“African Digital Media Review”, a Special Annual Issue of African Journalism Studies 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.

[spoiler title=’Topics to be covered may include, but should by no means be restricted to the following issues:’ style=’default’ collapse_link=’true’]

* 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[/spoiler]

Deadline for abstracts is 27 July 2018.

See the full call for papers.