Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The leading South African media groups are subject to many challenges to their political economic interests as part of the international capitalist profit economy. These challenges coincided with the democratization and transformation of South Africa since 1994, which heralded many changes to the national political economic context within which media companies operate.

Thesis (MPhil (General Linguistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / This study examined how different words and phrases used within the media may portray a certain image of an individual, ultimately impacting the perception that the reader forms of such individual. Specifically, the manner in which Fred van der Vyver was portrayed by both an Afrikaans language newspaper and an English language newspaper in the Fred van der Vyver-Inge Lotz murder case was examined. This was a highly publicized case from March 2005, when Inge Lotz was found murdered, to November 2007, when Fred van der Vyver, who was suspected of killing Inge Lotz, was acquitted. The aim of the study was to compare two South African journalistic cultures, namely the ones represented by Cape Times and Die Burger, respectively, in their construction of Fred van der Vyver as newsmaker. The rationale for the study was that newspaper coverage of a murder as well as of the investigation and trial which follow creates a certain perception among its readers, and that this perception is based on the information that readers accumulate by reading various published articles. The hypothesis was that both newspapers treated Fred van der Vyver as a newsmaker, and as a murdered in particular, by making use of various linguistic devices. The data analyzed were a selection of articles published between March 2005 and November 2007 in the online versions of Cape Times and Die Burger. A focal point of the study was to show how different aspects of newspaper reporting – specifically headlines and the text itself – construct a particular view or image of the case in general and of Fred van der Vyver in particular. It was found that neither the Cape Times nor Die Burger wrote that Fred van der Vyver was the murderer but both suggested it throughout by making use of linguistic devices. Loaded words, for example, were used to describe certain aspects of the case, and these aspects were then associated with Fred van der Vyver. Fred van der Vyver`s identity had been presented as that of a murderer within the press by means of linguistic tools and language use. The hypotheses was therefore borne out by the data, as both newspapers had indeed portrayed the identity of Fred van der Vyver as that of a murderer. What we read in the papers does have an influence on what we perceive to be true, objective or accurate and on how we ultimately form an opinion. In this case, the public automatically accepted Fred van der Vyver’s identity as portrayed in the press, namely as that of a murderer, and assumed that he was guilty once he was arrested.

Thesis (MA (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) may be described as one of the most important events in the recent South African past. The TRC’s activities included an examination of gross human rights violations between 1960 and 1994, as well as amnesty hearings for those believed to be guilty of human rights violations. In addition, the TRC had to decide on the possibilities for reparations to victims, and had to compile a comprehensive report on the nature of the abovementioned violations. This process was shrouded in controversy. For example, criticism was levelled at the TRC because of the perception that it was intended as a witch-hunt against Afrikaners. The danger of subjectivity was also mentioned often. How was the public kept up to date about the activities of the TRC? The media played an important role in the distribution of information to those who could not readily attend the various hearings of the TRC.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / With the advent of new communication technologies, traditional journalism has continually had to adjust to new contexts. In 2006, the Western Cape daily newspaper Die Burger established a blogging section as part of its website. Presently j-bloggers (journalists who are bloggers) still work according to Die Burger’s current ethical code of conduct. Yet the establishment of j-blogs at Die Burger has raised a number of questions regarding the ethical conduct of journalists in this medium. This study attempts to show that the mainstream ethical concepts of accuracy, fairness and the use of anonymous sources may be interpreted differently in the medium of blogging and explores the feasibility of a code of conduct for j-bloggers at Die Burger. Die Burger’s code of conduct is compared with various bloggers’ codes of conduct. The study argues that Die Burger’s code of conduct offers more comprehensive guidelines for journalists than most bloggers’ codes. These guidelines include protecting the newspaper’s reading public from harm. However, it was also found that the different interpretations of ethical concepts on blogs need to be considered in a code of conduct for j-bloggers. In this study, the composition of a code of conduct for j-bloggers was discussed with j-bloggers, print journalists and several other stakeholders at Die Burger. The participants in this study argued that a code of conduct for j-bloggers may be feasible but that it should operate in addition to Die Burger’s current code of conduct. Furthermore, this study argues two normative theories of the press – the social responsibility and democratic-participant theories – intersect in a discussion of ethical codes for j-bloggers. Using this theoretical framework, the study aims to describe specific guidelines for the ethical conduct of j-bloggers at Die Burger.