, COM3704 Assignment 1 (COMPLETE ANSWERS) Semester 2 2025 – DUE
AUGUST 2025; 100% CORRECT AND TRUSTED SOLUTIONS
QUESTION 1: NEW MEDIA AND DEVELOPMENT ESSAY (40 Marks)
1.1
Critically discuss the extent to which new media contribute to supporting national
development programmes such as poverty alleviation, population control, political
development, economic growth, literacy drive, and employment generation
schemes within the global South countries.
[25 Marks]
1.2
To what extent do new media platforms contribute to the development and
promotion of indigenous African epistemologies? Discuss.
[15 Marks]
INTRODUCTION
New media, defined broadly as digital, interactive, and networked information and
communication technologies (ICTs), have fundamentally altered the socio-political
and economic landscapes of countries across the globe, particularly within the
Global South. The Global South includes regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa,
Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of the Middle East—regions
that historically experienced colonial exploitation, underdevelopment, and ongoing
challenges related to poverty, political instability, and low literacy levels.
Over the past two decades, the proliferation of smartphones, social media, mobile
applications, podcasts, blogs, and online platforms has enabled new ways of
communication, governance, learning, and participation in economic activities.
Governments, NGOs, development agencies, and grassroots organisations have
increasingly harnessed these technologies to support national development
initiatives—ranging from poverty alleviation to employment generation.
Simultaneously, new media platforms are becoming powerful tools in the
decolonisation of knowledge systems by providing space for indigenous
epistemologies, languages, cultures, and intellectual traditions to be articulated,
shared, and validated.
AUGUST 2025; 100% CORRECT AND TRUSTED SOLUTIONS
QUESTION 1: NEW MEDIA AND DEVELOPMENT ESSAY (40 Marks)
1.1
Critically discuss the extent to which new media contribute to supporting national
development programmes such as poverty alleviation, population control, political
development, economic growth, literacy drive, and employment generation
schemes within the global South countries.
[25 Marks]
1.2
To what extent do new media platforms contribute to the development and
promotion of indigenous African epistemologies? Discuss.
[15 Marks]
INTRODUCTION
New media, defined broadly as digital, interactive, and networked information and
communication technologies (ICTs), have fundamentally altered the socio-political
and economic landscapes of countries across the globe, particularly within the
Global South. The Global South includes regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa,
Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of the Middle East—regions
that historically experienced colonial exploitation, underdevelopment, and ongoing
challenges related to poverty, political instability, and low literacy levels.
Over the past two decades, the proliferation of smartphones, social media, mobile
applications, podcasts, blogs, and online platforms has enabled new ways of
communication, governance, learning, and participation in economic activities.
Governments, NGOs, development agencies, and grassroots organisations have
increasingly harnessed these technologies to support national development
initiatives—ranging from poverty alleviation to employment generation.
Simultaneously, new media platforms are becoming powerful tools in the
decolonisation of knowledge systems by providing space for indigenous
epistemologies, languages, cultures, and intellectual traditions to be articulated,
shared, and validated.