Giving a voice and holding to account: a critical civic and democratic discourse analysis of The Big Debate South Africa TV show’s opportunities for ‘Political Listening’
- Authors: Mgqoboka, Banathi
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Big Debate South Africa , Television talk shows South Africa , Citizenship in journalism South Africa , Democracy South Africa , Mass media and public opinion South Africa , Listening Political aspects South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425245 , vital:72222
- Description: The television studio debate genre was initially inspired by the 1960s television news coverage that captured the zeitgeist of American political campaigns and elections, which featured prominent political figures. The genre has since been adapted by broadcast networks around the world to facilitate politically-charged public discussions that allow ordinary people to pose significant questions and express their concerns or cynicism to the political elites in power. The Big Debate South Africa is a popular televised town hall debate show that began airing in 2009 on eMedia Investment’s eNCA and later on the SABC. During its ninth-season run, the show attracted an audience of up to 12 million. The programme is formatted to give South African citizens a voice to hold state leaders to account. Anthea Garman and Herman Wasserman’s (2014) research on citizenship and media in a democratic society, asserts that the media’s contribution to citizenship is often a way to encourage citizens to exercise their influence over political decisions and dialogue in an overt manner. Through observations and qualitative in-depth interviews, this tightly focused study analysed the third episode of The Big Debate South Africa’s ninth season, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Redi Tlhabi. It explored the show’s format and discourse to investigate how it creates opportunities for the practice of Susan Bickford’s (1996) conception of ‘political listening’ within the confines of hierarchical binary oppositions (‘Us and Them’ and ‘lay’/‘expert’). By deconstructing how civil society organisations, activists and citizens (‘lay’) interact with the political elites (‘experts’), this study chronicled how the show mediates these binary oppositions with an anticipation for them to collectively hear each other out. In examining the show’s structure as a participative civic political broadcast talk platform that promotes democratic deliberation, this study ultimately demonstrated the capacity of The Big Debate South Africa to pluralise democratic life in its practice of ‘political listening’. While the show advances equality and amplifies marginalised voices, this research also found that these significant practices seemingly only held temporary effects once the cameras shut down. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
- Authors: Mgqoboka, Banathi
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Big Debate South Africa , Television talk shows South Africa , Citizenship in journalism South Africa , Democracy South Africa , Mass media and public opinion South Africa , Listening Political aspects South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425245 , vital:72222
- Description: The television studio debate genre was initially inspired by the 1960s television news coverage that captured the zeitgeist of American political campaigns and elections, which featured prominent political figures. The genre has since been adapted by broadcast networks around the world to facilitate politically-charged public discussions that allow ordinary people to pose significant questions and express their concerns or cynicism to the political elites in power. The Big Debate South Africa is a popular televised town hall debate show that began airing in 2009 on eMedia Investment’s eNCA and later on the SABC. During its ninth-season run, the show attracted an audience of up to 12 million. The programme is formatted to give South African citizens a voice to hold state leaders to account. Anthea Garman and Herman Wasserman’s (2014) research on citizenship and media in a democratic society, asserts that the media’s contribution to citizenship is often a way to encourage citizens to exercise their influence over political decisions and dialogue in an overt manner. Through observations and qualitative in-depth interviews, this tightly focused study analysed the third episode of The Big Debate South Africa’s ninth season, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Redi Tlhabi. It explored the show’s format and discourse to investigate how it creates opportunities for the practice of Susan Bickford’s (1996) conception of ‘political listening’ within the confines of hierarchical binary oppositions (‘Us and Them’ and ‘lay’/‘expert’). By deconstructing how civil society organisations, activists and citizens (‘lay’) interact with the political elites (‘experts’), this study chronicled how the show mediates these binary oppositions with an anticipation for them to collectively hear each other out. In examining the show’s structure as a participative civic political broadcast talk platform that promotes democratic deliberation, this study ultimately demonstrated the capacity of The Big Debate South Africa to pluralise democratic life in its practice of ‘political listening’. While the show advances equality and amplifies marginalised voices, this research also found that these significant practices seemingly only held temporary effects once the cameras shut down. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2023
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
The role of Facebook in a survivor’s post-assault life: rape on campuses, women activists, and mental health
- Authors: Witi, Sinethemba Juliet
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Online social networks , Rape in universities and colleges South Africa Makhanda , Student movements South Africa Makhanda , College students Mental health South Africa Makhanda , Sex crimes South Africa Makhanda , Social media and college students South Africa Makhanda , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Womanism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405952 , vital:70222
- Description: The rise of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has raised concerns about the negative impact social media platforms, and in particular Facebook, has on their users. Research has linked the excessive use of Facebook with mental health challenges such as loneliness, depression, and stress. This research examined how Yolanda Dyantyi, a gender rights activist registered as a student from 2015 to 2017 at Rhodes University, used Facebook as an outlet following the #RUreferencelist protests and her subsequent permanent exclusion from the institution for her role in the protests. The study explored Dyanti’s use of Facebook, examining in particular her ongoing activism, her mental health challenges, and her struggles to re-establish herself in a community after the exclusion from Rhodes. The study employed an intersectional feminist theoretical framework and drew on a qualitative content analysis, a semi-structured interview, and the scroll back method to review the Facebook posts she had made. A thematic analysis of the data showed that Dyantyi is a multifaceted, and evolving Facebook user and contrary to existing research her prolific use of Facebook has had positive effects on her mental health and has enabled her to build social capital. The study suggests that activism is an important component to research alongside studies of mental health on such media platforms. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
- Authors: Witi, Sinethemba Juliet
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Online social networks , Rape in universities and colleges South Africa Makhanda , Student movements South Africa Makhanda , College students Mental health South Africa Makhanda , Sex crimes South Africa Makhanda , Social media and college students South Africa Makhanda , Intersectionality (Sociology) , Womanism
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/405952 , vital:70222
- Description: The rise of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) has raised concerns about the negative impact social media platforms, and in particular Facebook, has on their users. Research has linked the excessive use of Facebook with mental health challenges such as loneliness, depression, and stress. This research examined how Yolanda Dyantyi, a gender rights activist registered as a student from 2015 to 2017 at Rhodes University, used Facebook as an outlet following the #RUreferencelist protests and her subsequent permanent exclusion from the institution for her role in the protests. The study explored Dyanti’s use of Facebook, examining in particular her ongoing activism, her mental health challenges, and her struggles to re-establish herself in a community after the exclusion from Rhodes. The study employed an intersectional feminist theoretical framework and drew on a qualitative content analysis, a semi-structured interview, and the scroll back method to review the Facebook posts she had made. A thematic analysis of the data showed that Dyantyi is a multifaceted, and evolving Facebook user and contrary to existing research her prolific use of Facebook has had positive effects on her mental health and has enabled her to build social capital. The study suggests that activism is an important component to research alongside studies of mental health on such media platforms. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, School of Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
An examination of activism and ‘political listening’ during the year of student protest at the University of Cape Town from 9 March 2015 to 9 March 2016
- Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2022-10-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Cape Town , Democracy South Africa , Listening Political aspects , Journalistic ethics , Journalism Political aspects , Communication in social action South Africa Cape Town , University of Cape Town , Cape Times Ltd.
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327144 , vital:61085 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327144
- Description: This study sets out to examine democratic participation in South Africa and the role that ‘political listening’ could play in making participation more equitable. It considers protest action on a South African university campus, which at times not only resulted in significant and swift concessions from the university leadership but also sparked national political action which got an equally swift response from the South African government. It considers the social movement, the RhodesMustFall movement (RMF), as one way in which students can organise themselves to get a better hearing from the University of Cape Town (UCT) management in their attempt to make a meaningful contribution to the university’s micro democracy. This study examines whether the interaction between the UCT management and RMF could be considered ‘political listening’, and the possible role of the Cape Times newspaper within this context of participation. Using data gathered through interviews, written communications, observation and newspaper articles, the study shows that in all of the interactions between RMF and the UCT management, both groups were seldom willing to forego their power to engage in genuine listening. Instead, the two parties guessed at what power the other party might have and acted to reduce that power. It is in this context of guessing at and figuring what power the other party has that listening occurs. Furthermore, the study shows that during the RMF protest, the UCT management viewed their responsibility for the institution mainly through the lens of Private Property Law which framed protest as something to be dealt with by restoring law and order. The study also details the role of the Cape Times newspaper in the interactions between RMF and the UCT management and considers if this role could be political listening. The study is exploratory and demonstrates how political listening could work more optimally in real-life instances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-04
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2022-10-04
- Subjects: Student movements South Africa Cape Town , Democracy South Africa , Listening Political aspects , Journalistic ethics , Journalism Political aspects , Communication in social action South Africa Cape Town , University of Cape Town , Cape Times Ltd.
