In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)

Since the demise of the Berlin Wall and communism, many African countries have adopted a Western-model democracy as a system of governance. However, the media has not been liberalised to reflect this new discourse as constraints in many African countries pertaining to press freedom still exist. The internet appears to have the potential to challenge the political power of governments (Tsagarousianou, 1998:167). It has been posited that it has the potential to offer more platforms for information especially in the case of restrictive media environments. This study set out to investigate the impact of on-line publishing in Malawi. It explored how the emergence of this new form of publishing through the internet has affected the public sphere, democracy and press freedom in Malawi. The main focus was the level of press freedom at on-line newspapers as compared to traditional newspapers. It used the public sphere theory and literature on the internet as a technology of freedom as its theoretical framework. Using a case study approach by focusing on two newspapers; Nyasatimes on-line and Daily Times, the study used the coup plot coverage in May 2008 in Malawi by both newspapers as reference for the measurement of the level of press freedom. The study used qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews as its research methods. The research revealed that Nyasatimes enjoys more freedom to publish and therefore appears to have more press freedom than its more traditional counterpart. However, Nyasatimes also faces some unique challenges. The findings also revealed that press freedom in Malawi is not only affected by government through legislation but other factors and players as well play a central role in determining the level of press freedom for traditional media. The study therefore concludes that despite the internet’s ability to transcend local regimes of authority and censorship pertaining to press freedom, the challenges facing traditional media still need to be addressed as it is the primary source of information for most people in Malawi with on-line newspapers being simply supplementary.

The study used quantitative content analysis to compare the international news content about Africa and the rest of the world in selected daily and weekly newspapers in Malawi and explored the extent to which economic factors, as represented by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), influence news flows about Africa into Malawi. The results showed dominance of the categories of war/international conflict and politics. International news agencies were the principal sources of news items for all the four papers. Though there were differences among the newspapers in the amount of space allocated to various categories such differences were minor. The study established that GDP is not a determinant of the amount of coverage a country receives. / Communication Science / M.A. (International Communication)

The study used quantitative content analysis to compare the international news content about Africa and the rest of the world in selected daily and weekly newspapers in Malawi and explored the extent to which economic factors, as represented by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), influence news flows about Africa into Malawi. The results showed dominance of the categories of war/international conflict and politics. International news agencies were the principal sources of news items for all the four papers. Though there were differences among the newspapers in the amount of space allocated to various categories such differences were minor. The study established that GDP is not a determinant of the amount of coverage a country receives. / Communication Science / M.A. (International Communication)