Dissertation / This study investigates the role of radio in South African education, with Phalaphala FM as a case study. The aim was to investigate the extent to which Phalaphala FM's programmes include educational material and the extent to which the respondents listen to Phalaphala FM to satisfy their educational needs. Phalaphala FM as a regional radio station predominantly serves rural listeners, as they often do not have access to alternative forms of media. The theoretical point of departure is the uses and gratifications with its emphasis on the active audience concept. Content analysis of Phalaphala FM' s programme schedule was conducted to determine the amount of educational material. Focus group interviews and survey research were used to determine the respondents' media usage patterns. The results indicate that entertainment programmes are given more time on Phalaphala FM and that the respondents prefer entertainment programmes, to informational and educational programmes. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Communication)

The aim of this research is to investigate the representation of women in South African television news by closely comparing the three stations; e-tv, SABC 2 and SABC 3. The news bulletins that were recorded over a week (seven consecutive days), for each station were measured and compared to find out the presence of men and women as workers for news production; as news reporters and news readers as well as news subjects. Theories of news and feminist media are strong points from which the study is informed. The feminist media theories highlight the sexist ideology of media content and addresses issues of how television news positions the female news subjects. Theories of news on the other hand emphasize the question of what is news and aids the understanding of why women are represented the way they are in news as they stress the nature of news as a human construction that is shaped by the world. Together these theories used in this research highlight the background of the ideologies underlying the coverage and representation of both men and women as news sources. The findings of this research confirm the assumption that news is designed for male audience by having more men than women as newsreaders and reporters and also by having a remarkable dominance of men as news subjects over women. All the three stations; e-tv, SABC 2 and SABC3 are dominated by men in the newsroom. With affirmative action policy in South Africa, which was designed to uplift the image of the previously marginalised, especially women, the number of women as window dressing has increased. However, when looking for news sources, women are still not considered reliable and embodying reason, trustworthiness and knowledgability. Male experts occupy all fields of knowledge from politics, terrorism, and economics to science and medicine, from literature to technology, law, sports and environment. Of all the social actors who were covered in news, the presence of men outnumber that of women with the majority of 80.9% compared to 19.1% of women. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The study is concerned with how television advertising content in South Africa promotes diversity and nation building. It looks at whether advertising representations reflect the idea of a new South Africa. The basis of the study involves a thorough analysis of the International Marketing Council’s (IMC) ‘alive with possibility’ television campaign through content analysis as well as Focus Group discussions. These advertisements are then comparatively examined with corporate advertisements on South African television. Post 1994 advertising was facing a new era with new challenges, especially due to the emerging black middle class as an important target market. Advertising in South Africa went through an enormous transformation, especially with regard to race and cultural representations and symbols of nationalism and patriotism. Some adverts, like those of the IMC, took on a specific didactic role to try and shift the perceptions of people. These ideals were also noticeable in corporate advertising in the country. Although television advertising itself went under transformation, people were unable to progress as quickly as broadcasting did. The dissertation looks at the variety of opinions regarding this type of advertising in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

The thesis tries to search for a methodology with which to critique the role of the SABC's religious broadcasts in reflecting the South African crisis and negotiations during the apartheid and transition periods (1972-1992). It suggests the future restructuring of religious broadcasting in the light of this analysis. This thesis presents philosophical, theological, scientific, political, economic, social and cultural processes that marked the paradigmatic shift from the arcane Middle Ages to the Modern Age. These are tended as contours to both critique and restructure the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) religious broadcasting beyond Public Service Broadcasting into Community Religious Broadcasting pertinent to the meta-modern epoch. This thesis asserts that science, along with political, economic, and cultural processes, have been separated from their theological and cognitive roots. There is a gap between these processes and the human subject's thinking and faith activities. It asserts that scientific methodology alone is inadequate to analyse the SABC as a scientific phenomenon. It claims that using scientific methodologies of both mainstream and critical-Marxist paradigms alone may lead to methodological reductionism. It proposes that both mainstream (rational) and critical-Marxist (praxis) methodologies must be linked to cognitive (metaphysical) methodology. The inadequacy of science has brought this thesis to a methodological crisis. This crisis is demonstrated as a micro-crisis of the meso-crisis, which in turn is part of a macro-crisis. On the method micro-level the crisis is symptomatic of the micro-crisis caused by the separation of science from philosophy, which prejudices intuition in favour of rationality on the paradigmatic level. On the agenda level, which is the meso-level, the crisis manifests itself in the separation of philosophy from theology, which prejudiced theology in favour of philosophy. Finally on the macro-level the crisis shows itself as dualistic separation of subject-object uni-formity from subject-object uni-diversity, which prejudiced objectivity against subjectivity on the discourse level. Below I illustrate the theory-praxis crisis: From the theory-macro-uni-diversity level, a normalivistic stance, namely orthodoxical plane, the meso-crisis can be conceived as either heterodoxical or homodoxical. Heterodoxical crisis leads to heresiodoxical praxis and homodoxical leads to orthopraxis. From the praxis-micro-uniformity level, a normalivistic stance, namely orthopraxis plane, the meso-crisis can be conceived as either heteropraxical or homopraxical. Heteropraxis leads to heresiodoxy and homopraxis leads to orthodoxy. The thesis holds both ends of the object-subject dialectics, i.e. action follows being and being follows action. The emphasis on the former leads to idealism and the emphasis on the latter, to rationalism. The dialectic reaction to rationalism leads to scientific-materialism. The thesis further argues that both rationalism and materialism must be relinked to idealism in order to emancipate the human subject from either arcane or modern subordination. This emancipation, the thesis asserts, will lead to meta-modern community-based democracy and broadcasting. To tackle the question of whether theory informs praxis or praxis informs theory, the thesis bases itself on the perichosis-tri-tension of traditional view-stance, personal view-stance and praxis-stance. It navigates between the streams of hetero-consciousness and homo-consciousness, between liberal and critical paradigms, and between critical and hermeneutic theory\praxis. That navigation and the rethinking of both African and Occidental public spheres, afforded this thesis a cognitive-interpreting-praxis. That cognitive-interpreting-praxis is employed to critique the SABC in general and its religious broadcasting in particular. The critique amplified the root-cause, among others, of the crisis between SABC as a signifying practice and the reality of South African society between 1972 and 1992, as the bias of the SABC in favour of the then ruling White Hegemony. That White Hegemony is precisely, this thesis argues, the result of the separation of Africans from their traditional African polity and subsequent alienation from their land and stock, reminiscent of the separation of the Occidental subjects from these selfsame factors as a result of the arcane Middle Ages authority and land tenure. This separation, along with industrialization, brought about the massification of South African society, which was represented by the SABC (acting as a 'PSB') as a consensual but separate community of minorities. Finally, the thesis tries to map a way for the future in religious broadcasting in South Africa beyond the SABC as PSB, by proposing a community based religious broadcasting model. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

