Citizen journalism on facebook and the challenges of media regulation in Zimbabwe: Baba Jukwa

Abstract

The chapter discusses the rise of citizen journalism, examining the manners in which such form of journalistic practice impacts media regulatory frameworks and journalistic ethics in Zimbabwe, specifically looking at the Baba Jukwa Facebook wall. It discusses the nature of reporting in citizen journalism and the challenges these pose on media regulating laws and journalistic ethics. Over the last decade, social networking websites and other social forums have exploded in popularity in the whole world, Zimbabwe included. These social networking sites have become quite central as alternative news media, breaking stories before the mainstream official media does. The impact that such social networks have on contemporary society as public spheres - platforms for group social interactions and news outlets should not be undermined because of how they allow people to interact freely and to (re)construct their desired realities in the face of the gag of stringent media laws.