ABSTRACT
The purpose of this essay is to provide a metatheoretical1 framework for illuminating our understanding of how African journalists are adapting to the new “digital era”. The proposed framework is metatheoretical in that it draws on an array of theoretical perspectives, published literature, as well as the author’s own impressions of the underlying assumptions which drive debates on the new media and journalism practice in Africa. As Hjørland (1998, 607) notes “metatheories are broader and less specific than theories. They are more or less conscious or unconscious assumptions behind theoretical, empirical and practical work … and are often part of interdisciplinary trends”.
