Media Cloud and Code for Africa publish in the African Journal of Information and Communication

Through our long-standing and multi-pronged partnership with Code for Africa, a regional civic technology organization, the Media Cloud research team undertook a joint research effort with the CfA CivicSignal team to study news coverage of healthcare research and development in three African countries: Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. As detailed in the resulting peer-reviewed paper in the African Journal of Information and Communication, the study revealed: 

• the types of healthcare developments that were making news in each of the three countries (e.g., new medical technologies, activities of high-profile individuals in the health space, and health sector-building events); 
• the diseases and conditions being prioritised (e.g., HIV/AIDS and mental health);
• the key stakeholders in the sector (e.g., government officials and funding organisations); and, 
• the media narratives around the impact of healthcare R&D (including emphasis on digital health)

The study illustrates the value of using large news datasets to gain a deeper understanding of developments and discourse around rapidly evolving topics of high social importance, such as healthcare. Read more in AJIC: https://ajic.wits.ac.za/article/view/20161.