Call for Papers: African and Global Media Representations of Africa
Published:
Special Issue of African Journalism Studies
Journal: African Journalism Studies (Taylor & Francis)
Manuscript deadline: December 15, 2026
Guest editors: Sisanda Nkoala (University of the Western Cape), Dani Madrid-Morales (University of Sheffield), David Cheruiyot (University of Queensland)
This special issue revisits how Africa is represented in African and global media at a moment when platforms, algorithms, and generative AI are reshaping who produces images of the continent and how they circulate. It invites work that moves beyond the “Africa rising” and Afro-pessimism binaries and that takes African journalists, creators, and audiences seriously as producers of representation, not only its subjects.
Topics include
- algorithmic and platform-driven shifts in African representation, including AI and big tech
- comparative coverage of Africa in domestic and global newsrooms
- counter-narratives and resistance by African journalists and digital creators
- diaspora and transnational media
- visual cultures and aesthetics of “Africanness”
- intersectional coverage of gender, climate, migration, conflict, and governance
- decolonial and African-grounded epistemologies and methods
- media development funding, aid dependencies, and non-profit journalism
- critical reassessment of “Africa rising” and Afro-pessimism framings
- portrayals of Africa in entertainment, games, and streaming
- reparative media projects that address past misrepresentation
Submission notes
Full manuscripts of 6,000 to 8,500 words (including abstract, tables, figures, footnotes, and references), with a 150 to 250 word abstract and five to six keywords. Submit as a Word file, double-spaced, with the main manuscript anonymised and author details on a separate title page. There is no separate abstract stage; full papers go straight to the journal’s submission system by the deadline.