The book covers African communication systems, discussing modes and forms of communication across West, East and Southern Africa and comparing them with traditional and new media. African Communication Systems and the Digital Age contextualizes communication by bringing to the table African contributions to the field, examining the importance of African indigenous forms of communication and the intersection of African communication systems and the digital age. The book covers various concepts, models, theories and classifications of African communication systems, including instrumental communication, types of African music and their communication properties, indigenous writing systems, non-verbal communication, and mythological communication. Through careful analysis of communication in Africa, this book provides insights into the various modes of communication in use prior to the advent of traditional and new media as well as their continued relevance in the digital age. African Communication Systems and the Digital Age will be of interest to students and scholars of African communication.

Who owns the media and communications in Africa today and with what implications? The book elegantly answers this urgent question by unpacking multiple dimensions of media ownership through rare and authoritative perspectives, including both historical and contemporary digital developments. It traces the evolving forms of ownership of media and communications in specific African contexts, showing how they interact with broader changes in and outside the continent. The book also shows how Big Techs, such as Meta (formerly known as Facebook), are involved in a scramble for Africa’s digital ecosystem and how their advance brings both opportunities and concerns about ownership and control. The chapters analyse evolving forms of ownership and their implications on media concentration and democracy across Africa. The book offers a nuanced account of how media ownership structures are in some instances captured with an ever-growing and complex ecosystem that also has new opportunities for public interest media. Offering a significant representation of the trends and diversity of existing media systems, the book goes beyond the postcolonial geographical divisions of North and Sub-Saharan Africa to highlight common patterns and significant similarities and differences of communications ownerships between and within African countries. The contributors expose media and communications ownership patterns in Africa that are centralised and yet decentralising and in some cases, battling, resurging and globalising.

This book places television in Africa in the digital context. It address the onslaught of multimedia platforms, digital migration and implication of this technology for society. The discussions in the chapters contained in this book encompass a wide range of issues such as digital disruption of television news, internet television and video on demand platforms, adaptations, digital migration, business strategies and management approaches, PBS, consumption patterns, scheduling and programming, evangelical television, and many others. The book is an important reading for academics, students and television practitioners. It offers an insightful view of television in Africa.

This book surveys the African media industry, examining various sections of the media at the elite level. Drawing on contributors from diverse regions and media and communication disciplines, the book provides definitive analyses of the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting in select African countries. This timely and relevant collection of essays covers trending topics in communication and media studies, as scholars globally continue to examine the impact of digital technology on media practice, training, and education. The contributors offer rich perspectives on crucial issues, blending practice and scholarship as former media practitioners and academics come together to fill a major gap in media practice and education in Africa. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of globalization and African media.

The Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture is the first comprehensive book on Akwa-Cross contemporary historical analysis, and its historical reconstruction. The Akwa-Cross people are the second largest minority tribe in Nigeria whose tradition, culture, language, and history are fast dying. This edited volume is a timely effort in salvaging this information. Previously, historical facts about Akwa-Cross people and their region were distorted, misplaced, and misquoted. Akwa-Cross People of Nigeria: History, Heritage, and Culture edited by Unwana Samuel Akpan corrects historical facts about Akwa-Cross peoples and cultures and provides a holistic and historic text on the history, heritage, and culture of the Akwa-Cross people of Nigeria. The contributors present a compelling collection of studies that build on the path-breaking Akwa-Cross scholarship and offer critical narratives and analysis on tradition, culture, economy, religion, sports, and media of the people of Akwa-Cross. The themes treated in this historic book play a significant part in advancing public discourse on Akwa-Cross and add to the Akwa-Cross pedagogy.

This book explores global forms of indigenous communication and their connections with new and digital media. With fresh and original insights, the book transcends the confines of regional analysis to investigate similarities, parallels, and differences present in indigenous communication practices around the world. Through a systematic classification of these diverse methods, including music, myths, iconography, visual, institutional, and axiomatic communication, the author draws comparisons between geographically and historically disparate contexts. Indigenous Communication provides a rigorous conceptual clarification of indigenous forms of communication, both showcasing their various manifestations, and illuminating their relevance and transformative potential in the digital age.