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327144 , vital:61085 , DOI 10.21504/10962/327144
- Description: This study sets out to examine democratic participation in South Africa and the role that ‘political listening’ could play in making participation more equitable. It considers protest action on a South African university campus, which at times not only resulted in significant and swift concessions from the university leadership but also sparked national political action which got an equally swift response from the South African government. It considers the social movement, the RhodesMustFall movement (RMF), as one way in which students can organise themselves to get a better hearing from the University of Cape Town (UCT) management in their attempt to make a meaningful contribution to the university’s micro democracy. This study examines whether the interaction between the UCT management and RMF could be considered ‘political listening’, and the possible role of the Cape Times newspaper within this context of participation. Using data gathered through interviews, written communications, observation and newspaper articles, the study shows that in all of the interactions between RMF and the UCT management, both groups were seldom willing to forego their power to engage in genuine listening. Instead, the two parties guessed at what power the other party might have and acted to reduce that power. It is in this context of guessing at and figuring what power the other party has that listening occurs. Furthermore, the study shows that during the RMF protest, the UCT management viewed their responsibility for the institution mainly through the lens of Private Property Law which framed protest as something to be dealt with by restoring law and order. The study also details the role of the Cape Times newspaper in the interactions between RMF and the UCT management and considers if this role could be political listening. The study is exploratory and demonstrates how political listening could work more optimally in real-life instances. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-10-04
Talk in online video games: study of how the use of jargon, social interaction, and representation in Overwatch affects the ability of women to immerse themselves in these spaces
- Authors: Stander, Emily
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Internet games Social aspects , Video gamers Language , Women video gamers , Cyberbullying , Online hate speech , Online trolling , Online chat groups , Women Social conditions , Women Sociological aspects , Overwatch (Video game) , Internet games Sex differences , Sex discrimination against women
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232477 , vital:49995
- Description: This thesis investigates the impact on women of aggressive, demeaning and blaming talk in the online video game* space. The objective is to understand how players talk to each other and how this kind of talk presents issues for women trying to enter the online gaming sphere and become recognised as players. The main method was participatory observation and interviews with women who have experienced such talk. Key results which came from this research is that the process of keeping specific people out of communities through different means of talk - gatekeeping, women being viewed as objects of sexual gratification for men through bad representation in video games and media and using women as scapegoats for frustration and blame in the competitive online video game space, are the main issues which arise from the way players communicate with each other. In conclusion, the research presented that there needs to be an effective system of unlearning and relearning these behaviours in communities and a change in the way women are represented and seen in media is necessary in order to change the behavioural patterns which exist in gaming culture. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
- Authors: Stander, Emily
- Date: 2022-04-07
- Subjects: Internet games Social aspects , Video gamers Language , Women video gamers , Cyberbullying , Online hate speech , Online trolling , Online chat groups , Women Social conditions , Women Sociological aspects , Overwatch (Video game) , Internet games Sex differences , Sex discrimination against women
- Language: English
- Type: Master's thesis , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/232477 , vital:49995
- Description: This thesis investigates the impact on women of aggressive, demeaning and blaming talk in the online video game* space. The objective is to understand how players talk to each other and how this kind of talk presents issues for women trying to enter the online gaming sphere and become recognised as players. The main method was participatory observation and interviews with women who have experienced such talk. Key results which came from this research is that the process of keeping specific people out of communities through different means of talk - gatekeeping, women being viewed as objects of sexual gratification for men through bad representation in video games and media and using women as scapegoats for frustration and blame in the competitive online video game space, are the main issues which arise from the way players communicate with each other. In conclusion, the research presented that there needs to be an effective system of unlearning and relearning these behaviours in communities and a change in the way women are represented and seen in media is necessary in order to change the behavioural patterns which exist in gaming culture. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2022
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2022-04-07
An inquiry into how Inter Press Service Africa makes alternative news from the Global South
- Authors: Chiwota, Elijah
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Inter Press Service. Regional Centre for Africa , Workshop on the New World Information and Communication Order (1980 : Geneva, Switzerland) , Sustainable Development Goals Fund , Mass media Political aspects , Radicalism and the press , Mass media and globalization , Hegemony Political aspects , Counter hegemony
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192203 , vital:45205
- Description: An inquiry into how Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa makes alternative news from the Global South, is a study of a news agency that seeks to reverse the flows of information which predominantly comes from the Global North and by doing so carries the interests of the Global North (Boyd-Barrett, 2003). IPS was founded in 1964 by an international co-operative of journalists in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. At the same time, struggles for decolonization were at their peak in Africa and Asia. IPS promotes journalism for South-South co-operation and horizontal communication -- ideas that coincidentally found resonance in the debates for the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) that took place under the auspices of the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1980 (MacBride, 1980). As a regional centre of the IPS and a news agency of the Global South, IPS Africa is an alternative to international news agencies whose reports on Africa are characterised by representations of the other with a narrow focus on natural disasters, poverty, disease, and conflict. To counter this, IPS Africa developed alternative ways of news making from the Global South that focuses on highlighting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one of the strategies to end poverty and promote sustainable development and to recognize the centrality of global partnerships for sustainable development. IPS African stories are written by local journalists who are familiar with the context under which they report. These stories can be described using the lenses of radical media content. IPS Africa is a not-for-profit news agency that makes news based on its organizational themes. Some of the stories emanate from reporters and editors who investigate development issues in their communities and link these to global events and developments. The study draws on Atton (2001) model of alternative and radical media to identify characteristics that include radical content and news values. A social realist approach is used in the study and the qualitative methods used are the analysis of documents, in-depth interviews, and textual analysis. The findings conclude that although a non-profit, IPS Africa can be described as a hybrid media organization in that it is a traditional news agency, with a management structure with board members, who contract freelance journalists to write copy. However, more meaning is found in the radical content of its stories. Despite being firmly rooted in its mission of “telling Africa’s untold stories,” the news agency has insufficient human and financial resources. Consequently, it faces sustainability and viability problems because of its over-reliance on external support through donor funds. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalsim and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
- Authors: Chiwota, Elijah
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Inter Press Service. Regional Centre for Africa , Workshop on the New World Information and Communication Order (1980 : Geneva, Switzerland) , Sustainable Development Goals Fund , Mass media Political aspects , Radicalism and the press , Mass media and globalization , Hegemony Political aspects , Counter hegemony
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/192203 , vital:45205
- Description: An inquiry into how Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa makes alternative news from the Global South, is a study of a news agency that seeks to reverse the flows of information which predominantly comes from the Global North and by doing so carries the interests of the Global North (Boyd-Barrett, 2003). IPS was founded in 1964 by an international co-operative of journalists in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution. At the same time, struggles for decolonization were at their peak in Africa and Asia. IPS promotes journalism for South-South co-operation and horizontal communication -- ideas that coincidentally found resonance in the debates for the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO) that took place under the auspices of the United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1980 (MacBride, 1980). As a regional centre of the IPS and a news agency of the Global South, IPS Africa is an alternative to international news agencies whose reports on Africa are characterised by representations of the other with a narrow focus on natural disasters, poverty, disease, and conflict. To counter this, IPS Africa developed alternative ways of news making from the Global South that focuses on highlighting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one of the strategies to end poverty and promote sustainable development and to recognize the centrality of global partnerships for sustainable development. IPS African stories are written by local journalists who are familiar with the context under which they report. These stories can be described using the lenses of radical media content. IPS Africa is a not-for-profit news agency that makes news based on its organizational themes. Some of the stories emanate from reporters and editors who investigate development issues in their communities and link these to global events and developments. The study draws on Atton (2001) model of alternative and radical media to identify characteristics that include radical content and news values. A social realist approach is used in the study and the qualitative methods used are the analysis of documents, in-depth interviews, and textual analysis. The findings conclude that although a non-profit, IPS Africa can be described as a hybrid media organization in that it is a traditional news agency, with a management structure with board members, who contract freelance journalists to write copy. However, more meaning is found in the radical content of its stories. Despite being firmly rooted in its mission of “telling Africa’s untold stories,” the news agency has insufficient human and financial resources. Consequently, it faces sustainability and viability problems because of its over-reliance on external support through donor funds. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalsim and Media Studies, 2021
