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Mass mediatisation of social media: The case of Uganda’s 2016 presidential elections as covered by NTV on Facebook

The case of Uganda’s 2016 presidential elections as covered by NTV on Facebook

Marion Olga Alina
Makerere University
Donal P. McCracken
University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Mass mediatisation of social media: The case of Uganda’s 2016 presidential elections as covered by NTV on Facebook. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 39(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v39i1.1525
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  • Submited: October 6, 2022
  • Published: October 6, 2022

Abstract

Based on the 2016 presidential election in Uganda as covered on the NTV Facebook page,
this paper, emanating from a doctoral study, shows how the medium of television has mass
mediatised Facebook. The onset of social media has meant that audiences increasingly turn
to such platforms for their information needs, including news. As a consequence, the traditional
media’s role of providing such news and information updates is demoted and threatened. In order
to stay relevant, mass media has had to join social media platforms to provide the aforementioned
information/news. In attempting to do so, mass media has consequently mediatised social media,
especially as seen through the lens of the agenda-setting theory, which this paper argues is in
contrast with the discursive nature of social media as a public sphere.

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How to Cite
Mass mediatisation of social media: The case of Uganda’s 2016 presidential elections as covered by NTV on Facebook. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 39(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v39i1.1525

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