Media and citizenship

How central are the media to the functioning of democracy? Is democracy primarily about citizens using their vote? Does the expression of their voice necessarily empower citizens? Media and Citizenship challenges some assumptions about the relationship between the media and democracy in highly unequal societies like South Africa. In a post-apartheid society where an enfranchised majority is still unable to fundamentally practise their citizenship and experiences marginalisation on a daily basis, notions like listening and belonging may be more useful ways of thinking about the role of the media. In this context, protest is taken seriously as a form of political expression and the media’s role is foregrounded as actively seeking out the voices of those on the margins of society. Through a range of case studies, the contributors show how listening, both as a political concept and as a form of practice, has transformative and even radical potential for both emerging and established democracies.

Anthea Garman is an associate professor and deputy head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies and editor of the Rhodes Journalism Review. She holds a PhD from Wits University and her publications include the monograph Antjie Krog and the Post-Apartheid Public Sphere - Speaking Poetry to Power, published by UKZN Press. Herman Wasserman is Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Centre for Film and Media Studies at the University of Cape Town. He holds a doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and worked as a journalist before starting an academic career. He has published widely on media in post-apartheid South Africa. His books include the monograph Tabloid Journalism in South Africa (Indiana University Press, 2010) and the edited collections Chinese Media and Soft Power in Africa: Promotion and Perceptions (with Xiaoling Zhang and Winston Mano, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), Media Ethics and Justice in a Global Age (with Shakuntala Rao, Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), Reporting China in Africa (Routledge, 2014), Press Freedom in Africa: Comparative Perspectives (Routledge, 2013), Popular Media: Democracy and Development in Africa (Routledge, 2011), Media Ethics Beyond Borders (with Stephen J. Ward, Routledge, 2010). He edits the journal African Journalism Studies.