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
An analysis of purple truths: an alternative history of the school of journalism and media studies at Rhodes University. Exploring the possibilities of digital media for telling history through multiple voices
- Authors: Geldenhuys, Jesamé
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Citizen journalism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Social media and history -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public history -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Digital media -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Digital humanities , User-generated content -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Social media -- Authorship , Rhodes University. School of Journalism and Media Studies -- History , Purple Truths
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142293 , vital:38066
- Description: In theory, notions of public history and participatory journalism signal the ability of users to become active collaborators in the journalistic process with a degree of agency and authority over media content. Similarities in public history and participatory journalism are manifested in audience participation where the traditional and hegemonic boundaries between readers and journalists/historians are challenged. In this thesis, I present Purple Truths, a digital public history website about the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, that highlights multivocality and plurality. It allowed for democratisation of the historical narrative by inviting audience participation to historical inquiry on a digital platform. It was constructed as a case study for the thesis to investigate participatory processes. Using a five-dimensional model developed by Netzer et al. (2014) for the construction of participation on news websites, I identified five major participation features that revealed how and where participation was happening on the website. The features were mapped and tabulated according to Carpentier’s (2011) maximalist/minimalist dimensions of participation (access, interaction and ‘real’) to determine the degrees of participation in this study towards the aim of using the Purple Truths website to democratise the historical narrative. My findings suggest that despite a diversity of strategies, the study did have to rely on existing norms and practices of editorial decision-making, even in the context of digital media, and significant stages of the news-production process (selection/filtering) remained in the hands of researcher/editor. Maximalist participation, demonstrated as equalised power relations in decision-making, has a utopian dimension and is difficult to translate into practice. However, participation research requires further investigation in the digital humanities in South Africa to explore notions of democratisation of the narrative in academic and social praxis as sites of interdisciplinary democratic renewal
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
- Authors: Geldenhuys, Jesamé
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Citizen journalism -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Social media and history -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Public history -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Digital media -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Digital humanities , User-generated content -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Social media -- Authorship , Rhodes University. School of Journalism and Media Studies -- History , Purple Truths
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/142293 , vital:38066
- Description: In theory, notions of public history and participatory journalism signal the ability of users to become active collaborators in the journalistic process with a degree of agency and authority over media content. Similarities in public history and participatory journalism are manifested in audience participation where the traditional and hegemonic boundaries between readers and journalists/historians are challenged. In this thesis, I present Purple Truths, a digital public history website about the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, that highlights multivocality and plurality. It allowed for democratisation of the historical narrative by inviting audience participation to historical inquiry on a digital platform. It was constructed as a case study for the thesis to investigate participatory processes. Using a five-dimensional model developed by Netzer et al. (2014) for the construction of participation on news websites, I identified five major participation features that revealed how and where participation was happening on the website. The features were mapped and tabulated according to Carpentier’s (2011) maximalist/minimalist dimensions of participation (access, interaction and ‘real’) to determine the degrees of participation in this study towards the aim of using the Purple Truths website to democratise the historical narrative. My findings suggest that despite a diversity of strategies, the study did have to rely on existing norms and practices of editorial decision-making, even in the context of digital media, and significant stages of the news-production process (selection/filtering) remained in the hands of researcher/editor. Maximalist participation, demonstrated as equalised power relations in decision-making, has a utopian dimension and is difficult to translate into practice. However, participation research requires further investigation in the digital humanities in South Africa to explore notions of democratisation of the narrative in academic and social praxis as sites of interdisciplinary democratic renewal
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2020
Centralising a counter public: an ethnographic study of the interpretation of mainstream news media by young adults in Joza
- Authors: Ponono, Mvuzo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: African National Congress Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa Press and politics -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century Zuma, Jacob -- Political and social views , Political corruption -- 21st century Elections -- South Africa Voting -- South Africa Misconduct in office -- South Africa Abuse of administrative power -- South Africa Young adults -- Political activity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Young adults -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65033 , vital:28655
- Description: The 2014 national general elections were characterised by a cloud of scandal hanging over the ANC, and the ANC president Jacob Zuma. The biggest and darkest cloud was the Nkandla scandal. Owing to a reported R246 million spent by the state to refurbish his private home, the president stood accused of wasteful expenditure and financial irregularity. In a country reeling from the continued effects of apartheid, which include high unemployment and poverty, the scandal was a bombshell. According to a vocal and often adversarial mainstream media sphere, the ANC went into those elections with an albatross around its neck. The dominant thought was that the ruling party would suffer a heavy loss of votes. This outcome did not materialise. The ANC lost a marginal share of its previous vote. Mainstream media and civil society were confounded. What had happened? Why had poor black South Africans continued to vote for a party that was obviously in breach of the constitutional order? Against the mismatch between what was predicted or purported and the outcome, this study investigates how young people in the township of Joza, Grahamstown, interpreted one of the biggest political scandals in South Africa’s fledgling democracy. Using a combination of subaltern studies, counter public sphere and audience study, the research looks into the interpretation of a mainstream media scandal that was supposed to diminish the chances of the ANC retaining power, but, instead, barely dented its majority. Through a combination of interviews and participant observation, the study found that young people in the township of Joza demonstrated that they chose to ignore the messages about the corruption of the ANC. The data suggests that they did so, not because of overt racial solidarity, but due to the fact that in a context of high inequality, and continued limitations on economic emancipation, the party shone brightly as a vehicle for economic development. Overall, the study argues that the seemingly dubious undertaking to continue with the ANC is a calculated decision that makes sense when viewed within a given socio-economic context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ponono, Mvuzo
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: African National Congress Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa Press and politics -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 21st century Zuma, Jacob -- Political and social views , Political corruption -- 21st century Elections -- South Africa Voting -- South Africa Misconduct in office -- South Africa Abuse of administrative power -- South Africa Young adults -- Political activity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Young adults -- Politics and government
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65033 , vital:28655
- Description: The 2014 national general elections were characterised by a cloud of scandal hanging over the ANC, and the ANC president Jacob Zuma. The biggest and darkest cloud was the Nkandla scandal. Owing to a reported R246 million spent by the state to refurbish his private home, the president stood accused of wasteful expenditure and financial irregularity. In a country reeling from the continued effects of apartheid, which include high unemployment and poverty, the scandal was a bombshell. According to a vocal and often adversarial mainstream media sphere, the ANC went into those elections with an albatross around its neck. The dominant thought was that the ruling party would suffer a heavy loss of votes. This outcome did not materialise. The ANC lost a marginal share of its previous vote. Mainstream media and civil society were confounded. What had happened? Why had poor black South Africans continued to vote for a party that was obviously in breach of the constitutional order? Against the mismatch between what was predicted or purported and the outcome, this study investigates how young people in the township of Joza, Grahamstown, interpreted one of the biggest political scandals in South Africa’s fledgling democracy. Using a combination of subaltern studies, counter public sphere and audience study, the research looks into the interpretation of a mainstream media scandal that was supposed to diminish the chances of the ANC retaining power, but, instead, barely dented its majority. Through a combination of interviews and participant observation, the study found that young people in the township of Joza demonstrated that they chose to ignore the messages about the corruption of the ANC. The data suggests that they did so, not because of overt racial solidarity, but due to the fact that in a context of high inequality, and continued limitations on economic emancipation, the party shone brightly as a vehicle for economic development. Overall, the study argues that the seemingly dubious undertaking to continue with the ANC is a calculated decision that makes sense when viewed within a given socio-economic context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Communicating in/from the Cave: a communication for development/social change project aimed at enhancing communication, action and learning within the science cave, a learner-led Grade 10 science club in a public school in Makhanda