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study examines the discursive role and positioning of arts journalism at Die Burger during a period of radical transformation in South African society. The study is conducted within a critical-cultural paradigm. Arts journalists are considered to be manufacturers of cultural capital, a term devised by Pierre Bourdieu as part of his comprehensive field theory framework. While Bourdieu uses cultural capital in the main to describe the role of education and culture in the maintenance of elite power hierarchies, this study investigates how the nature of cultural capital at Die Burger was affected by power shifts when competing elites jostled for dominance in a post-apartheid dispensation. By drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of discourse, the focus of research further incorporates the discursive positioning of arts journalists in their coverage of arts and cultural events in the 1990s in relation to shifting configurations of power. The argument is that arts journalism at Die Burger can be situated within networks of power and thus contributed to the structuring of post-apartheid society. In the words of Antonio Gramsci, arts journalists became involved in hegemonic and counter-hegemonic struggles. Flowing from these theoretical departure points, the study identifies critical discourse analysis (CDA) as an appropriate research method for textual analysis and adapts a five-phase model suggested by Teun van Dijk as part of his contextual CDA approach. The analysis thus focuses in turn on the context of discourse, discursive struggles between arts journalists and political journalists, strategies of classification used by arts journalists, emerging themes of discourse in arts journalism, and how the selection and presentation of arts journalism on news and arts pages were influenced by various factors, including the personal background and experiences of arts journalists (The concept of Bourdieu’s “habitus”). To affect triangulation and enhance the textual analysis, the study also employs semi-structured indepth interviews with arts journalists who were prominent at Die Burger in the 1990s. The study found that arts journalists were at the intersection of different and often diverging and contradictory power-points in post-apartheid discourses at the newspaper. On the one hand, some arts journalists embraced a legacy of editorial independence at the arts desk and sometimes created oppositional discourses to the official political view of the newspaper: for instance on the issue of alleged “collective guilt” for Afrikaners and whether Naspers should appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to explain its role in supporting the National Party (NP) during apartheid. On the other hand, many arts journalists shared the editor’s apparent aversion to the international cultural boycott supported by the ANC and harboured some of the same skepticism about the so-called Africanisation of society and resultant attacks on Eurocentrism in the arts. This study -- the first on this level to focus on Afrikaans arts journalism since 1994 -- represents a significant contribution to knowledge in the under-researched field of arts journalism in South Africa. Its purpose and process has furthermore developed theoretical and methodological innovations which can enrich the field of journalism studies. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie -- vanuit 'n kritiese kulturele paradigma -- ondersoek die diskursiewe posisionering en rol van kunsjoernalistiek by Die Burger gedurende 'n periode van radikale transformasie in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing. Kunsjoernaliste word beskryf as vervaardigers van kulturele kapitaal, soos gekonsepsualiseer deur Pierre Bourdieu in sy omvattende raamwerk van veldteorie. Terwyl Bourdieu die term kulturele kapitaal hoofsaaklik gebruik om die rol van opvoeding en kultuur in die behoud van hierargieë van elite-mag te beskryf, ondersoek hierdie studie hoe die aard van kulturele kapitaal by Die Burger beïnvloed is deur magsverskuiwings waarin mededingende post-apartheid elite-groepe mekaar die stryd aangesê het. Deur gebruik te maak van Michel Foucault se teorie van diskoers, val die fokus van navorsing dus op die diskursiewe posisionering van kunsjoernaliste in hul dekking van kuns-en-kultuurgebeure in the 1990’s. Die argument is dat kunsjoernalistiek by Die Burger binne magsnetwerke geplaas kan word en bygedra het tot die strukturering van die post-apartheid samelewing. In Antonio Gramsci se terme het kunsjoernaliste dus betrokke geraak in die stryd om hegemonie te skep en teen te werk. Uitvloeiend uit hierdie teoretiese vertrekpunte word kritiese diskoersanalise (KDA) as navorsingsmetode vir die ontleding van joernalistieke tekste geïdentifiseer. Daarvolgens word 'n model met vyf stappe, voorgestel