190pp., paperback, First SA Edition, Johannesburg, 2019
First published in the USA in 2019.
“Sean Jacobs takes a unique approach to tell a comprehensive story of postapartheid South Africa and African society. Media consolidates and enacts the victory of a particular image of what South Africa ought to be. This is an incredibly powerful story, which is much bigger than media, but to which media gives us access.” Herman Wasserman, author of Tabloid Journalism in South Africa
“Sean Jacobs proposes a new agenda for the study of culture in contemporary South Africa by focusing on media infrastructures that condition, select, and edit the sorts of information that are available. Jacobs's work will be read for its revelations about the nature of citizenship and public engagement in our media saturated age.” Daniel Magaziner, author of The Law and the Prophets: Black Consciousness in South Africa, 1968–1977
Sean Jacobs is Associate Professor of International Affairs at The New School in New York City. He is founder and editor of Africa is a Country.