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Communication in science -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Communication in science -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Student centered learning -- South Africa , Student centered learning-- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96837 , vital:31330
- Description: This research seeks to design, execute and reflect on a process where the principles and techniques of Communication for Development and Social Change are applied to enhance, support and develop qualitative changes within a learner-led Grade 10 science club at a public school in Makhanda. It draws and reflects on an ethnographic action research (Tacchi et al 2003) cycle proposed to explore the club’s communicative ecology (Foth & Hearn 2007) and resources, and understand how these have the potential to encourage the expression of voice (Couldry 2010: 580) and participation (Carpentier, 2011) in the members of the club. The research then attempts to understand the kind of communication, action and learning that takes place as well as the ways in which the framework is able to support the club (or not). The research uses an ethnographic narrative, told from the perspective of the researcher informed by field notes, interviews and participant reflections written during the intervention. This narrative, alongside an analytical summery of the club’s complex communicative ecology, tells the story of a club building confidence within a closed group and using that to connect with a wider public, articulating its needs, resources and potential supporting stakeholders for the club’s future development. The club is able to share its achievements with a community of peers and uses the platform of Facebook, to communicate with and inspire other like-minded people with an interest in science and their community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Bombi, Thandi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa , Communication in science -- South Africa , Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Communication in science -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Student centered learning -- South Africa , Student centered learning-- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96837 , vital:31330
- Description: This research seeks to design, execute and reflect on a process where the principles and techniques of Communication for Development and Social Change are applied to enhance, support and develop qualitative changes within a learner-led Grade 10 science club at a public school in Makhanda. It draws and reflects on an ethnographic action research (Tacchi et al 2003) cycle proposed to explore the club’s communicative ecology (Foth & Hearn 2007) and resources, and understand how these have the potential to encourage the expression of voice (Couldry 2010: 580) and participation (Carpentier, 2011) in the members of the club. The research then attempts to understand the kind of communication, action and learning that takes place as well as the ways in which the framework is able to support the club (or not). The research uses an ethnographic narrative, told from the perspective of the researcher informed by field notes, interviews and participant reflections written during the intervention. This narrative, alongside an analytical summery of the club’s complex communicative ecology, tells the story of a club building confidence within a closed group and using that to connect with a wider public, articulating its needs, resources and potential supporting stakeholders for the club’s future development. The club is able to share its achievements with a community of peers and uses the platform of Facebook, to communicate with and inspire other like-minded people with an interest in science and their community.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Hearing the citizens: inequality, access to journalists and the prospects for inclusively mediated spaces of political deliberation in South Africa
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Oelofsen, Marietjie
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35030 , vital:24309
- Description: This study examines the extent to which material and social inequality in post-apartheid South Africa affect possibilities for poor citizens to gain access to mainstream spaces of mediated political deliberation. Access is problematized in terms of the possibilities that exist for poor citizens to ‘appear’ in these spaces as emancipated citizens with political agency. The study is motivated by a perception that South Africa’s middle-class and privileged citizens have more access to political deliberation because mainstream journalists pay more attention to their political concerns. Because mediated political deliberation provides a space for articulating the political will of citizens it is important that it reflects the multiple, and diverse range of voices that make up South Africa’s polity. If the experience of socioeconomically marginalised citizens is not registered in the same way as the experience of citizens with economic and political power, the balance of political decision-making continues to be skewed against the interests of the poor. Rather than a media-centric approach, the study centres on perceptions and views of poor citizens about their relationship with mainstream journalists. The study combines information from group interviews with citizens from Hangberg, Cape Town with 410 news reports in 18 mainstream newspapers about Hangberg citizens over a 20-year period. The interviews show that poor citizens feel largely excluded from mediated political deliberation; not because they do not appear in the news but because of how they appear in the news. The news reports confirm that mainstream journalists pay more attention to voices with political and economic power than to the voices of poor citizens. Even in news reports about Hangberg citizens, political leaders and non-governmental experts often talk about the problems in Hangberg more than the citizens of Hangberg themselves talk about these problems. Building on a relatively new scholarly interest in ‘active’ and ‘political’ listening in media studies and democratic theory (Bickford 1996, Dreher 2009, Couldry 2009, Dobson 2014, Wasserman 2013, Garman and Malila 2014), I consider listening as a constitutive element of the way in which journalists engage with poor citizens in mediated deliberative spaces. I ask whether different practices of listening can enable journalists to construct narratives that provide marginalised groups with different possibilities for equal access to, and participation in these spaces?
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lurking or listening? an ethnographic study of online and offline student political participation through the #MustFall protests at Rhodes University
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Modern celebrity and inspiration in South Africa: an examination of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans
- Authors: Lishivha, Welcome
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Youth in mass media -- South Africa , Youth -- Social conditions -- South Africa , Mail & Guardian , Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5165 , vital:20782
- Description: The postapartheid condition of a majority of young people in South Africa is substantially similar to the apartheid conditions under which their parents lived. This results in a dominant narrative in the media and everyday talk circulating in South African that the youth are a ‘lost generation’ and also that they represent a significant danger and risk for the stability of our democracy. Against this backdrop The Mail and Guardian, one of the South Africa’s most influential newspapers has chosen to celebrate a small number of young people every year as inspirational and extraordinary in their achievements. This investigation into this representation of a significant - although small - group of young South Africans employed content analysis of the 2015 edition of 200 Young South Africans, interviews with profiled individuals across the years, and a focus group of readers. The study aimed to unpack the complexity of constructing certain young people as exemplary given the structural conditions that constrain and prevent a majority from attaining the education and mobility they need to make a difference in their own lives. The study found through the content analysis that the Mail&Guardian is setting up these young people as exemplary citizens whose actions should inspire other young people to similarly ‘make a difference’. Through the interviews the study found that those featured on the list found both that there was significant social capital in being valorised this way, but that this position was also a complex one to negotiate given the structural limitations of poverty and lack of education for those out of whom they had been chosen. The readers in the focus group did find inspiration in reading about their exemplary peers but they too were conscious of how small a group this was in comparison to the majority of young South Africans. In conclusion the study found that the narrative of hope, inspiration and making a difference is an important message in relation to a generalised hopelessness about South African youth but that it runs the risk of ignoring the significant structural constraints that young, poor, undereducated, unskilled young South Africans face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Lishivha, Welcome
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Youth in mass media -- South Africa , Youth -- Social conditions -- South Africa , Mail & Guardian , Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5165 , vital:20782
- Description: The postapartheid condition of a majority of young people in South Africa is substantially similar to the apartheid conditions under which their parents lived. This results in a dominant narrative in the media and everyday talk circulating in South African that the youth are a ‘lost generation’ and also that they represent a significant danger and risk for the stability of our democracy. Against this backdrop The Mail and Guardian, one of the South Africa’s most influential newspapers has chosen to celebrate a small number of young people every year as inspirational and extraordinary in their achievements. This investigation into this representation of a significant - although small - group of young South Africans employed content analysis of the 2015 edition of 200 Young South Africans, interviews with profiled individuals across the years, and a focus group of readers. The study aimed to unpack the complexity of constructing certain young people as exemplary given the structural conditions that constrain and prevent a majority from attaining the education and mobility they need to make a difference in their own lives. The study found through the content analysis that the Mail&Guardian is setting up these young people as exemplary citizens whose actions should inspire other young people to similarly ‘make a difference’. Through the interviews the study found that those featured on the list found both that there was significant social capital in being valorised this way, but that this position was also a complex one to negotiate given the structural limitations of poverty and lack of education for those out of whom they had been chosen. The readers in the focus group did find inspiration in reading about their exemplary peers but they too were conscious of how small a group this was in comparison to the majority of young South Africans. In conclusion the study found that the narrative of hope, inspiration and making a difference is an important message in relation to a generalised hopelessness about South African youth but that it runs the risk of ignoring the significant structural constraints that young, poor, undereducated, unskilled young South Africans face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Negotiating the line between information and panic: a case study of vanguard’s coverage of the ebola outbreak in Nigeria
