Prophets without Honor: Peripheral Actors in Kenyan Journalism

J Siguru Wahutu

doi:10.17645/mac.v7i4.2552

Abstract

In sub-Sahara Africa, periphery contributors exist in a liminal space. They are at once valorized and treated with suspicion by the local journalism and political fields. Valorization occurs when they engage with, and challenge, journalism from the global north, and the opposite occurs when they do the same for the local fields. Focusing on the former and not the latter is a disservice to the complicated and nuanced relationship these actors have with the journalism field and perpetuates a mythologized and romanticized narrative about the redemptive qualities of online platforms.

Highlights

This thematic issue brings together scholars that focus on peripheral actors in journalism fields whose presence has expanded with the advent of social and mobile media platforms
Such optimism has spread into the scholarly understandings of how these actors operate within Africa, those that are within the social media universe
We must be cognizant that they can be vilified and marginalized within their own nations. Even as they are hailed as paragons of engagement with the global north, their engagement with the national journalism field invites nothing but suspicion

Summary

Introduction

This thematic issue brings together scholars that focus on peripheral actors in journalism fields whose presence has expanded with the advent of social and mobile media platforms. These actors have played a vital role in reshaping the boundaries of the global media field. The promise and optimism that captured global north scholars led to valorizing these actors as harbingers of change Such optimism has spread into the scholarly understandings of how these actors operate within Africa, those that are within the social media universe. We know very little about how the journalism field works in African countries (Brisset-Foucault, 2009; Wahutu, 2017). Media and Communication, 2019, Volume 7, Issue 4, Pages 127–132 tional journalism fields in Africa (Atton & Mabweazara, 2011; Mabweazara, 2011a, 2011b; Mutsvairo, 2016; Nyabola, 2018a)

The Virtual Town Square

Valorized or Marginalized Peripheral Actors?

Bringing Back the Global South in Peripheral Actors Studies

Peripheral Actors and Field Boundaries

Conclusion