Dr Mbongeni Msimanga

Mbongeni Msimanga is an academic, a seasonal political commentator, and a former journalist.  Mbongeni’s research interests are in Digital Cultures and Activism, Political Satire and Creative Performance, and Journalism Practice. His work has been published in local and international journals such as Journal of Communication Inquiry, Media, Culture and Society, Journal of Media Studies, African Journalism Studies, and Journal of African and Asian Studies. He has published a monograph titled Political Humor and National Identity in Zimbabwe (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/political-humor-and-zimbabwean-identity-on-social-media-platforms-9781666943283/). He has co-edited books such as Patterns of Harrassment in African Journalism (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781032697604/patterns-harassment-african-journalism-lungile-augustine-tshuma-trust-matsilele-mbongeni-jonny-msimanga-sadia-jamil), Media, Social Movements, and Protest Cultures in Africa: Hashtags, Humor, and Slogans (https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/media-social-movements-and-protest-cultures-in-africa-9781666970135/). Msimanga is currently working on an edited book titled TikTok Cultures in Africa. 

Teaching: Both Undergraduate and Postgraduate

Publications

Books
Msimanga, M.J. 2025 Political Humor and Zimbabwean Identity on Social Media Platforms. Lexington Publishers, an Imprint of Rowan and Littleman. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666943283/Political-Humour-and- Zimbabwean- Identity-on-Social-Media-Platforms

Tshuma, LA., Matsilele, T., Mpofu, S., Msimanga, MJ. 2024. Media, Social Movements and Protest  Cultures in Africa. (co-edited volume). Lexington Publishers. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666970135/Media-Social- Movements-and-Protest-Cultures-in-Africa-Hashtags- Humor-and-Slogans

Tshuma, LA., Matsilele, T., Msimanga, M.J and Jamil, S. 2024. Patterns of    Harassment in    African Journalism.    (co-edited volume).    Routledge    Publishers.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781032697604/patterns-harassment-african-journalism-lungile- augustine-tshuma-trust-matsilele-mbongeni-jonny-msimanga-sadia-jamil
 

Journal Articles

Tshuma, LA., Matsilele, T., Msimanga, M., and Nkoala, S. (2025). Decoding Journalistic Bodies and Civil Society’s Safety Interventions on Female Journalists. A South African, Lesotho and Zimbabwe Case Study. Journal of Applied Journalism and Media Studies. 14(3). 409-428.

Makwambeni, B., Matsilele, T and Msimanga, M (2025). Through the lenses of the sociology of news production: An assessment of social media applications and changing newsroom cultures in Lesotho. Journal of Asian and African Studies. 60(2), 809-823.

Tshuma, L. A., Msimanga, M. J., and Tshuma, B. B. (2024). Laughing through the Stomach: Satire, Humour and Advertising in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 59(3), 788-806.

Matsilele, T., Msimanga, M.J, Tshuma, LA. Jamil, S. (2024). Reporting on Science in the African Context: Exploring Influences on journalistic practice. Journal of Asian and African Studies. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00219096231224668

Msimanga, M., Tshuma, L.A., Matsilele, T and Jamil, S. (2023). Contending with Sexual Harassment: A study of Southern    African Female Journalists’    Experiences.    Journal of    Communication Inquiry. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01968599231210790#:~:text=In%20this%20study%2C%20we%20note,journalists%20and%20their%20male%20sources 

Matsilele, T., Tshuma., L.A and Msimanga, MJ. (2023). Popular music and political contestations in Zimbabwe: An analysis of Winky D and Jah Prayzah music. Journal of African Media Studies. 15(3), 291 – 308.

Tshuma, LA., Msimanga, M.J. and Sibanda, MN. (2022). ‘Playing’ in the eyes of the Ferret team: Examining the use of surveillance strategies by Zimbabwean journalists. African Journalism Studies 43(1). 53-69.

Matsilele, T., Msimanga, M.J and Tshuma, LA. (2022). Reconfiguration and adaptation in times of contagious crisis: A case of African newsroom’ response to Covid-19 pandemic. Journal of Communication Inquiry 46(3). 268-288.

Matsilele, M., Mpofu, S., Msimanga, M and Tshuma, LA. (2022). Transnational hashtag protest movements and emancipatory politics in Africa: A three country study. Global Media Journal- German Edition 11(2). 2-23.