- Authors: Akingbade, Olutobi Elijah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Digital media -- Marketing , Marketing -- Technological innovations , Internet marketing , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing , Coca Cola (Trademark) -- Marketing , Social media -- Economic aspects , Soft drink industry -- Internet marketing , Health behavior in adolescence , Advertising -- Carbonated beverages , Obesity in adolescence , Drinking behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5903 , vital:20986
- Description: This study titled ‘Negotiating the line between information and panic: A case study of Vanguard’s coverage of the Ebola Outbreak in Nigeria’ investigates and evaluates Vanguard’s coverage of the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria. This study was conducted to understand how Vanguard negotiated the line between the dissemination of actual EVD information and the possibility of creating panic and fear during the coverage of the outbreak. Using qualitative content analysis and interview embedded within a qualitative research design, the study was carried out against the backdrop of relevant literature that asserts that the mass media is an important carrier, prime mover and producer of tensions, anxieties, fears and panics while the print media specifically is argued to have as part of its history the business of irrational fear mongering and the creation of panic about social problems. Vanguard, rated as one of the ten largest newspapers in Nigeria, was purposively selected for this study. Vanguard did substantial reporting and dissemination of the 2014 EVD outbreak and it was possible to draw on the availability and accessibility of the electronic archives of the EVD articles. Using the theory of moral panic, the normative theories of the media and theories about essential constituents of journalism culture as a theoretical framework, the study reveals that Vanguard’s coverage of the 2014 EVD outbreak was challenging and more demanding compared to coverage of previous outbreaks of viral diseases in Nigeria by the print medium. The study shows that lack of sufficient understanding of the science that underlies EVD, the initial exclusion of the media from the national response to contain the outbreak, and the lack of sufficient proactive measures by government and the print medium were powerful factors in how the epidemic was reported. The study also shows an interesting dimension in Vanguard’s early and latter coverage of the EVD outbreak while it lasted in Nigeria. This dimension reveals a high number of EVD articles with the propensity to inspire fear and panic in the early days of the coverage compared to EVD articles with the propensity to douse fear and panic in the early and latter days of the outbreak. The study shows that while the challenges encountered stem from Ebola’s mode of transmission, lack of scientific and medically proven cure and early coverage amidst uncertainties, the inherent tensions and anxieties that characterised the outbreak coupled with Vanguard’s fire brigade approach led to the relatively high number of EVD articles with the propensity to inspire fear and panic. The study recommends the mass media’s inclusion in national responses to epidemics and ongoing training for health journalists to update their knowledge base about emerging and infectious diseases. The study also recommends for further study a reception analysis to enhance the socio-cultural understanding of how the EVD articles were received.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Akingbade, Olutobi Elijah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Digital media -- Marketing , Marketing -- Technological innovations , Internet marketing , Carbonated beverages -- Marketing , Coca Cola (Trademark) -- Marketing , Social media -- Economic aspects , Soft drink industry -- Internet marketing , Health behavior in adolescence , Advertising -- Carbonated beverages , Obesity in adolescence , Drinking behavior
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5903 , vital:20986
- Description: This study titled ‘Negotiating the line between information and panic: A case study of Vanguard’s coverage of the Ebola Outbreak in Nigeria’ investigates and evaluates Vanguard’s coverage of the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Nigeria. This study was conducted to understand how Vanguard negotiated the line between the dissemination of actual EVD information and the possibility of creating panic and fear during the coverage of the outbreak. Using qualitative content analysis and interview embedded within a qualitative research design, the study was carried out against the backdrop of relevant literature that asserts that the mass media is an important carrier, prime mover and producer of tensions, anxieties, fears and panics while the print media specifically is argued to have as part of its history the business of irrational fear mongering and the creation of panic about social problems. Vanguard, rated as one of the ten largest newspapers in Nigeria, was purposively selected for this study. Vanguard did substantial reporting and dissemination of the 2014 EVD outbreak and it was possible to draw on the availability and accessibility of the electronic archives of the EVD articles. Using the theory of moral panic, the normative theories of the media and theories about essential constituents of journalism culture as a theoretical framework, the study reveals that Vanguard’s coverage of the 2014 EVD outbreak was challenging and more demanding compared to coverage of previous outbreaks of viral diseases in Nigeria by the print medium. The study shows that lack of sufficient understanding of the science that underlies EVD, the initial exclusion of the media from the national response to contain the outbreak, and the lack of sufficient proactive measures by government and the print medium were powerful factors in how the epidemic was reported. The study also shows an interesting dimension in Vanguard’s early and latter coverage of the EVD outbreak while it lasted in Nigeria. This dimension reveals a high number of EVD articles with the propensity to inspire fear and panic in the early days of the coverage compared to EVD articles with the propensity to douse fear and panic in the early and latter days of the outbreak. The study shows that while the challenges encountered stem from Ebola’s mode of transmission, lack of scientific and medically proven cure and early coverage amidst uncertainties, the inherent tensions and anxieties that characterised the outbreak coupled with Vanguard’s fire brigade approach led to the relatively high number of EVD articles with the propensity to inspire fear and panic. The study recommends the mass media’s inclusion in national responses to epidemics and ongoing training for health journalists to update their knowledge base about emerging and infectious diseases. The study also recommends for further study a reception analysis to enhance the socio-cultural understanding of how the EVD articles were received.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Newspapers' institutional voices in Zimbabwe : speaking to power through editorials between 1 June and 31 December 2013
- Authors: Nyaungwa, Mathew
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: The Herald (Zimbabwe) , NewsDay (Zimbabwe) , Editorials -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe , Journalistic ethics -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Objectivity -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Zimbabwe -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017786
- Description: This study investigates the complex role editorials – a newspaper's institutional voice – play in highly-polarised political contexts. Employing Van Dijk's insight that editorials "are usually not only, and even not primarily, directed at the common reader: rather they tend to directly or indirectly address influential news actors" (1992: 244), the study focuses on how the editorials of two Zimbabwean daily newspapers – The Herald, a perceived pro-government newspaper, and NewsDay, a perceived pro-opposition newspaper – speak to those in power. The study looks at these two newspapers' editorials from 1 June to 31 December 2013, which covers the period prior to, during and after the 2013 national elections. The 31 July, 2013 elections took place after four years of an uneasy government of national unity (GNU), which comprised ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations (Raftopoulos, 2013:978). Given the polarisation that is pervasive in the Zimbabwean politics and media, the study draws on Hallin and Mancini (2004)'s "Polarised Pluralist Model". In this model the media are used as instruments of struggle in conflicts, sometimes by dictatorships and by movements struggling against them, but also by contending parties in periods of democratic politics (Hallin and Mancini, 2004:61). Further, the methodological approach that informs this study is primarily qualitative. A qualitative content analysis of 30 editorials seeks to identify themes covered in the editorials. The study also employs a rhetorical analysis of 12 editorials and in-depth interviews and these form the adopted three-stage research design. The findings of this research somewhat contradict the common view in Zimbabwe that the privately-owned media blindly support the opposition while the stateowned media do the same to ZANU-PF (Chari, 2009:10; Mabweazara, 2011:110). Although The Herald openly supported ZANU-PF prior to the election, it shifted after the election as it pushed the ruling party to fulfill pledges made on the campaign trail. Some ZANU-PF officials were also censured by The Herald, although this selective criticism can be linked to factionalism in the party. NewsDay editorials reminded the newly formed government to mend the economy and provide basic services. While, the daily constantly censured Mugabe and ZANU-PF prior to the election, it also occasionally berated the MDC, which can be attributed to its participation in the GNU as that took away the privilege it previously had of not being hold accountable by the press.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Nyaungwa, Mathew
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: The Herald (Zimbabwe) , NewsDay (Zimbabwe) , Editorials -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe , Journalistic ethics -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Objectivity -- Zimbabwe , Journalism -- Zimbabwe -- 21st century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3545 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1017786
- Description: This study investigates the complex role editorials – a newspaper's institutional voice – play in highly-polarised political contexts. Employing Van Dijk's insight that editorials "are usually not only, and even not primarily, directed at the common reader: rather they tend to directly or indirectly address influential news actors" (1992: 244), the study focuses on how the editorials of two Zimbabwean daily newspapers – The Herald, a perceived pro-government newspaper, and NewsDay, a perceived pro-opposition newspaper – speak to those in power. The study looks at these two newspapers' editorials from 1 June to 31 December 2013, which covers the period prior to, during and after the 2013 national elections. The 31 July, 2013 elections took place after four years of an uneasy government of national unity (GNU), which comprised ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations (Raftopoulos, 2013:978). Given the polarisation that is pervasive in the Zimbabwean politics and media, the study draws on Hallin and Mancini (2004)'s "Polarised Pluralist Model". In this model the media are used as instruments of struggle in conflicts, sometimes by dictatorships and by movements struggling against them, but also by contending parties in periods of democratic politics (Hallin and Mancini, 2004:61). Further, the methodological approach that informs this study is primarily qualitative. A qualitative content analysis of 30 editorials seeks to identify themes covered in the editorials. The study also employs a rhetorical analysis of 12 editorials and in-depth interviews and these form the adopted three-stage research design. The findings of this research somewhat contradict the common view in Zimbabwe that the privately-owned media blindly support the opposition while the stateowned media do the same to ZANU-PF (Chari, 2009:10; Mabweazara, 2011:110). Although The Herald openly supported ZANU-PF prior to the election, it shifted after the election as it pushed the ruling party to fulfill pledges made on the campaign trail. Some ZANU-PF officials were also censured by The Herald, although this selective criticism can be linked to factionalism in the party. NewsDay editorials reminded the newly formed government to mend the economy and provide basic services. While, the daily constantly censured Mugabe and ZANU-PF prior to the election, it also occasionally berated the MDC, which can be attributed to its participation in the GNU as that took away the privilege it previously had of not being hold accountable by the press.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Dangerous people and places : a community newspaper's constructions of crime
