Vol 44, No 2 (2025)

This article examines media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana, specifically focusing on four selected Ghanaian news portals (myjoyonline.com, citinewsroom.com, peacefmonline.com and gna.org.gh) from 12 March 2020 to 24 March 2021. The study underpinning the article examined news sources, attributions and reportage phases. The study was guided by the Agenda Setting and Framing theories within a content analysis approach that sampled and analysed 208 news stories. The findings highlight the central role of various sources, including government officials and politicians, medical experts, health organisations, affected communities, corporate executives and international media in shaping the media narrative about the pandemic. These sources provided information, insights and perspectives that informed the media’s reporting and helped disseminate crucial information to the public. In addition, the study underpinning the article unveiled a five-phased approach adopted by the media, from early responsiveness to resilience and recovery, each marked by different frames such as political, public health crisis, social, economic and on-the-brighter-side frames. This dynamic approach allowed the media to adapt to the evolving nature of the pandemic and cater to the diverse information needs of the audience. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of media coverage during health crises and offers valuable insights for media professionals, policymakers and the public.

The article looks at the South African Broadcasting Corporation as a case study to examine the impact of liberalisation and competition by examining scheduling and programming to ascertain diversity. The public sphere theory was used to evaluate its performance as a public service broadcaster. The article challenges the arguments that, first, liberalisation commercialises public service broadcasting which results in the erosion of the public sphere through excessive similarity in programming, thus excluding certain perspectives, fragmenting audiences and limiting its social and integrative role. Second, commercial interests have undermined the service mandate of public service broadcasting and it has lost legitimacy and relevance. It also decries the dominance of public service broadcasting literature from the North, which focuses on the public‒private dichotomous approach that emphasises collective interest over personal choice, and commonality over diversity. Findings show that the South African Broadcasting Corporation's programming is diverse with high local content, and that responses to competition are not deterministic, while commercialisation and convergence are inherent risks that can be mitigated by creative programming strategies and regulation. Findings further provide insight into the approach of the South African Broadcasting Corporation to scheduling and programming through broadcasting the rainbow nation, a construct that suggests ideals of nation building, unity and diversity as public interest embedded in the broadcasting legislative and organisational frameworks. The notion of the rainbow nation is rooted in diverse cultures and the different racial makeup of South Africa.

The objective of this article is to evaluate the corporate reputation of the North-West University during a period characterised by significant challenges, such as transformation within the higher education sector and the impact of global trends such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the emergence of new stakeholder groups. These challenges possess the potential to affect North-West University’s corporate reputation. The article explores North-West University’s corporate reputation with an emphasis on the importance of staff members as a key stakeholder group of which to take note. The article assesses this stakeholder group’s perceptions through semi-structured interviews and an online survey characterised by RepTrak™. The findings of the article suggest that there is room for North-West University to improve its corporate reputation among staff members, as these stakeholders perceive the university’s corporate reputation as average. The findings also suggest a need to improve corporate reputation management and the need for development of a formal strategy to achieve this at North-West University. The article furthermore proposes reasons staff members at North-West University perceive the university’s corporate reputation as average and provides recommendations for improving it.

This study investigated how young Nigerian parents engage with Disney’s portrayals of women in animated films. The study employed a qualitative research approach. Drawing on the Audience Reception Theory and the Parental Mediation Theory, the research examined how these parents interpret and mediate Disney’s gender representations in their parenting practices. Data were collected from 20 university-educated parents, aged 25 to 35 years, across various professions in two diverse urban locations, using a guided snowballing technique. The participants were those who had recent exposure to female portrayals from Disney productions. Findings showed diverse media consumption patterns and a high level of exposure to Disney content. Disney animated films were accessed via a wide variety of platforms such as Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Channel. Findings also revealed varied interpretations of Disney’s portrayals, including perpetuation of gender stereotypes and depictions of empowerment. In addition, parents employed restrictive, active and co-viewing strategies to mediate these representations. They expressed concerns about gender socialisation and the reinforcement of cultural values. In the young parents’ navigation of negative portrayals through active mediation and restrictive mediation, they questioned and sieved Disney content for their children and also engaged in open communication where they discussed Disney content with their children. They also used the films to teach cultural values. Stay-at-home mothers used these films more than the other groups of parents. This study highlights the relationship between media, culture and parenting in shaping gender attitudes.

Risk communication is critical to providing a scientific understanding of perceptions and responses to climate change threats. Using seven focus discussion groups comprising 75 participants, this study examined the role of risk communication in effective implementation of climate change adaptation during floods experienced around Lake Naivasha basin in Kenya in 2018. Specifically, within the contexts of Protective Action Decision Model and risk communication in relation to flood occurrences, the study investigated the following: knowledge and awareness of climate change, risk communication systems put in place to enhance adaptive behaviour and whether the risk communication systems in place were viewed as effective. Findings revealed that the participants understood what climate change is, and related it to their own experiences. In addition, as there was no clear communication before the floods occurred, the risk communication systems were seen as not effective enough, even though the participants received warnings about the imminent rise of water levels in the freshwater lake.

Gamified communication is increasingly recognised as a powerful modality in education, fostering interactive learning and behavioural transformation. This study explored how game-based communication strategies contribute to entrepreneurial skill development in childhood, with a focus on South Africa’s Eastern Cape. While gamification is well researched in Global North contexts, little is known about how it functions in early entrepreneurial development within African childhood settings. Drawing on an interpretivist paradigm, the study investigated how parents experience and make sense of gamified tools that promote entrepreneurial mindsets in their children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 parents, and data were analysed using the Gioia methodology and narrative analysis. The findings revealed that gamified platforms act as dynamic communication environments through which children engage in simulated entrepreneurial scenarios. Themes such as strategic risk taking, creative problem solving and financial decision making emerged as communicative competencies fostered through these interactions. Through foregrounding gamification as both a pedagogical and communicative practice, this study contributes to African-centred communication scholarship. It highlights the potential of gamified media in localised development contexts, particularly in addressing youth unemployment and social inequality. The research underscores the importance of adapting global digital communication frameworks to African childhood learning environments, opening up new avenues for policy, pedagogy and participatory communication.