Paper short abstract:

What is the anthropologist’s response when some of his most natural allies outside academia – independent journalists – turn against his interpretations? This paper describes their attempts to counter fieldwork-based knowledge and discusses the complexities of anthropological engagement in a situation where the anthropologist has little alternative but to confront the linguistic, social and political distinctions certain gatekeepers in the study country would like to keep intact.

Paper long abstract:

What is the anthropologist's response when some of his most natural allies outside academia - independent journalists - turn against his interpretations? Analysis of news journalism in the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), the country's only public broadcaster, has long been driven by a certainty about its biased and bigoted nature. Such has been the certainty among activists and independent journalists that their analysis has appeared to require little first-hand observation of journalistic practices and actual programme formats. By contrast, an anthropological study recently uncovered through ethnographic fieldwork that one of the MBC's most popular programmes sustains a vibrant arena for moral debate. Broadcast in Chichewa, Malawi's most widely spoken language, Nkhani Zam'maboma gives every evening an outlet for listeners' own news, many of which are stories about folly and misconduct among figures of authority. The study, while explicit about the undeniable bias of the MBC's main news bulletin, has been greeted with scepticism by some Malawian journalists. This paper describes their attempts to counter fieldwork-based knowledge and discusses the complexities of anthropological engagement in a situation where the anthropologist has little alternative but to confront the linguistic, social and political distinctions certain gatekeepers in the study country would like to keep intact.