The premise of this thesis is that the selection of international news to be aired on the bulletins of SAfm by SABC Radio News staff is influenced by more complex factors than could be seen solely from the prism of an empirical journalistic paradigm. Drawing from data obtained through participant observation and interviewing, it is noted that there has been a revolution from a propagandist approach during apartheid to a professional approach following the demise of apartheid, in the selection of international news for bulletins on SAfm. Using Lewin's theory of forces in decision making and locating it within four out of five levels of a framework of gatekeeping analysis provided by Shoemaker (1991) and Shoemaker et al (200 I), it is concluded that the delimiting well-tested routines of newsmaking act as powerful companions of individuals' selection decisions of international news broadcast on SAfm's bulletins. However, these routines are adapted to meet the organisational demands of the SABC, which as a Public Service Broadcaster (PBS) has embraced the discourse of South African nationalism/panAfricanism, as a major philosophy underpinning the Corporation's coverage of the world. Therefore, some individual, routine and organisational factors influencing the se lection of international news broadcast on SAfm's bulletins, are predetermined and co-determined by the social system (the ideological/discursive structure), which is promoted by certain social institutions. Instances of spokespersons of such institutions as governments, international governmental and non-governmental organisations, etc., officiating the news abound; the gatekeepers use them to meet routine professional standards of journalism. This potentially works to sustain the hegemonic discourses of the powerful in international affairs (in tenns of core/peripheral nations relations, and elite classlruled majority relations) though there is a conscious oppositional effort to modify or dwarf stories that explicitly promote imperialism and to hold rulers accountable to the public. It is posited that the time is ripe for newsworkers responsible for the production of bulletins for SAfm to take the risk that may be necessary to inject a few changes in routine practices that could limit the engineering of consent to the powerful elites in the international arena.

Dissertation / This study investigates the role of radio in South African education, with Phalaphala FM as a case study. The aim was to investigate the extent to which Phalaphala FM's programmes include educational material and the extent to which the respondents listen to Phalaphala FM to satisfy their educational needs. Phalaphala FM as a regional radio station predominantly serves rural listeners, as they often do not have access to alternative forms of media. The theoretical point of departure is the uses and gratifications with its emphasis on the active audience concept. Content analysis of Phalaphala FM' s programme schedule was conducted to determine the amount of educational material. Focus group interviews and survey research were used to determine the respondents' media usage patterns. The results indicate that entertainment programmes are given more time on Phalaphala FM and that the respondents prefer entertainment programmes, to informational and educational programmes. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Communication)