- Authors: Raymond, Leigh Alice
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) , Community newspapers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Crime and the press -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Newspapers -- Objectivity , Mass media policy -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Police and the press -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013091
- Description: This thesis argues that there is a clear imbalance in the representation of crime in the newspaper, Grocott’s Mail, in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The thesis concludes that the system of marginalisation and segregation which was established during the apartheid era is the foundation for the continued segregation and marginalisation of certain groups of people in Grahamstown as depicted in crime journalism. Previous research shows that not only people, but spaces are marginalised through media representations of crime. As people are represented as dangerous, so too the spaces they occupy become dangerous spaces. Importantly, the research shows that discourses of marginalisation are present in newspaper reports reproducing the discourses prominent in society, and in turn, the newspaper itself perpetuates these marginalising discourses. This extends into the coverage that different crimes receive in newspapers. For instance, the reports show that a middle-class audience will be more concerned with property crime in middle-class neighbourhoods, than other crimes in lower-class neighbourhoods. I argue that not only the type of crime, but the severity, the effect, and the necessity for justice represented by the newspaper, are all largely determined by the region of the crime. Further, I show that the criminal is not only demonised and represented as individually deviant in the reports in the newspaper, but that these representations are made by this newspaper because they are deeply imbedded as a discourse in society. This is partly because this newspaper has taken on a monitorial role, requiring neutral reporting from journalists, and a dedication to surveying the processes of state institutions, like the police and courts. As a result, the ways in which crime is reported on in the newspaper is fairly well fixed, making it difficult for journalists to conceive of different ways of reporting crime. The representations of the criminal justice system that the monitorial media, this newspaper included present, are a careful balance between the interest of the public, and the need to preserve relationships with sources. The monitorial media in general, and this newspaper in particular, represent the criminal justice system. The relationship between the police and the newspaper, and the courts and the media, therefore strongly influences the way in which crime news is reported. In particular, crime news is represented from the perspective of the criminal justice system. This research was carried out using Critical Discourse Analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus group interviews.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Raymond, Leigh Alice
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) , Community newspapers -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Crime and the press -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Newspapers -- Objectivity , Mass media policy -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Social responsibility of business -- South Africa -- Grahamstown , Police and the press -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3527 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013091
- Description: This thesis argues that there is a clear imbalance in the representation of crime in the newspaper, Grocott’s Mail, in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The thesis concludes that the system of marginalisation and segregation which was established during the apartheid era is the foundation for the continued segregation and marginalisation of certain groups of people in Grahamstown as depicted in crime journalism. Previous research shows that not only people, but spaces are marginalised through media representations of crime. As people are represented as dangerous, so too the spaces they occupy become dangerous spaces. Importantly, the research shows that discourses of marginalisation are present in newspaper reports reproducing the discourses prominent in society, and in turn, the newspaper itself perpetuates these marginalising discourses. This extends into the coverage that different crimes receive in newspapers. For instance, the reports show that a middle-class audience will be more concerned with property crime in middle-class neighbourhoods, than other crimes in lower-class neighbourhoods. I argue that not only the type of crime, but the severity, the effect, and the necessity for justice represented by the newspaper, are all largely determined by the region of the crime. Further, I show that the criminal is not only demonised and represented as individually deviant in the reports in the newspaper, but that these representations are made by this newspaper because they are deeply imbedded as a discourse in society. This is partly because this newspaper has taken on a monitorial role, requiring neutral reporting from journalists, and a dedication to surveying the processes of state institutions, like the police and courts. As a result, the ways in which crime is reported on in the newspaper is fairly well fixed, making it difficult for journalists to conceive of different ways of reporting crime. The representations of the criminal justice system that the monitorial media, this newspaper included present, are a careful balance between the interest of the public, and the need to preserve relationships with sources. The monitorial media in general, and this newspaper in particular, represent the criminal justice system. The relationship between the police and the newspaper, and the courts and the media, therefore strongly influences the way in which crime news is reported. In particular, crime news is represented from the perspective of the criminal justice system. This research was carried out using Critical Discourse Analysis, qualitative interviews, and focus group interviews.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Journalism sourcing and credibility: a study of Raia Mwema’s use of anonymous sources
- Authors: Mkoko, Egbert
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Raia Mwema , Newspapers -- Tanzania , Journalism -- Tanzania , Attribution of news -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013219
- Description: This study analyses how readers impute credibility to the Tanzanian investigative newspaper Raia Mwema which, as a matter of routine journalistic practice, uses a high number of anonymous sources. Against the backdrop of a strong theoretical position, espoused by media studies theorists in both Western media contexts and in Africa, in which this practice is deemed to diminish the credibility of both journalists and their stories, the study’s main purpose is to examine how readers make sense of this very prevalent practice in a country that has recently opened up to media plurality. It also investigates where they locate the source of credibility for this high-selling newspaper, if not in the traditional way through its named sources of information. The study surveys the frequency of appearance of anonymous sources in this newspaper for the period of one year from January 2011 to December 2011. Then the study considered how this practice is viewed and understood by the wider journalistic community in Tanzania as well as looking into how the journalists and owners of Raia Mwema make choices about attributing their journalism. Lastly, the study engaged with particular readers to understand what sense they make of this practice in the wider landscape of Tanzanian media and the post-repressive political situation. The study makes use of theories of the sociology of news production so as to understand the context in which Raia Mwema has routinised the practice of anonymous attribution and whether the journalistic community and newspaper readers find the practice credible. The study also employs reception analysis in order to understand to what extent Raia Mwema readers negotiate and make sense of the mainly political, and often critical, media messages they get from newspaper. In this way, it introduces the importance of the reader in the production of meaning and of assessment of credibility of journalism. The interviews – ranging from journalists working at the paper, through the wider journalistic community and taking in the readership of the paper – show that theoretical considerations of journalistic credibility must take into account the political, social and media context in which journalism is produced. Pronouncements on the overuse of anonymous sources, without understanding the way readers and journalists negotiate the complexities of an actual situation, do not tell us much about credibility and how readers understand the messages they are given. From this study, it is clear that in African countries embarking on opening media systems, credibility involves more factors than have been discussed in the literature and that readers and journalists are sophisticated consumers and producers of media messages in countries that place a host of obstacles in the way of investigative journalism and open political communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mkoko, Egbert
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Raia Mwema , Newspapers -- Tanzania , Journalism -- Tanzania , Attribution of news -- Tanzania
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3529 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013219
