ICT for development
Citizens of the world? Africans, media and telecommunications
The interconnected impact of the media in Africa
Authors:
Z. Ismail; P. Graham
Publisher:
Afrobarometer, 2009
Democracies are assumed to rely on an informed and active citizenry. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and access to a variety of independent media sources are therefore considered essential elements of democratic societies. The Afrobarometer has been asking respondents since 1999 how often they get news from various sources, including radio, television and newspapers. But in many parts of the world people increasingly gather news and communicate via mobile phones and the internet. In its most recent fourth round of surveys, conducted in 19 countries during 2008, it also began asking about the frequency of access to these tools for gathering and sharing information.
This paper begins by focusing on three main indicators to determine the extent to which Africans are cosmopolitan “citizens of the world.” First, access to media enables individuals to engage with practices and ideas that are outside their immediate geographic and cultural space. Second, use of telecommunications technology, particularly the internet, facilitates connections with global ideas and behaviour. Third, connections to transnational migrants likewise permit many people to experience life in other parts of the world vicariously through contact with friends or relatives living abroad. From these indicators, the authors can develop an “index of cosmopolitanism.” They then go on to consider how individual scores on this index are related to key social and political attitudes.
The study finds that, while in some respects - particularly through their radios - Africans are very connected to the outside world, our findings suggests that the majority continue to be local rather than world citizens. However, this initial work on cosmopolitanism suggests that as the world becomes larger through both traditional and new forms of media and telecommunications,greater levels of political debate, increased willingness to accept political opposition can be expected.
