We Need New Screens: MTV Shuga Naija, Youth Sexual Agency, and the “Mobile Screen”
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Published:April 2025
Temitayo Olofinlua, 2025. "We Need New Screens: MTV Shuga Naija, Youth Sexual Agency, and the “Mobile Screen”", Contemporary African Screen Worlds, Lindiwe Dovey, Añulika Agina, Michael W. Thomas
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The internet is changing the face of screen media across the continent. In this chapter, this change is captured through the lens of a continental television series, MTV Shuga. By exploring how the show adapts its use of the screen to speak to its young audience, the “mobile screen” is redefined. It is not just a screen for viewing but also a screen through which the audience become “moved” to action. Through the new frames, this chapter shows how this new screen is changing not only form but also its audience, who are no longer just passive viewers but also content creators, producers, spreaders, and active participants in the making of the films. Grounded in examples drawn from the television show, the chapter shows how this “new media” is drawing the audience in and birthing a different kind of screen.