What role does social media play during an election period? With both Germany and South Africa heading to the polls it allows for the sharing of international and local perspectives on the key issues around social media and elections.
This event is part of an ongoing lecture series of the Federal Republic of Germany. The participation is free.
The event is hosted by Media Monitoring Africa together with the Goethe-Institut, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Pretoria and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen.
In the context of this topic, episode 29 of the podcast Die Kulturmittler deals with the topic: Why Election Observation Matters.
PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt studied sociology and is a senior researcher for digital interactive media and political communication at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research │ Hans Bredow Institute (HBI) in Hamburg. His current work focuses on the developments of Web 2.0 and social media. He is particularly interested in the changes in information circulation and opinion formation, the transformation of science communication and the practices and structures of digital communication.
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Nomsa Masuku is an academic, activist and educator. She joined the Electoral Commission of South Africa as a Commissioner in November 2018, where she served as the Electoral Commission's Deputy Director of Publicity for six years. Prior to that, she headed the Corporate Social Investment Unit at Standard Bank for seven years. In this role, she focused on using the bank's resources to develop new markets that had not been reached before. Masuka holds a PhD in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Birmingham, UK.
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Nomshado Lubisi holds degrees in Media Science and Communication Studies from the University of South Africa. She is Head of Communications at Media Monitoring Africa and has been appointed as a member of the South African Internet Governance Forum (ZAIGF). She has led and implemented strategic communications initiatives for various campaigns and works on digital literacy, media policy and media research projects. Her areas of focus include digital media, youth development and gender and media studies. Lubisi is passionate about narrowing the digital divide and is committed to combating mis-/disinformation.
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Qaanitah Hunter is an award-winning journalist and political editor at News24. She was awarded the Vodacom Journalist of the Year in 2016 and 2017 and the Nat Nakasa Journalism Award in 2019. She is the author of 'Eight Days in July: Inside the Zuma unrest that set South Africa alight' (2021) and 'Balance of Power: Ramaphosa and the future of South Africa' (2019). Her political analyses have been published in all major national and international news programmes.
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