Advance Search

Searching for elusive journalism values in the era of fake news: A qualitative study on the experiences of a blogging community in Zimbabwe

A qualitative study on the experiences of a blogging community in Zimbabwe

Stanley Tsarwe
University of Zimbabwe
Keywords:
Copyright and Licensing:
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Share:

How to Cite

Searching for elusive journalism values in the era of fake news: A qualitative study on the experiences of a blogging community in Zimbabwe. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 38(1), 16-36. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v38i1.1541
  • Articles
  • Submited: October 7, 2022
  • Published: October 11, 2022

Abstract

A group of Zimbabwean bloggers formed a voluntary association (the Zimbabwe Online Content
Creators-ZOCC) aimed at protecting the credibility of their online content against fake news
by producing factual content. Like the media elsewhere in the world, Zimbabwean media have
been influenced by the phenomenon of “post-truth”, a term relating to the rise of an era in which
emotions rather than facts seem to sway public opinion, and where populism overshadows basic
principles of reason and veracity. Qualitative interviews with members of this Association sought to
understand the value of membership of this group in reducing the circulation of disinformation and
misleading content. Firstly, results show that to some extent the Association inculcated a sense of
identity and belonging which bind members’ commitment to the group’s core values such as being
balanced, independent, truthful, accurate and responsible. Mainstream media organisations,
bloggers, vloggers and animators can use the power of their professional identity to coalesce
as a buffer against fake news. However, this study noted that as the group is voluntary-based, it
lacks authority and disciplinary power to enforce compliance with group norms, thereby running
the risk that some members can violate the same values with impunity. Secondly, in Zimbabwe,
there are strong relationships between the type of falsified and misleading news and the sociopolitical
and economic context. Information might be published for its “feel good” effect (at the
expense of its credibility and accuracy) in a context where democracy and economic prosperity
are illusory to many.