Msimanga, MJ., Matsilele, T., and Tshuma, LA. (2022). The why of humour during a crisis? An exploration of Covid 19 memes in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Journal of African Media Studies Volume 14, Issue Deadly Serious: Pandemic Humour, Media, and Critical Perspectives. 189-207.

Mpofu, M., Tshuma, L.A and Msimanga, M.J (2022). Mediating a crisis in regime: Corruption and Succession in Zimbabwe’s State Media. Media, Culture and Society 44(6). 1215–1231.

Msimanga, M; Tshuma, L and Matsilele, T. (2022). Journalism pedagogy and ICTs in a time of pandemic: A case study of selected journalism schools in Southern Africa. World of Media Journal. Journal of Russian Media and Journalism Studies 2: 46-63.

Chuma, W. Msimanga, MJ and Tshuma, LA. (2020). Succession Politics and Factional Journalism in Zimbabwe: A Case of the Chronicle in Zimbabwe. African Journalism Studies. 41(1). 35-48.

Book Chapters

Ndlovu, M., and Msimanga, MJ. (2025). Emotional Responses of Zimbabwean Journalists to Online Trolling. Handbook on Journalism and Emotions.

Msimanga, MJ. and Radebe, M. (2025). Generative AI’s Impact on News Production in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Book Project: Generative AI in African News Media Ecosystem: Opportunities and Challenges, Routledge.

Msimanga, M.J (2025). Political Satire and Performative Activism on Social media platforms in Zimbabwe: The case of Magamba and Bustop TV. African Digital Cultures: Contexts and Cultural Production in Africa. Peter Lang Publishers.

Msimanga M. (2025). Political Satire as Decentered or Peripheral Journalism on Social Media platforms in Zimbabwe. Peripherality and the Shifting journalism boundaries in Zimbabwe (Edited Volume)

Githinji, K., Msimanga, M.J and Blose, M. (2025). Unchecked Cyber Misogyny? A comparative study of Female journalists’ harassment online in South Africa and Kenya. Discourses on Gender and the Media in Africa. Lexington Publishers.

Msimanga, MJ., Mndebele, ML, and Tshuma, LA. (2024). Journalists Repression, Harassment and Attacks in Eswatini and Botswana. In Tshuma, LA., Matsilele, T., Msimanga, MJ and Jamil, S. Patterns of Harassment in African Journalism. Routledge.

Mpofu, M., Tshuma, L.A and Msimanga, M.J. (2023). Digital Newspapers as Watchdogs of Corruption in the “2 Republic”: A Critical Analysis of ZimLive.com and ZimMorning Post’s “Covidgate’s” Reports. In Matsilele, T., Mpofu, S., and Moyo, D (eds). New Journalism Ecologies in East and Southern Africa Innovations, Participatory and Newsmaking Cultures. Palgrave Macmillan ,Cham.133-151.

Tshuma, L; Msimanga, M and Matsilele, T. (2022). “Weapons of oppressors” Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on journalism practices in Southern Africa. In Dralega, C.A., and Napakol, A.N (eds). Health Crises and Media Discourses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. 253-266.

Matsilele, T and Msimanga, M. (2022). Popular music and the concept of the dissidence in post- independence Zimbabwe. In Salawu, A and Fadipe, I.A. (eds). Indigenous African Popular Music, Volume 2. Cham: Palgrave MacMillan. 59-75.

Msimanga, M.J. (2022). The (Digital) Return of the Ndebele Monarchy? In Mlotshwa, M., and Ndlovu, M.N (eds). The Idea of Matabeleland in Digital Spaces Genealogies, Discourses, and Epistemic Struggles. New York:    Lexington Books. 225-240.

Msimanga, M.J., Ncube, G., and Mkwananzi, P. (2021). Political Satire and the Mediation of the Zimbabwean Crisis in the Era of the “New Dispensation”: The Case of MAGAMBA TV. In Mpofu, S (ed.S). The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age: Perspectives from the Global South. Palgrave MacMillan: New York. pp 43-56.

Msimanga, M. J., Tshuma, L. A. and Ndlovu, M. (2021). ‘An analysis of Internet memes and discourses on traditional medicines as remedies for COVID- 19 in Zimbabwe’, in Mpofu, M(ed.), Digital Humour in the Covid-19 Pandemic Perspectives from the Global South, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 101–22.