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Basing on reported experiences of trainee journalists at the University of Zimbabwe on completing their work-related industrial internship, we give unique perspectives into challenges and contradictions of "becoming" a journalist. We argue that the route to becoming a professional journalist involves imbibing a kaleidoscope of largely (Western) values along the way throughout the value chain of different socializing sites such as the university, the newsroom and broader subjective social experience. The study concludes that journalism training in Zimbabwe—and indeed in Africa—is firmly informed by the dominant liberal press theory, a development that is at variance with social, political and economic realities obtaining in a country that has not fully embraced the principles of democracy to the letter and spirit of its classical dictates. While scholars have tangentially inserted African texts into the curriculum, these are texts that are made to fit into extant conceptual schema that invariably also shape practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of the uses of mobile phones by Zimbabwean youths engaged in unregulated informal trading in Central Harare shows that mobiles create socio-culturally embedded virtual and non-virtual 'markets'. The study describes the novel and creative appropriations of mobile phones as informal traders navigate small-scale business opportunities. The theory of social networks and collective action was used to shed a light on how mobile phones help informal traders to create functional networks and virtual infrastructures through which reciprocal and mutual relations are established without the need for face-to-face contacts. The study demonstrates that these mobile virtual infrastructures not only create closely knit communities resembling traditional African 'collective cultures' but also help informal traders to access micro-credit, market intelligence among peers and mobile payments integrated with traditional banking platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]