A research report is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / South Africa has a nascent community television sector, which is legislated as a tier of broadcasting. This sector is important in deepening democracy, creating access to information, giving communities the space to share information, and expanding media ownership to communities beyond the public and commercial television broadcasting sectors. Since 2007, when Soweto TV was the first community television station to be licensed, the processes towards migrating analogue to digital terrestrial television have been beset with delays and the experience of the community TV sector with respect to this migration have been not well understood. The conceptual-analytical framework for this historical study of the period 2007 to 2014 drew on the key themes of sector and institutional governance including the effectiveness of policy and regulation, technological advancement, content and services. Using a constructivist methodology the key documents pertaining to broadcast digital migration were reviewed and interviews were conducted with three community TV stations, Soweto TV, Bay TV and Cape Town TV, as well as with the policy-maker, the regulator and sector experts. The findings revealed that the community television (CTV) sector was faced with problems of sector and institutional governance not being effectively addressed in legislation and regulation, stagnation as a result of lack of spectrum in the analogue television-broadcasting dispensation and limitations on content provision. Using McConnell’s 2010 framework, analysis of the data led to the conclusion that the DTTM programme has failed with respect to the community TV sector. Advances for the CTV sector will require revision to legislation and future regulation to guide the governance of the CTV sector and the digital terrestrial television migration should be concluded without further delay, in order to enable the sector to grow. Although CTV stations are providing content to communities, the opportunity for them to make a greater impact, if digital terrestrial television (DTT) is finally launched, should be prioritised as the new technology can provide them with the scope to expand their content offerings. / MT2017

In this investigation an attempt is made to show that in the world of radio communications in South Africa the oral mode of expression or radio oralism is manifestly more valued than the literate mode. The study deals with three basic issues: firstly, the new electronic culture which, to a large extent, depends on the spoken word, secondly, the significance of the spoken word that new mass media has developed; and, thirdly, what is likely to happen in broadcasting as a whole in South Africa, where the new oralism already had a decisive impact. The study explores the structure of the oral poetic language of radio grammar by examining black announcers' language usage. The thesis focuses on the individual announcer, her or his repertoure of repetitions and styles, and the quality of her or his practice of the traditional artistic expressions. It explores why one phrase is used and not another; it examines the many forms of repetition, their meanings, sounds, and the sound patterns formed by what precedes and follows them. starting with the individual announcer, the study worked outwards to the group to which she/he belongs, namely to other announcers who have influenced him or her and then to South African black society as a whole. The language of black South African radio announcers is in many respects stylised and ordered. In their creations, these announcers have incorporated praise names, geneologies and formulas which show their reliance both on the more specialized bardic repertoire and on the wider Izibongo tradition. At the end of this study, four things are noted: 1. The meaning of word in radio is controlled by what Goody and Watt (1968:28) call 'direct semantic ratification', that is by the real-life situations in which the word is used here and now. Words acquire their meanings only from their insistent actual habits - these include gestures, vocal inflections, and the entire human existential setting in which real, spoken words always occur. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1993.

This study will examine the role sport plays in a new democratic South Africa between the periods 1994-2002. Its objective is to look at how sport can be used, through the medium of radio, as a unifying activity in the diversified South African society. The study will specifically compare the broadcast of soccer and rugby on the two radio stations (Ukhozi FM and Umhlobo Wenene FM). The main aim is to explain the relevance of the inclusion of sport into the programmes of the two radio stations mentioned above, in the period 1994-2002. This comparative approach will also explain the extent to which the listeners of these stations understand the sporting codes mentioned (soccer and rugby) now compared to how they did before 1994. This study was undertaken because there is little of its kind (if any) that looks at the power of sport broadcasting on radio in changing people's mindsets, attitudes and misconceptions regarding soccer and rugby in a new South African context. There is also little literature available that looks specifically at how Ukhozi FM and Umhlobo FM listeners relate to the broadcast of these popular but diverse codes after the end of apartheid regime. The conclusions drawn up in this study show that radio is still powerful in changing people's behaviour and attitudes not only about different sporting codes aired on radio but also in the effort to promote unity among South Africans regardless of cultural, ethnic racial and genderdifferences. In this regard, radio does cross divides created by issues of colour, culture, gender, age and racial differences. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The thrust of this dissertation is concerned with investigating beneficiary communities‟ participation in HIV/AIDS communication through community radio stations. The aim is to understand the presence and access of targeted community voices in the dialogue against HIV/AIDS. The research focused on a single case study of a community radio station that is based in Platfontein, Kimberley in the Republic of South Africa. X-K FM is a community radio station under the auspices of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and its primary target audiences are !Xun and Khwe communities of Platfontein. It is the only formal communication channel that targets these San community members in their respective mother tongues. The study approaches communication at a nuance level in that it evaluates participation possibilities between communicators and the communicated. In its third decade, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus is one of many challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa and the Republic of South Africa is no exception. This dissertation attempts to understand participation and access of civil voices in the strategies of prevention, care, support and treatment of HIV/AIDS. On a broader level, the dissertation seeks to understand the possibilities of bottom-up approaches in communicating about HIV/AIDS. In analysing the beneficiary community participation at X-K FM, the research was underpinned by the theory of Jurgen Habermas: The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere – An Inquiry into a Category of Bourgeois Society. The data was gathered using semi-structured interviews, as well as simple and partial participant observation. The study concludes that the radio station has provided some avenues to facilitate the process of beneficiary community participation in HIV/AIDS communication content. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.