Brian Ekdale

Associate Professor, Journalism & Mass Communication, University of Iowa

Blog, Publications

Communication, Culture and Human Rights in Africa

I have a chapter in the just-published book Communication, Culture, and Human Rights in Africa (Bala A. Musa and Jerry Domotaub, editors). My chapter is called “Media Activism, Youth Culture and Human Rights Campaigns for the MTV Generation,” and it looks at the organization Invisible Children that focuses on the ongoing conflict in Northern Uganda. I wrote about the Invisible Children for a couple of reasons: 1) It’s a rare example of an organization that was born out of a media production, and the organization continues to be very media savvy. 2) The organization is very successful at attracting young people. 3) I think the original documentary (called Invisible Children: Rough Cut) has some significant flaws, and because the documentary has become the foundation of the organization, those flaws have become indoctrinated into the organization’s culture and practice.

Anyway, I’ve only skimmed the book so far, but it looks to be an interesting volume that brings together a number of communication scholars inside and outside the continent. Check it out!

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