What's Frankline's Story?

Frankline is a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. He earned his M.A. from Bowling Green State University.

His research interests revolve around international communication, especially China-Africa and the geopolitical economy of media, political communication, misinformation and media literacy, and the empowering role of digital media especially in the Global South. His dissertation is a mixed method study that looks at the influence of media among other variables on Kenyans' public opinion towards Chinese-Kenya relations.

He is currently working on research about misinformation and news literacy in Kenya and Senegal, and a community engaged research about mobile phone adoptions and how they have ameliorated economic empowerment of women in Rural Kenya. Frankline is the former managing editor for the Journal of Communication Inquiry housed in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa.

Frankline teaches both theory and skills-based courses.

Courses

• JMC:2010 Reporting and Writing (Fall 2023).
• JMC:1300 Intro to Journalism & Strategic Comm (Fall 2022).
• JMC:2020 Multimedia Storytelling (Fall 2021 and Spring 2022).
• JMC:1100 Media Uses and Effects (Fall 2020).
• JMC:1500 Social Media Today (Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Spring 2021).

PUBLICATIONS

Refereed Journal Articles

• Ekdale, B., Rinaldi, A., Ashfaquzzaman, M., Khanjani, M., Matanji, F., Stoldt, R., & Tully, M. (2022). Geographic Disparities in Knowledge Production: A Big Data Analysis of Peer-Reviewed Communication Publications from 1990 to 2019. International Journal of Communication
• Matanji, F. (2022). China in Africa: Representation of Chinese Investments in Africa by Western, Chinese, and African Media. International Journal of Communication, 16, 24.
• Ha, L., Yang, Y., Ray, R., Matanji, F., Chen, P., Guo, K., & Lyu, N. (2020). How US and Chinese Media Cover the US–China Trade Conflict: A Case Study of War and Peace Journalism Practice and the Foreign Policy Equilibrium Hypothesis. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research. https://doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12186  
• Matanji, F. (2019). WhatsApp and mobile money: Ameliorating crowdfunding for social change in Kenya. Asia Pacific Media Educator, 29(2), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1326365X19894780

Book Chapters 

• Shahin, S., Ala-Uddin, M., Varma, T., & Matanji, F. (forthcoming). Dial M for Money: A Transnational Narratives of Mobile Money in the Global South. In D. K. Thussu & S. Roy (Eds.), Handbook of Communication and Media in the Global South. London: Routledge.
• Matanji, F. & Bosch, T. (2022). Has the Proliferation of Cell Phones Strengthened Social Movements in Africa? In W. G. Moseley & K. Otiso (Eds.), Debating African Issues: Conversations Under the Palaver Tree (pp. 273–285). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429259784-26
• Ha, L., Ray, R., Matanji, F., & Yang, Y. (2022). How News Media Content and Fake News about the Trade War Are Shared on Twitter: A Topic Modeling and Content Analysis. In L. Ha & L. Willnat (Eds.), The U.S.–China Trade War: Global News Framing and Public Opinion in the Digital Age (pp. 125–144). Michigan State University Press. https://doi.org/10.14321/j.ctv29z1h4p.9
• Ha, L., Yang, Y., Ray, R., Matanji, F., Chen, P., Guo, K., & Lyu, N. (2022). Comparing U.S. and Chinese Media Coverage of the U.S.–China Trade War: War and Peace Journalism Practice and the Foreign Policy Information Market Equilibrium Hypothesis. In L. Ha & L. Willnat (Eds.), The U.S.–China Trade War: Global News Framing and Public Opinion in the Digital Age (pp. 165–194). Michigan State University Press. https://doi.org/10.14321/j.ctv29z1h4p.11

Book Reviews

• Matanji, F. (2021). Book Review: China, Africa, and the Future of the Internet, by Gagliardone, I. Global Media and China, 6(3), 383–386. https://doi.org/10.1177/2059436421996896

Special Issue Editor

• Fake News: Susceptibility and Interventions (forthcoming): Journal of Communication Inquiry, Sage.

Grants and Funded Research

External

• Tully, M., Madrid-Morales, D., Matanji. F., Mudavadi, K., & Diop, L. (2020 – 2021). Effective Strategies to Counter the Spread of Misinformation on WhatsApp: An Experiment in Kenya and Senegal. Waterhouse Institute and the University of Houston.
• Vreyens J., Shitandi, A., Feirtag, j., Aming’a, N., Omosa, H., Matanji, F. & Kwamboka, D. (2015). Reversing Food Insecurity in Southwestern Kenya: Evidence-based Strategy to Enhance Women Farmers’ Postharvest Handling of Horticulture Crops, University of Minnesota Extension and Kisii University – Kenya, funded by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Internal

• Matanji, F. (2023). Core or Semi-periphery? Kenyans Public Opinion Towards Chinese Engagement with Kenya. T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa.
• Matanji, F. (2022). Community-Based Participatory Research: Exploring the Role of Digital Media in Community Fundraising and Empowerment in Kenya. Graduate Engagement Corps Grant, University of Iowa.
• Matanji, F. (2022). Core or Semi-periphery? Kenyans Public Opinion Towards Chinese Engagement with Kenya. T. Anne Cleary International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Graduate College, University of Iowa.
• Matanji, F. (2021). China in Africa: A Journalistic Approach Towards Media Representation of Chinese Investments in Kenya. Student Impact Grant, University of Iowa.
• Matanji, F. (2020). Exploring the Role of Digital Media in Community Fundraising and Empowerment: A Case of Kenya’s Joywo organization. Stanley Student Travel Award for International Research, University of Iowa.

Research Awards

• Won the Top Poster Award in the Cultural and Critical Studies Division, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) (2023).
• Carl J. Nelson Research Award – Research award by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (2023).
• Won the Top Faculty Poster Award (co-authored) in the Communication and Technology Poster Session, International Communication Association (2023).
• Won 2nd Place in the AEJMC James W. Markham Student Paper Competition – 2020.
• Won the top co-authored paper, Peace and Conflict Division, National Communication Association (NCA) Annual Convention (2019).

University Award

• University of Iowa Global Student Award – An award in recognition of my commitment to engagement in global issues and promoting inclusion in academia on campus and abroad (2022).

Teaching Award

• John F. Murray Outstanding Doctoral Student – Teaching Award by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (2022).