TY - JOUR
T1 - New technologies, ancient archetypes
T2 - The boston globe's discursive construction of internet connectivity in Africa
AU - Eko, Lyombe
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was funded by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa. Address correspondence to Lyombe Eko, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242. E-mail: leo-eko@uiowa.edu
PY - 2010/4
Y1 - 2010/4
N2 - This article analyzed the Boston Globe's discursive construction of Internet connectivity in Africa in its series entitled "The Wiring of a Continent: Africa Goes Online." The study was carried out within the theoretical framework of journalism as mythic narrative. It was found that the Boston Globe constructed the reality of the Internet in Africa within the framework of the primeval Western archetype of Africa as the "Dark Continent." This archetype was expressed through 4 myths: "Duality," the "Last Frontier," "New Beginnings," and the "Frontier Hero." These myths reified Africa as the foil of the Western world, explained the digital divide, and naturalized a deterministic ideology of information technology. The story that was not told in this series is that the African fiber optic system was the single most significant African-funded telecommunications accomplishment in the history of the continent because it effectively reversed many of the colonial communication barriers between and within many African countries.
AB - This article analyzed the Boston Globe's discursive construction of Internet connectivity in Africa in its series entitled "The Wiring of a Continent: Africa Goes Online." The study was carried out within the theoretical framework of journalism as mythic narrative. It was found that the Boston Globe constructed the reality of the Internet in Africa within the framework of the primeval Western archetype of Africa as the "Dark Continent." This archetype was expressed through 4 myths: "Duality," the "Last Frontier," "New Beginnings," and the "Frontier Hero." These myths reified Africa as the foil of the Western world, explained the digital divide, and naturalized a deterministic ideology of information technology. The story that was not told in this series is that the African fiber optic system was the single most significant African-funded telecommunications accomplishment in the history of the continent because it effectively reversed many of the colonial communication barriers between and within many African countries.
KW - Archetypes in news narratives
KW - Digital divide
KW - Internet and development
KW - Internet connectivity in Africa
KW - News as myth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77952048737&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10646171003727458
DO - 10.1080/10646171003727458
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77952048737
VL - 21
SP - 182
EP - 198
JO - Howard Journal of Communications
JF - Howard Journal of Communications
SN - 1064-6175
IS - 2
ER -