pdf
pdf

Article Metrics Graph

Article Views | PDF Downloads
Chart Graph | Range Graph

References

  1. Allcott, H. & Gentzkow, M. (2017). Social media and fake news in the 2016 election. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 31(2): 211-236. doi:10.1257/jep.31.2.211.
  2. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.31.2.211
  3. Atkinson, P & Hammersley, M. 1994. Ethnography and Participant Observation. In Handbook of Qualitative Research. In Denzin, N.K & Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.), pp. 248-261. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
  4. Banda, F. (2010). Citizen journalism & democracy in Africa: An exploratory study. Paper presented at Highway Africa, Open Society Foundation of Southern Africa, School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
  5. Brown, J.S. & Duguid, P. (1991): Organizational learning and communities of practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation. In E.L. Lesser, M.A. Fontaine & J.A. Slusher (eds.) Knowledge and communities. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
  6. Chance, Z. & Norton, M.I. (2015). The what and why of self-deception. Current Opinion in Psychology, 6(1): 104-107.
  7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.07.008
  8. Chari, T. (2010). Salience and silence: Representation of the Zimbabwean crisis in the local press. African Identities, 8(2): 131-150.
  9. https://doi.org/10.1080/14725841003629591
  10. Chuma, W. (2013). The state of journalism ethics in Zimbabwe. A report produced for the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe. Harare: Zimbabwe.
  11. Corner, J. (2017). Fake news, post-truth and media-political change. Media, Culture & Society, 39(7): 1100-1107.
  12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717726743
  13. Drezner, D.W. (2016). Why the post-truth political era might be around for a while. Washington Post. Available from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/16/whythe-post-truth-political-era-might-be-around-for-a-while/?utm_term=.2df47f55d81c
  14. The Economist (2016). "Yes, I'd lie to you". The Economist [online], 10 September. Available from: http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21706498-dishonesty-politics-nothing-newmanner-which-some-politicians-now-lie-and
  15. Farkas, J. & Jannick, S. (2018). Fake news as a floating signifier: Hegemony, antagonism and the politics of falsehood, Javnost - The Public, 25(3): 298-314.
  16. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1463047
  17. Fraser, N. (1992). Rethinking the public sphere: A contribution to the critique of actually existing democracy. In C. Calhoun (ed.) Habermas and the public sphere, 109-142. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
  18. Goode, L. (2009). Social news, citizen journalism and democracy. New Media and Society, 11(8): 1287-1305.
  19. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444809341393
  20. Habermas, J. (1989). The structural transformation of the public sphere. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  21. Hogg, M.A. & Reid, S.A. (2006). Social Identity, self-categorization, and the communication of group norms. Communication Theory, 16: 7-30.
  22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00003.x
  23. Hogg, M.A. (2016). Social identity theory. In S. McKeown, R. Haji, & N. Ferguson (eds.) Understanding peace and conflict through social identity theory. Berlin: Springer, Chan.
  24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29869-6_1
  25. Holmes, J. & Meyerhoff, M. (1999). The community of practice: Theories and methodologies in language and gender research. Language in Society, 28(2): 173-183.
  26. https://doi.org/10.1017/S004740459900202X
  27. Hopkin, J. & Rosamond, B. (2017). Post-truth politics, bullshit and bad ideas: "Deficit fetishism" in the UK. New Political Economy: 1-15, published online before print on 14 September 2017. doi:10.1080/13563467.2017.1373757
  28. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2017.1373757
  29. Hornsey. M.J. (2008). Social identity theory and self-categorization theory: A historical review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(1): 204-222. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00066.x
  30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00066.x
  31. Jankowski, N.W. (2018). Researching fake news: A selective examination of empirical studies. Javnost - The Public, 25(1/2): 248-255.
  32. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2018.1418964
  33. Jenkins, R. (2014). Social Identity, 4th ed. New York: Routledge.
  34. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315887104
  35. Jensen, K.B. (1988). Answering the question: What is reception analysis? Nordicom Review, 9(1): 3-5.
  36. Karlova, N.A., & Fisher, K.E. (2013). A social diffusion model of misinformation and disinformation for understanding human information behavior. Information Research, 18(1). Available from: https://www.hastac.org/sites/default/files/documents/karlova_12_isic_misdismodel.pdf
  37. Kelly, J., Sadeghieh, T. & Adeli, K. (2014). Peer review in scientific publications: Benefits, critiques, and a survival guide. Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, 25: 227-243.
  38. Keshavarz, Hamid. (2014). How credible is information on the web: Reflections on misinformation and disinformation. Infopreneurship Journal, 1(2): 1-17.
  39. Keyes, R. (2004). The post-truth era. New York: St Martin's Press.
  40. Kuchler, H. (2017). Media groups unite in stand against fake news. Financial Times, 17 November. Available from: https://www.ft.com/content/756ef76c-ca5e-11e7-aa33-c63fdc9b8c6c
  41. Lave, J. & Etienne, W. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  42. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355
  43. Lesser, E. & Everest, K. (2001). Using communities of practice to manage intellectual capital. Ivey Business Journal, 65(4): 37.
  44. Lunt, P. & Livingstone, S. (1996). Rethinking the focus group in media and communications research. Journal of Communication. 46(2): 79-98.
  45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1996.tb01475.x
  46. Mano, W. (2005). Press freedom, professionalism and proprietorship: Behind the Zimbabwean media divide. Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, Special Issue, November: 56-70.
  47. https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.42
  48. Moore, M. (2016). Tech giants and civic power. Centre for the Study of Media, King's College London. Available from: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/policy-institute/CMCP/Tech-Giants-and-Civic-Power.pdf
  49. Moyo, D. (2009). Citizen journalism and the parallel market of information in Zimbabwe's 2008 election. Journalism Studies, 10(4): 551-567.
  50. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616700902797291
  51. Mpofu, S. (2015) When the subaltern speaks: Citizen journalism and genocide "victims" voices online. African Journalism Studies, 36(4): 82-101. doi:10.1080/23743670.2015.1119491
  52. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2015.1119491
  53. Persily, N. (2017). The 2016 US election. Can democracy survive the internet? Journal of Democracy, 28(2): 63-76.
  54. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.2017.0025
  55. Ranger, T. (2004). Nationalist historiography, patriotic history and the history of the nation: The struggle over the past in Zimbabwe. Journal of Southern African Studies, 30(2): 215-234.
  56. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305707042000215338
  57. Rønning, H. & Kupe, T. (2000). The dual legacy of democracy and authoritarianism: The media and the state in Zimbabwe. In J. Curran & Myung-Jin Park (eds.) De-Westernising media studies., 155-177. London and New York: Routledge.
  58. Rosen, J. (1999). What are journalists for? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  59. Ruddock, A. 2001. Understanding audiences: Theory and method. Sage: London
  60. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020178
  61. Schroder, K., Drotner, K., Kline, K. & Murray, C. (2003). Researching audiences. London: Arnold.
  62. Shoemaker, P., & Reese, S. (1991). Mediating the message: Theories of influence on mass. New York: Longman.
  63. Smith, S.U., Hayes, S., & Shea, P. (2017). A critical review of the use of Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) theoretical framework in online and blended learning research, 2000-2014. Online Learning, 21(1): 209-237. doi: 10.24059/olj.v21i1.963
  64. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v21i1.963
  65. Solomon, D.J. (2007). The role of peer review for scholarly journals in the information age. The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 10, (1): doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0010.107
  66. https://doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0010.107
  67. Stake, R.E. (2005). Qualitative case studies. In Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.) The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.), 443-466. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  68. Steenveld, L & Strelitz, L. (2010). Citizen Journalism in Grahamstown: Iindaba Ziafika and the difficulties of instituting citizen journalism in a poor South African country town. Unpublished paper presented during the World Journalism Education Conference (WJEC 2010), Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
  69. Tajfel, H. & Turner, J.C. (1979). An integrative theory of inter-group conflict. In W.G. Austin & S. Worchel (eds.). The social psychology of inter-group relations, 33-47. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
  70. Tajfel, H. & Turner, J.C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior, psychology of intergroup relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
  71. Trivers, R. (1985). Deceit and self-deception. In R. Trivers (ed.) Social evolution, 395-420. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
  72. Tsarwe, S. (2014). Voice, alienation and the struggle to be heard: A case study of community radio programming in South Africa. Critical Arts, 28(2): 287-310. doi:10.1080/02560046.2014.906345
  73. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2014.906345
  74. Tudjman, M & Nives, M. (2003). Information science: Science about information, misinformation and disinformation. Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, Pori, Finland
  75. https://doi.org/10.28945/2728
  76. Von Hippel, W. & Trivers, R. (2011). Reflections on self-deception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 34(1): 41-56.
  77. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X10003018
  78. Wasserman, H. (2011). Mobile phones, popular media, and everyday African democracy: Transmissions and transgressions. Popular Communication, 9 (2), 146-158.
  79. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2011.562097
  80. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  81. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803932
  82. Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2): 225-246.
  83. https://doi.org/10.1177/135050840072002
  84. Wenger, E. (2010). Communities of practice and social learning systems: The career of a concept. In C. Blackmore (ed.) Social learning systems and communities of practice, 179-195. London: The Open University in Association with Springer-Verlag.
  85. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84996-133-2_11
How to Cite
Searching for elusive journalism values in the era of fake news: A qualitative study on the experiences of a blogging community in Zimbabwe. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 38(1), 16-36. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v38i1.1541

Send mail to Author

Send Cancel

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.

Custom technologies based on your needs

  • ORCID
  • Crossref
  • PubMed
    • Clarivate