ABSTRACT

In thinking about how African journalism can serve society better, one has to pay attention to the moment in which humanity finds itself today. Arguably one of the most exigent issues in contemporary society is that of social justice, whose dimensions have been exposed by the denudational forces of an equally potent malignant force, the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the crucial role of the media as a vector of social change, an appraisal of contemporary journalisms’ potency in fostering the transformation of society towards a just configuration is imperative. This article argues that the limitations of the morally indifferent objectivist journalism and the parochial focus of “corrective journalisms” are not adequate to meet the demands of multidimensional and imbricated justice questions in contemporary society. Drawing on both Fraser’s Justice Theory and Crenshaw’s Intersectional Theory as well as an empirical institutional analysis of the online journalism platforms New Frame and The Conversation Africa, this article argues that a journalism that is oriented towards justice would provide the optimum tools for nuanced discourses on extant, emerging and imbricated questions of social justice at both the local and international levels.

摘要

在思考非洲新闻如何更好地为社会服务时，我们必须关注人类今天所处的时刻。可以说，当代社会中最紧迫的问题之一是社会正义问题，其维度已被同样强大的恶性力量 COVID-19 大流行的破坏力量暴露出来。鉴于媒体作为社会变革载体的关键作用，评估当代新闻在促进社会向公正结构转型方面的潜力势在必行。本文认为，道德冷漠的客观主义新闻的局限性和“纠正性新闻”的狭隘焦点不足以满足当代社会多维、错综复杂的正义问题的需求。新框架和对话非洲，本文认为，以正义为导向的新闻业将为在当地和国际层面就现存、新兴和复杂的社会正义问题进行细致入微的讨论提供最佳工具。