Inaugural lecture Bruce Mutsvairo: Platformized Journalism in Authoritarian Contexts

Bruce Mutsvairo is Professor of Media, Politics and the Global South at Utrecht University’s Department of Media and Culture Studies since 1 September 2022. On Tuesday 30 January, he will hold his inaugural lecture titled ‘Platformized Journalism in Authoritarian Contexts’.

Authoritarianism

From oral traditions to popular media, from mass media to digital media, rapid technological advancements have continued to transform media systems across the Global South. At the same time, platforms and other technologies are having a huge sway in how people communicate, inform but also misinform others. Due to a continuously globalizing world, the concept of authoritarianism is no longer confined to non-Western nations alone. Faced with an increasingly disruptive data-driven and digitalized environment, nations traditionally associated with political openness are finding themselves arresting journalists while also restricting civil liberties and instituting draconian measures.

Political intolerance among citizens in democratic societies is also rising, prompting comparisons with authoritarian systems, where citizens generally distrust their leaders or each other. Seeking to steer public debate on the changing roles of media in influencing the increasingly tech-minded political, cultural, and social spheres of societies across the world, Mutsvairo argues that understanding the operational mechanisms of digital media will help protect citizens and journalists from further authoritarian infringements.