Abstract
Africa has in recent time been confronted with insecurity challenges, tensions, misrule, attacks, and distrust among the peculiarities of the various nationalities that make up the continent. This has resulted in living in uncertainties, xenophobic attacks, bloodletting, blockages and other primordial and psychologically threatening experience. This study premised on survey research and content analysis methodologies hinges on the development media and agenda setting theories. It takes a careful study of insurgency, insecurity within four countries from the four regions of Africa.The countries are Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa - representing the West, East, South and North.The study buttressed the role of the new media convergence particularly the social media employing peace reportage to impact on the citizens of the selected countries with emphasis on the diversity and peculiarities of the countries studied. The findings reveal that the new media had great impact in heightened awareness of the activities of the subject investigated. The social media and its media contents went viral to both heighten the tension as well as perform the peace journalism by suing for peace in the African countries studied. This research recommends the involvement of communication stakeholders in educating them towards responsible and responsive reportage. It also recommends the involvement of peace journalism and its convergences with the social media as viable templates to consolidate enduring and sustainable peace and development in a pluralistic African society.The study advocates for more research in other thorny subjects in pluralistic African countries through communication for social change and development.
Presenters
Prof Uwaoma UcheDean, Communication and Media Studies, Gregory University Uturu Nigeria, Abia, Nigeria
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
NEW MEDIA,SOCIAL MEDIA,PEACE JOURNALISM,PLURALISTIC SOCIETY,INSECURITY,SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