- Description: This study analyses how readers impute credibility to the Tanzanian investigative newspaper Raia Mwema which, as a matter of routine journalistic practice, uses a high number of anonymous sources. Against the backdrop of a strong theoretical position, espoused by media studies theorists in both Western media contexts and in Africa, in which this practice is deemed to diminish the credibility of both journalists and their stories, the study’s main purpose is to examine how readers make sense of this very prevalent practice in a country that has recently opened up to media plurality. It also investigates where they locate the source of credibility for this high-selling newspaper, if not in the traditional way through its named sources of information. The study surveys the frequency of appearance of anonymous sources in this newspaper for the period of one year from January 2011 to December 2011. Then the study considered how this practice is viewed and understood by the wider journalistic community in Tanzania as well as looking into how the journalists and owners of Raia Mwema make choices about attributing their journalism. Lastly, the study engaged with particular readers to understand what sense they make of this practice in the wider landscape of Tanzanian media and the post-repressive political situation. The study makes use of theories of the sociology of news production so as to understand the context in which Raia Mwema has routinised the practice of anonymous attribution and whether the journalistic community and newspaper readers find the practice credible. The study also employs reception analysis in order to understand to what extent Raia Mwema readers negotiate and make sense of the mainly political, and often critical, media messages they get from newspaper. In this way, it introduces the importance of the reader in the production of meaning and of assessment of credibility of journalism. The interviews – ranging from journalists working at the paper, through the wider journalistic community and taking in the readership of the paper – show that theoretical considerations of journalistic credibility must take into account the political, social and media context in which journalism is produced. Pronouncements on the overuse of anonymous sources, without understanding the way readers and journalists negotiate the complexities of an actual situation, do not tell us much about credibility and how readers understand the messages they are given. From this study, it is clear that in African countries embarking on opening media systems, credibility involves more factors than have been discussed in the literature and that readers and journalists are sophisticated consumers and producers of media messages in countries that place a host of obstacles in the way of investigative journalism and open political communication.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
The media, Equal Education and school learners : an investigation of the possibility of 'political listening' in the South African education crisis
- Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Equal Education (Nonprofit organisation) Journalism, Educational -- South Africa Educational equalization -- South Africa Journalism -- Political aspects -- South Africa Education -- Citizen participation Educational change -- South Africa Qualitative research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3524 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011874
- Description: This study sets out to investigate democratic participation in South Africa and the role that media play and can potentially play within this context. It considers a social movement, as one way in which citizens can organise themselves and make their voices heard to improve their chances of making a meaningful contribution to democracy. It employs Susan Bickford's theory of 'political listening', which offers a potential solution to the lack of political representativeness and inclusiveness, by focusing on the way citizens relate to each other through speaking, listening and dialogue. This study examines whether the interaction between learners and the social movement Equal Education could be considered 'political listening', and the current and possible role of the media within this context of participation. The study also attempts to develop and make a contribution to the language of description for the theory of political listening in order to map it onto the data. Using evidence or data gathered through observation of Equal Education's youth group meetings with learners and in-depth interviews with learners, youth group facilitators, Equal Education staff members and journalists, this study shows how the interaction amongst learners and between Equal Education and learners could be considered political listening and how the social movement works as a democratic project which offers learners an opportunity to exercise their citizenship. Furthermore, it also details the current role of the media and possible role of the media as perceived by Equal Education, learners and by journalists who report on Equal Education's activities. The study does not make conclusive claims about whether 'political listening' occurs between Equal Education and learners and the media because the study is exploratory in nature and involves a lot of trial and error when it comes to applying the theory of political listening to interview and textual data, which is a communication context that the theory is only beginning to chart.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Mufamadi, Azwihangwisi Eugene
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Equal Education (Nonprofit organisation) Journalism, Educational -- South Africa Educational equalization -- South Africa Journalism -- Political aspects -- South Africa Education -- Citizen participation Educational change -- South Africa Qualitative research
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3524 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011874
- Description: This study sets out to investigate democratic participation in South Africa and the role that media play and can potentially play within this context. It considers a social movement, as one way in which citizens can organise themselves and make their voices heard to improve their chances of making a meaningful contribution to democracy. It employs Susan Bickford's theory of 'political listening', which offers a potential solution to the lack of political representativeness and inclusiveness, by focusing on the way citizens relate to each other through speaking, listening and dialogue. This study examines whether the interaction between learners and the social movement Equal Education could be considered 'political listening', and the current and possible role of the media within this context of participation. The study also attempts to develop and make a contribution to the language of description for the theory of political listening in order to map it onto the data. Using evidence or data gathered through observation of Equal Education's youth group meetings with learners and in-depth interviews with learners, youth group facilitators, Equal Education staff members and journalists, this study shows how the interaction amongst learners and between Equal Education and learners could be considered political listening and how the social movement works as a democratic project which offers learners an opportunity to exercise their citizenship. Furthermore, it also details the current role of the media and possible role of the media as perceived by Equal Education, learners and by journalists who report on Equal Education's activities. The study does not make conclusive claims about whether 'political listening' occurs between Equal Education and learners and the media because the study is exploratory in nature and involves a lot of trial and error when it comes to applying the theory of political listening to interview and textual data, which is a communication context that the theory is only beginning to chart.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
What makes news on the front page? : an investigation of conceptions of newsworthiness in the East African Standard
- Authors: Nzioka, Roseleen M
- Date: 2013-06-19
- Subjects: East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya) Journalism -- Social aspects -- Kenya Journalism -- Editing -- Kenya Newspapers -- Sections, columns, etc -- Kenya Mass media -- Political aspects -- Kenya Newspapers -- Kenya
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008178
- Description: Determining what is newsworthy is a daily challenge even to the very people who source news, produce and disseminate it. This study is part an exposition and exploration of the different approaches that media researchers have used to explain and determine the value of news. Like similar research before it, this study more specifically delves into the news selection process of news of one particular newspaper with the goal of investigating why and how news is selected for publication in the front page. News is the 'result of many forces: ranging from source power, journalistic orientation, medium-preference and market model, news values and production routines and processes. The study briefly expounds on the different definitions of news as perceived in terms of the developed and developing world. Just as journalists do not operate in a vacuum, a close examination of the various definitions reveals that news cannot be defined in isolation. Its definition is intrinsically tied to that of news values. Also explored here are debates about news values and their Western rootedness. Here reference is made to literature regarding theories on the social construction of meanings and on the gatekeeping concept.The study is informed by similar research in gatekeeping studies and sociology of news studies. It is important to state at the outset that the study is not concerned with how news is produced but why there is a bias for certain kinds of news. I am interested in explaining why and how the writers and editors at the East African Standard make decisions about what is worthy of being published on the front page of the newspaper. This distinction is necessary because the theories that inform this study transcend news sourcing and production. This study takes cognizance ofthe fact that one cannot separate social processes from the individual and vice versa. For this reason, this study investigates and analyses the biases of individual gatekeepers at the East African Standard as well as their collective biases. In the concluding section, this study calls for an alternative paradigm for journalism and news. The foregoing discussions in the other sections prove that a universal definition of news and what is newsworthy will not suffice and there is need to contexualise it.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nzioka, Roseleen M
- Date: 2013-06-19
- Subjects: East African Standard (Nairobi, Kenya) Journalism -- Social aspects -- Kenya Journalism -- Editing -- Kenya Newspapers -- Sections, columns, etc -- Kenya Mass media -- Political aspects -- Kenya Newspapers -- Kenya
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008178
- Description: Determining what is newsworthy is a daily challenge even to the very people who source news, produce and disseminate it. This study is part an exposition and exploration of the different approaches that media researchers have used to explain and determine the value of news. Like similar research before it, this study more specifically delves into the news selection process of news of one particular newspaper with the goal of investigating why and how news is selected for publication in the front page. News is the 'result of many forces: ranging from source power, journalistic orientation, medium-preference and market model, news values and production routines and processes. The study briefly expounds on the different definitions of news as perceived in terms of the developed and developing world. Just as journalists do not operate in a vacuum, a close examination of the various definitions reveals that news cannot be defined in isolation. Its definition is intrinsically tied to that of news values. Also explored here are debates about news values and their Western rootedness. Here reference is made to literature regarding theories on the social construction of meanings and on the gatekeeping concept.The study is informed by similar research in gatekeeping studies and sociology of news studies. It is important to state at the outset that the study is not concerned with how news is produced but why there is a bias for certain kinds of news. I am interested in explaining why and how the writers and editors at the East African Standard make decisions about what is worthy of being published on the front page of the newspaper. This distinction is necessary because the theories that inform this study transcend news sourcing and production. This study takes cognizance ofthe fact that one cannot separate social processes from the individual and vice versa. For this reason, this study investigates and analyses the biases of individual gatekeepers at the East African Standard as well as their collective biases. In the concluding section, this study calls for an alternative paradigm for journalism and news. The foregoing discussions in the other sections prove that a universal definition of news and what is newsworthy will not suffice and there is need to contexualise it.
- Full Text:
The Iindaba Ziyafika project: a new community of practice?
