures and empowerment are expressed among the Tonga people. From the public sphere theory perspective, the study argues that the adoption of this "novel" phenomenon guarantees interactivity at both local and global levels.

Rethinking Securities in an Emergent Technoscientific New World Order, 2018

Development Naivety and Emergent Insecurities in a Monopolised World, 2018

Communicatio, 2020

This article reports on a study that focused on the radio broadcasting and licensing scene in Zim... more This article reports on a study that focused on the radio broadcasting and licensing scene in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020. The study interrogated the sincerity of the Zimbabwean government in advancing both media pluralism and diversity. Opposition political parties and civic organisations pressured Zimbabwe into adopting a liberal approach that they hoped would widen the political and media space. The study examined how the government has taken and implemented such a liberal approach. Drawing on the competitive authoritarianism concept, the study argued that the cosmetic application of contested and undemocratic media laws that pretended to be democratising the media was indeed gagging democracy. This is called a pseudo-progressive stance. The study gathered data using qualitative interviews with three media activists, three policymakers, two media professionals, and two media scholars in Zimbabwe. In total, 10 qualitative key informant in-depth interviews were carried out. The analysis revealed a silhouette of grandiose but empty media laws that have continued to impede democracy in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the study concluded that the monopoly of media influence and concentration of broadcasting media ownership within the ruling party is dire and not conducive to the development of diverse and creative content for the nation. Thus, collaborative efforts are needed for real change to be achieved in the broadcasting media in Zimbabwe.

African Journalism Studies, 2020

The struggle for media reform by media reform activists in Zimbabwe has revolutionised the media ... more The struggle for media reform by media reform activists in Zimbabwe has revolutionised the media sphere from various perspectives. Regardless of these changes, the media in Zimbabwe has remained undemocratic. This article explores the extent to which media reforms adopted in the post-2000 era have democratised the media. It further examines the contestation of ideas that characterised the media reform processes in Zimbabwe. Guided by the democracy theory, the article questions the extent to which media reforms in Zimbabwe have democratised the media space. Analysis of documents and in-depth interviews with media policy actors in Zimbabwe constitute the methodology of this study. The article argues that media reforms have changed the dynamics of media policy and practice in Zimbabwe. However, despite these changes, the media has remained undemocratic due to the hegemonic control of the media by the state.

African Journalism Studies, 2019

The promulgation of the Broadcasting Service Act (BSA), which contains a three-tier model of the ... more The promulgation of the Broadcasting Service Act (BSA), which contains a three-tier model of the broadcasting system, was supposed to revolutionise the broadcasting media sphere in Zimbabwe. It was supposed to change the dynamics of radio broadcasting in Zimbabwe by increasing the opportunity for public, commercial and community broadcasting sectors. However, the three-tier model of broadcasting has remained on the paper, creating a strong debate on community radio licensing among media activists, practitioners, academics, the government and other media policy stakeholders on the government's reluctance in issuing community radio licences. While some studies have focused on the strategies used by community broadcasting activists to communicate with their target audiences in Zimbabwe, this research seeks to contribute to the growing body of literature on community broadcasting policy and the contestations which have resulted in the impasse of the licensing of community radios in Zimbabwe. Based on the Four Theoretical Approach to Community Media, in-depth interviews with Zimbabwean media policy stakeholders as well as documentary analysis, this study explores the contestation of ideas that characterised community broadcasting reform processes in Zimbabwe.

Communicatio, 2020

The aim of this article is to analyse protest popular music representing and communicating the ca... more The aim of this article is to analyse protest popular music representing and communicating the captured media space in Zimbabwe. The article argues that the media space in Zimbabwe in the post-1990 period has been constricted, projecting a silhouette of a public service communication and information system that has long been dysfunctional. Leonard Zhakata's song Sakunatsa decries unequal treatment before the laws that regulate the media of the country and the impartiality of the regulatory system under the ZANU-PF government. The article adopts a qualitative research approach that is rich in description to analyse how music as a form of media represents and communicates captured communication space in a country where human rights such as freedom of expression and access to information have suffered still birth. The article argues that the government used the law as an instrument of coercion to advance its hegemony and thwart media democracy in Zimbabwe. The emerging patterns after the discussion in this article point to the fact that when communication is captured, culture is under siege and the upshot is a combination of (media) activism, spiral of silence and suffocation of the masses.

African Journalism Studies, 2018

The advent of digital media, which incorporates social media, has increased the visibility of the... more The advent of digital media, which incorporates social media, has increased the visibility of the othered indigenous people. The Tonga people of Zimbabwe belong to the othered/ marginalised. Very few studies have examined the adoption of digital media by the marginalised members from a Zimbabwean perspective. This study examines the extent to which digital media have increased the participation and visibility of the marginalised Tonga people of Zimbabwe and how they have redefined, supplemented or replaced traditional journalism in Zimbabwe. Despite their rich heritage, the Tonga people in northern Zimbabwe lack a suitable local public platform to express themselves, with the only online publication being mulonga.net, launched on 25 March 2001 in Vienna, Austria. Using online content analysis of mulonga.net, this study examines how the new forms of citizenship, participatory cultures and empowerment are expressed among the Tonga people. From the public sphere theory perspective, the study argues that the adoption of this "novel" phenomenon guarantees interactivity at both local and global levels.

Rethinking Securities in an Emergent Technoscientific New World Order, 2018