Vol 40, No 1 (2021)

This study determined the direct effect and mediating effect of the presidential candidate’s perceived image, attitude towards voting and perceived image of the political party on the relationship between digital media exposure and voting intention. A quantitative research approach was utilised. Of the 350 questionnaires distributed, 302 usable self-administered questionnaires were retrieved for the final data analysis, representing a response rate of 87 percent. Partial least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed in the data analysis. Significant relationships were found between the presidential candidate’s perceived image and attitude towards voting and between attitude towards voting and voting intention. Important to note about the study findings is that the mediating variables perceived image of the presidential candidate, perceived image of the political party and attitude towards voting partially mediates digital media exposure and voting intention relationship. This study contributes new knowledge to the existing body of digital media literature in Africa - a context that is often most neglected by some researchers in developing countries.

Using both intersectional and kyriarchy heuristics which acknowledge the interlocking gender, sexuality and class dynamics in the co-construction of power hierarchies, this paper examines how informal herbal healing flyers and posters in the Johannesburg CBD reinforce norms which govern and legitimate desirable male and female bodies and lives through written texts and images.
This is done through invitations to potential clients to enhance their sexual organs and bodies as well as improve their marriages and finances. With the acronym of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Allies and Pansexual (LGBTQQIAAP) in mind, the paper explores how the flyers and posters pre-suppose that all bodies are inherently
sexual, heterosexual, male/female, able-bodied, young and willing participants in sexual activities. Drawing on previous research which mainly focused on the power relations between the adverts’ composers and their potential customers, the paper explores a different dimension of the adverts by problematising instances of these adverts’ complicity in heteronormative, cisnormative, ableist,
and ageist discourses that conceal the operations of power over bodies. Overall, we argue that the flyers and posters commodify sex, gender and class into a purchasable package of attributes which, supposedly, complete the individual, making them a fuller member of society.

This paper sets out to consider the production of political documentary films in post-apartheid
South Africa at a time when massification of the media and state capture of the South African
Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s public broadcaster, silenced oppositional voices. Rehad
Desai’s award-winning film, Miners Shot Down (2014) serves as the main case study for the
research. The film deals with the days leading up to the final and tragic outcome of strike action by miners
at a time when the print media predicated the state and the mine owners’ points of view. The
filmmaker, a self-acclaimed political activist, set out to recount the events by recreating a voice for
the mine workers by offering his personal reaction to the deaths of the 34 black men by interviews
and archival material. Miners Shot Down was received well locally and internationally, but as an overt political narrative
presented in a subjective reconstruction, some of the omissions may impact on a fuller understanding
of the tragic event.tion. This finding prompted recommendations for entrepreneurs, policymakers
and scholarship.

South Africa’s 2019 elections, like others before, will be remembered for the historical significance
around the ANC ruling party’s sharp decline in polls, the surging and re-emergence of the
ideologically extreme parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Freedom Front Plus
(VF+). This election, for the first time since the rebranding of the main opposition, the Democratic
Alliance, saw that party losing its momentum, culminating in the eventual resignation of the party’s
first black leader, Mmusi Maimane. This study examines how the three dominant parties in South
Africa contest with each other in the race to attract potential voters through poster advertising and
campaigns. Going into the 2019 election, the three dominant political parties were – the African
National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
Specifically, the paper examines messages on the posters, the parties’ manifestos and speeches
at different rallies before the elections. Drawing on our analysis, we make a claim in this paper
that the 2019 election in South Africa for the ANC, DA and EFF was largely about “unresolved
questions”.

This study explores Zimbabwe’s media legislation, the Freedom of Information Act (FIA), which
was brought into effect in 2020 to replace previous repressive legislation, the 2002 Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). While the new law has been presented under
the reform agenda of the post-Mugabe administration, this paper explores whether the FIA offers
genuine media freedoms or if it replicates the old law. The study was guided by a qualitative
research design, and data was obtained through document analysis and in-depth interviews. A
key finding from the study is that the FIA contains very few changes that differentiate it from the
repressive policy that it is replacing. It thus appears that a dual legacy of democracy and media
authoritarianism still exists in the post-Mugabe administration, which presents itself as the “new
dispensation”.

The study explored how the interactive attributes of new media technologies influence the
gratification-seeking behaviour of millennials. Using a mixed methods approach, it employed a
survey and focus group interviews to collect data from university students. From a population of
2 400 university students from the Political Science Department of a renowned public university
in Ghana, 400 students were systematically sampled for the survey, while 40 students were
purposively selected for focus group discussions. The findings indicate that the interactive features
of the technologies produced emerging social and psychological gratifications in millennials
by projecting them as purposeful, and active in deploying symmetric political communication
repertoires. The practical implication of this is that political leaders need to invigorate their electoral
communication repertoires both in substance and in depth by deploying the heuristic attributes of
the new technologies to facilitate the awakening of visceral responses in millennials and get them
to engage in e-politics.

Revenge pornography, which is mainly understood as the publication of nude or intimate pictures
of another person without their consent, is a phenomenon that is increasing in occurrence and
constantly changing in the manner in which it is carried out. In Kenya, due to the absence of a
proper regulatory mechanism, perpetrators continue to carry out their activities with resounding
impact and devastating effects on the victims. This article uses discourse analysis to explore the
motivations behind non-consensual pornography, reasons and motivations for its prevalence,
which include revenge and punishment, entertainment/fun, the sexual objectification of women,
“slut shaming”, and denigration of the victim’s character. The paper also looks at the legal and
gendered aspects that allow the vice to continue being perpetrated. These include the lack of
clearly defined laws that capture the various forms that revenge pornography can take and the
lack of well-trained legal officers and law enforcers who can handle reported cases of revenge
pornography. The article argues in favour of reform of the current legal framework in order to
address non-consensual pornography as mediated by the tools of digital technology. This includes
a clear legal definition of revenge pornography.

The article analyses the perceived impact of globalisation on public relations practice in Ghana by
examining how Ghanaian PR practitioners are utilising the opportunities that globalisation offers
while dealing with the challenges it brings. The qualitative interview technique was used to interview
a total of five (5) PR practitioners from the non-banking financial services sector. Results show PR
practitioners are very much aware of the demand placed on them by globalisation. Communication
infrastructural challenges as well as a lack of technological skills is proving a huge challenge in
the management of communication activities. As multinational organisations continue to flood
into the country, the competition will be keen. Practitioners need to upgrade their skills, especially
in the area of digital communication, and knowledge regarding the current standards of practice
in the era of globalisation. It is essential for PR educators in Ghana to respond to the challenge
of globalisation by redefining their teaching curriculums to reflect the dynamics of international
practice. Moreover, it is time for African PR scholars to make a significant contribution to this
discussion from an African perspective. The limited number of interviewees and the selection of
practitioners from a particular sector of the economy, however, means the research cannot be
generalised.