Navigating Trauma in African Journalism, Volume 2 Primary Trauma, Gendered Dimension and Mitigation Mechanisms

This second volume focuses on primary trauma experienced by journalists, with a particular focus on the gendered dimensions, as shared by female journalists and researchers. By focusing on female journalists’ firsthand encounters, the book explores the complex psychological, emotional, and professional challenges they face both inside and outside the newsroom. The chapters deal with specific issues relating to sexual harassment, online threats, risks and vulnerabilities, and physical and psychological violence experienced by journalists in various sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, the book explores the coping mechanisms employed by journalists in the field; thereby contributing to ongoing discussion on how to support media professionals navigating challenging newsrooms and journalistic roles in Africa and beyond. 

Chapter 1: Introduction: Navigating Trauma in African Journalism.- Chapter 2: The Magada/Mhandu saga as a case study of sexual harassment of female journalists by their managers in Zimbabwe.- Chapter 3: Navigating the Digital Abyss: A Comprehensive Analysis of Gender-Based Threats to Female Journalists in Kenya .- Chapter 4: Sexual Harassment of Female Journalists in the Ugandan Media Newsrooms.- Chapter 5: Gendered Vulnerabilities In At-Risk Reporting For Female Journalists In Nigeria.- Chapter 6: Shooting the messenger: The effects of violence on female journalists.- Chapter 7: Networked Harassment of Journalists in Nigeria: Motivations, Coping Strategies and Solutions.- Chapter 8: Living in Fear of Surveillance: An In-depth Look at Surveillance from Lived Experiences of Local and Foreign Journalists in Kenya.- Chapter 9: Mapping Threat, Trauma, and Therapy among Investigative Journalists in Nigeria.- Chapter 10: ‘Those Who Make News Should Stay Sane’: Analysing the Support System For The Mental Wellbeing Of Journalists in the Southwest, Nigeria.- Chapter 11: Trauma-Informed Journalism Education in Ghana: Perspectives of Two Critical Stakeholders.- Chapter 12: Journalism at risk: Safeguarding journalism through safety and trauma education.- Chapter 13: African Epistemology – a Panacea for Trauma Mitigations Among Journalists in East Africa.

Chikezie E. Uzuegbunam is Deputy Head of School for Teaching and Research, senior lecturer in Media Studies, and Master’s programme coordinator in the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, South Africa. His latest book is Children and Young People’s Digital Lifeworlds: Domestication, Mediation, and Agency published in 2024 by Palgrave Macmillan under the book series of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR).

 Kealeboga Aiseng is a senior lecturer in the Department of Media Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His books include Sociolinguistics of South African Television: Language Ideologies in Selected Case Studies, Political Economy of African Popular Culture: Political Interplay (co-edited), Public Health Communication Challenges to Minority and Indigenous Communities (co-edited), and Social Media and Gender in Africa: Discourses and Politics of Everyday Life (co-edited).