[ecrea] 'African Journalism Studies' Special Issue Call for Abstracts - "Fake News, Bots and Cyber-Propaganda in Africa"

*Call for Abstracts: /Fake News, Bots and Cyber-Propaganda in Africa/*

**

*/African Journalism Studies /**(AJS)’s ‘African Digital Media Review’ 
(ADMR) (/Issue/ /No: 5/)*

//

/African Digital Media Review /(ADMR), a Special Annual Issue of 
/African Journalism Studies/ (AJS)invites submissions of 
abstracts(maximum 300 words) for its fifth issue, whose focus is on 
‘fake news, bots and cyber-propaganda in Africa’. Fake news encapsulates 
stories that are generally false, but have enormous popular appeal and 
are shared far and wide. This includes hoaxes, propaganda and 
disinformation purporting to be real news—often circulated online to 
drive web traffic and amplify their effect. Some of the fake news are 
completely false information that is created for financial and political 
gains. While ‘fake news’ is not entirely a new phenomenon, its corrosive 
effect on electoral politics, democratic processes and general trust in 
mainstream media and the potential nurturing of an uninformed and 
misinformed citizenry presents huge challenges for contemporary African 
countries. The internet and its associated digital media have turned an 
age-old problem into a new threat.

‘Fake news’ has also found its way into the mainstream media largely 
through journalists’ overreliance on online sourcing practices and 
cultures. In some African countries, politicians have also used the 
discourse of fake news to delegitimize the so-called independent 
mainstream media. There, however, remains a gap in the theorisation and 
empirical examination of the production and consumption of fake news and 
cyber-propaganda in Africa. Cyber-propaganda refers to the spread of 
misinformation and manipulating of public opinion through digital media 
technologies. Equally lacking are studies which examine how ‘fake news’ 
and cyber-propaganda are produced in different political contexts, how 
they are consumed by demographically diverse populations, as well as how 
these phenomena are harnessed by politicians for ‘manufacturing consent’ 
and generating necessary illusions.  Besides the use of digital media 
technologies, bots (which are software applications that run automated 
tasks over the Internet) have been used to circulate fake news, 
disinformation and propaganda in many countries in the recent past.

We welcome submissions that use a wide range of evidence and theory to 
engage with the phenomena of ‘fake news’ and cyber-propaganda in 
Africa.  We are also interested in research papers that draw on 
ethnographic accounts of the production and consumption of ‘fake news’ 
and cyber propaganda.  Audience studies of fake news and cyber 
propaganda are also encouraged, bearing in mind that human beings have 
agency to engage in aberrant, negotiated, oppositional and dominant 
readings of ‘fake news’ and cyber propaganda.

Topics to be covered may include, but should by no means be restricted 
to the following issues:

  * Theoretical and methodological issues in studying ‘fake news’ and
    cyber propaganda in Africa
  * The production and dissemination of ‘fake news’ and cyber propaganda
    in Africa
  * The consumption of ‘fake news’ and cyber propaganda in Africa
  * Fake news and trust in mainstream media
  * Fake news and the business/corporate sector
  * Fact checking organisations and fake news in Africa
  * Manifestations of fake news on digital media in Africa
  * Use of bots to spread fake news and cyber propaganda
  * How mainstream media organizations are fighting against fake news
  * The implications of fake news for political and democratic processes
    in Africa

Prospective authors should submit an abstract of approximately 300 words 
by email to the Guest Editors: *Admire Mare*, Namibia University of 
Science and Technology (*(amare /at/ nust.na)*), *Hayes Mabweazara*, Falmouth 
University, UK (*(hayes.mabweazara /at/ falmouth.ac.uk)*) and *Dumisani Moyo*, 
University of Johannesburg, South Africa (*(dumisanim /at/ uj.ac.za) 
<mailto:(dumisanim /at/ uj.ac.za)>*).

All abstracts will be reviewed by the editors and successful authors 
will be invited to submit a full manuscript via the /African Journalism 
Studies/ ‘*ScholarOne Manuscripts* 
<https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/recq>*’*site where they will undergo 
peer review. The invitation to submita full article 
doesnotguaranteeacceptance of the final paper into the special issue.

*Timeline:*

Deadline for abstracts: *27 July 2018*

Notification on submitted abstracts: *10 August 2018*

Deadline for completed papers: *30 January 2019*

Final revised papers due: *28 April 2019*

Accepted articles will be published Online First with the complete 
special issue coming out in November 2019.


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