Expanding Horizons of Empirical Enquiry into Feminist Media Studies in Africa

Abstract

This essay argues for a broader outlook to feminist media studies in Africa. Despite decades of groundbreaking feminist research in gender and media in Africa, there is a paucity of research on the impact of contemporary shifts in media systems and media management in gender relations in journalism. Feminist media scholars need to take cognizance of the extent of impact of excessive media privitizations and the replications on work-time arrangements and schedules in the newsrooms and how these arrangements impact on gender roles and relations in African newsrooms. The call for new and broader empirical enquiry also requires corresponding development and application of appropriate conceptual constructs and theoretical approaches to explicate gender relations in the newsrooms.