- Authors: Nyathi, Sihle
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Citizen journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Iindaba Ziyafika project Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Radio journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Online journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3477 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002932
- Description: This study sought to investigate the practices of citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project. The objectives of the research were to explore the evolving practices of citizen journalism in Grahamstown and to extrapolate how citizen journalists are securing a discursive space in relationship to conventional journalism. The study investigated whether the citizen journalists based at Grocotts Mail and Radio Grahamstown are developing practices and patterns that can be distinguished from the practices of conventional journalism. It also evaluated whether the content that is produced by citizen journalists differs from the content that is produced by professional journalists, so that it can be understood as "alternative" and as promoting engaged citizenship. A sub goal was also to explore whether citizen journalism does enable the practice of citizenship through expanding the public sphere. The findings of the research are that in the Iindaba Ziyafika project, citizen journalists see news as a process and not as a series of news events. This is clear departure from event-based news conceptualisation associated with mainstream journalism. They view news as unfolding social processes, allowing citizen journalists to question the factors which would have precipitated the event and investigate the causal factors of particular phenomena. The research also reveals that citizen journalists in the project are engaging in pro-am journalism. Part of the practice of citizen journalists involves a very significant amount of collaboration between professional journalists and citizen journalists. The collaboration is in the production of content and in the presentation of radio broadcasts. Part of the findings of the study are that journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project work in different mediums and this calls for them to acquire the competencies of the different mediums. The same citizen journalists produce content for print, radio and for online media. The diction used in the stories published by citizen journalists is couched in struggle and revolutionary language which seems to pit the community against the authorities. The citizen journalists also make use of every daily language in their radio broadcasts and borrow from their cultural expression. This they do through populist methods. The citizen journalists have also integrated communication brokering as part and parcel of their practice. This is because the citizen journalists have also made it their mandate to enable the flow of information between the residents and the local authority. In terms of sourcing there is a deliberate stance to include those who are not ordinarily given a voice in the mainstream media. Women and the poor appear frequently in stories as sources and this is a different scenario from that prevalent in mainstream journalism which frequently covers the rich and the powerful. The citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project have also borrowed practices from professional journalism and this has been integrated into their daily practice. This includes following strategic rituals of journalism objectivity and balance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Nyathi, Sihle
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Citizen journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Iindaba Ziyafika project Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Radio journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Online journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3477 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002932
- Description: This study sought to investigate the practices of citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project. The objectives of the research were to explore the evolving practices of citizen journalism in Grahamstown and to extrapolate how citizen journalists are securing a discursive space in relationship to conventional journalism. The study investigated whether the citizen journalists based at Grocotts Mail and Radio Grahamstown are developing practices and patterns that can be distinguished from the practices of conventional journalism. It also evaluated whether the content that is produced by citizen journalists differs from the content that is produced by professional journalists, so that it can be understood as "alternative" and as promoting engaged citizenship. A sub goal was also to explore whether citizen journalism does enable the practice of citizenship through expanding the public sphere. The findings of the research are that in the Iindaba Ziyafika project, citizen journalists see news as a process and not as a series of news events. This is clear departure from event-based news conceptualisation associated with mainstream journalism. They view news as unfolding social processes, allowing citizen journalists to question the factors which would have precipitated the event and investigate the causal factors of particular phenomena. The research also reveals that citizen journalists in the project are engaging in pro-am journalism. Part of the practice of citizen journalists involves a very significant amount of collaboration between professional journalists and citizen journalists. The collaboration is in the production of content and in the presentation of radio broadcasts. Part of the findings of the study are that journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project work in different mediums and this calls for them to acquire the competencies of the different mediums. The same citizen journalists produce content for print, radio and for online media. The diction used in the stories published by citizen journalists is couched in struggle and revolutionary language which seems to pit the community against the authorities. The citizen journalists also make use of every daily language in their radio broadcasts and borrow from their cultural expression. This they do through populist methods. The citizen journalists have also integrated communication brokering as part and parcel of their practice. This is because the citizen journalists have also made it their mandate to enable the flow of information between the residents and the local authority. In terms of sourcing there is a deliberate stance to include those who are not ordinarily given a voice in the mainstream media. Women and the poor appear frequently in stories as sources and this is a different scenario from that prevalent in mainstream journalism which frequently covers the rich and the powerful. The citizen journalists in the Iindaba Ziyafika project have also borrowed practices from professional journalism and this has been integrated into their daily practice. This includes following strategic rituals of journalism objectivity and balance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
"Rape and cable theft on the increase": interrogating Grocott's Mail coverage of rape through participatory action research
- Authors: McLean, Nicolene Cindy
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Rape in mass media Rape -- South Africa Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa Violence in mass media Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalistic ethics -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Action research Sexism in mass media Journalism -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Newspapers -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Stereotypes (Social psychology) in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3466 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002921
- Description: This study investigates Grocott’s Mail’s rape reporting through a participatory action research process. It draws on feminist cultural studies, sociology of news, and normative theories of the media to inform the research project. The participatory action research process explored three areas with the journalists at Grocott’s Mail: their understanding of the community they serve and their own professional identity as a community of practice, roles of the media in society which inform reporting, and rape as a social issue and problem. Through this process the study found that the pervasiveness of rape in the Grahamstown community, the complexities around rape reporting which include the significant legal challenges, the personal impact rape cases have on journalists, and the journalistic roles and approaches employed in rape reporting all influence how the paper covers rape. In analysing these matters the study found that the primary factor inhibiting a successful strategy for managing rape reporting was that Grocott’s Mail does not place gender-based violence on their news agenda as an issue requiring attention in order to develop the community they serve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: McLean, Nicolene Cindy
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Rape in mass media Rape -- South Africa Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa Violence in mass media Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalistic ethics -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Journalism -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Action research Sexism in mass media Journalism -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Newspapers -- Objectivity -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Stereotypes (Social psychology) in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3466 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002921
- Description: This study investigates Grocott’s Mail’s rape reporting through a participatory action research process. It draws on feminist cultural studies, sociology of news, and normative theories of the media to inform the research project. The participatory action research process explored three areas with the journalists at Grocott’s Mail: their understanding of the community they serve and their own professional identity as a community of practice, roles of the media in society which inform reporting, and rape as a social issue and problem. Through this process the study found that the pervasiveness of rape in the Grahamstown community, the complexities around rape reporting which include the significant legal challenges, the personal impact rape cases have on journalists, and the journalistic roles and approaches employed in rape reporting all influence how the paper covers rape. In analysing these matters the study found that the primary factor inhibiting a successful strategy for managing rape reporting was that Grocott’s Mail does not place gender-based violence on their news agenda as an issue requiring attention in order to develop the community they serve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
The political economy of development aid: an investigation of three donor-funded HIV/AIDS programmes broadcast by Malawi television from 2004 to 2007
- Authors: Mulonya, Rodrick K A R
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Malawi -- Management , Public service television programs -- Malawi , AIDS (Disease) and mass media -- Malawi , HIV infections -- Information services -- Malawi , Communication in public health -- Malawi , Economic assistance -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Malawi -- Social conditions , Mass media -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Mass media criticism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3471 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002926
- Description: Development aid in most of the developing countries can sometimes compromise the principles of public service broadcasting (PSB). This may be true when reflected against the tension between donor financed programmes in Malawi and the mandate of Television Malawi (TVM). Although the donor intentions are noble, the strings attached to the funding are sometimes retrogressive to the role of PSBs. A case in point is how donors dictate terms on the HIV/Aids communication strategies at TVM. Producers receive money from donors with strings attached on how the money should be used and accounted for. If producers deviate they are sanctioned through withholding funding, shifting schedules and reducing the funding frequency. The donors also dictate who to interview on what subject, how to conduct capacity building. Some scholars have researched much on the impact of commercialisation of the media. This study is a departure from these traditional interferences; it interrogates the interest of philanthropy tendencies by international donors in the three chosen HIV/Aids programmes broadcast by TVM. The study investigates the extent of pressure exerted by donors on the producers of HIV/Aids programmes in Malawi. Thus, the study seeks to illicit specifics in the power relationship between the donor and the producer hence the study employs the political economy of development aid as applied to the public service broadcasting and communication for development. The study employed qualitative research methods and techniques (in-depth interviews, case study and document analysis). The study reveals how donor ideologies dominate the Aids messages-content output of the texts constructed. The study argues that cultural alienation of the Malawian audiences retards efforts of donors in combating HIV infection rate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Mulonya, Rodrick K A R
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Malawi -- Management , Public service television programs -- Malawi , AIDS (Disease) and mass media -- Malawi , HIV infections -- Information services -- Malawi , Communication in public health -- Malawi , Economic assistance -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Malawi -- Social conditions , Mass media -- Social aspects -- Malawi , Mass media criticism -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3471 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002926
- Description: Development aid in most of the developing countries can sometimes compromise the principles of public service broadcasting (PSB). This may be true when reflected against the tension between donor financed programmes in Malawi and the mandate of Television Malawi (TVM). Although the donor intentions are noble, the strings attached to the funding are sometimes retrogressive to the role of PSBs. A case in point is how donors dictate terms on the HIV/Aids communication strategies at TVM. Producers receive money from donors with strings attached on how the money should be used and accounted for. If producers deviate they are sanctioned through withholding funding, shifting schedules and reducing the funding frequency. The donors also dictate who to interview on what subject, how to conduct capacity building. Some scholars have researched much on the impact of commercialisation of the media. This study is a departure from these traditional interferences; it interrogates the interest of philanthropy tendencies by international donors in the three chosen HIV/Aids programmes broadcast by TVM. The study investigates the extent of pressure exerted by donors on the producers of HIV/Aids programmes in Malawi. Thus, the study seeks to illicit specifics in the power relationship between the donor and the producer hence the study employs the political economy of development aid as applied to the public service broadcasting and communication for development. The study employed qualitative research methods and techniques (in-depth interviews, case study and document analysis). The study reveals how donor ideologies dominate the Aids messages-content output of the texts constructed. The study argues that cultural alienation of the Malawian audiences retards efforts of donors in combating HIV infection rate.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010