deur Teun van Dijk as deel van sy KDA-benadering, aangepas vir gebruik. Die analise fokus dus om die beurt op die konteks van diskoers, die diskursiewe stryd tussen kunsjoernaliste en politieke joernaliste, strategieë van klassifikasie wat kunsjoernaliste gebruik het, temas van diskoers wat aan die lig gekom het in kunsjoernalistiek, en hoe die seleksie en aanbieding van kuns-en-kultuur-nuus deur verskillende faktore beïnvloed is, insluitend deur die persoonlike agtergrond en ondervinding van kunsjoernaliste (“habitus” in Bourdieu se teorie). Om triangulasie te bewerkstelling en die teks-analise te ondersteun, is semi-gestruktureerde in-diepte onderhoude met prominente kunsjoernaliste aangelê. Die studie het vasgestel dat kunsjoernaliste in post-apartheid diskoerse in die koerant hulself op 'n kruispunt van verskillende, soms uiteenlopende en selfs opponerende strominge van mag bevind het. Aan die een kant het sommige kunsjoernaliste 'n tradisie van redaksionele onafhanklikheid omarm en soms opposisionele politieke diskoerse in vergelyking met die amptelike beleid van die koerant geskep, byvoorbeeld oor die kwessie van beweerde “kollektiewe skuld” vir Afrikaners en of Naspers voor die Waarheid-en- Versoeniningskommissie (WVK) moes verskyn om sy rol as ondersteuner van die Nasionale Party (NP) gedurende apartheid te verduidelik. Maar aan die ander kant het talle kunsjoernaliste die redakteur se klaarblyklike afkeer gedeel aan die internasionale kultuurboikot wat deur die ANC ondersteun is. Kunsjoernaliste was ook skepties oor die sogenaamde Afrikanisering van die samelewing en gevolglike aanvalle op Eurosentriese kuns. Ten slotte maak hierdie studie -- die eerste op hierdie vlak oor Afrikaanse kunsjoernalistiek sedert 1994 -- 'n belangrike bydrae tot die yl kennisveld van kunsjoernalistiek in Suid-Afrika. In die proses het die studie ook teoretiese en metodologiese innovasies aangebring wat die veld van joernalistiek-studies kan verryk.

The thesis “When birthing makes the news: the depiction of women as a newsworthy item in Die Burger (Oos-Kaap)” analyses a common, yet complex news topic in the South African print media due to the sensitive, often sensationalised, nature of the topic. The private experience of birthing is featured more and more in the public domain of newspapers because of widespread service delivery problems within the South African health department. Focussing on the Eastern Cape, I examine the representation of birthing in Die Burger (Oos-Kaap) in texts printed between 2005 and 2007, and scrutinise the media’s monitorial role of a self-appointed public hero acting on behalf of the women, to expose the poor conditions at government hospitals, specifically in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. How the women and their bodies are reported on, creates a discursive tension between the negative portrayals of the birthing women and the monitorial role of the media. The news values of sensationalism and profit are achieved with visceral representations of the reproductive functions of the birthing women. A poststructuralist feminist theoretical framework reveals discourses that perpetuate race, class and gender inequalities in the apparently socially-concerned sample of texts. A Critical discourse analysis (CDA) provides an approach and method to inform a close textual analysis of both the lexical and visual elements of the texts. The discourses in the sample differed from text to text. Despite these differences, the monitorial role of the media is still achieved. My research argues that acting in the public interest with sensationalist copy is still acting in the public interest. I conclude that it is not easy for newspapers to separate sensationalism from accountability. Media practitioners should be aware of their role in constructing women’s identities and be particularly thoughtful when reporting on birthing. In doing so, this research aims to improve the manner in which women and their bodies are reported on within the news industry.

Thesis (DPhil (History))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLSIH ABSTRACT: This study is a political biography of D.F. Malan (1874–1959), the first of the apartheid-era Prime Ministers, and covers the years 1874 to 1954, when Malan retired from politics. It endeavours to provide a warts-and-all account of D.F. Malan which challenges prevalent myths and stereotypes surrounding his public persona and his political orientation. While the overwhelming focus is on Malan’s political career, special attention is paid to his personal life in order to paint a multi-faceted picture of his character. The biography is written in the form of a seamless narrative and employs a literary style of writing. It is based on archival research which utilised Malan’s private collection, as well as the private collections of his Nationalist contemporaries. Malan takes the centre stage at all times, as the biography focuses on his perceptions and experiences. Malan’s views regarding Afrikaner nationalism, which was his foremost political priority, are described, and are related to his views of British imperialism as well as other ideologies such as communism and totalitarianism. This study demonstrates that there is a notable link between Malan’s perceptions of race relations and his concerns about the poor white problem. It reveals that Malan’s racial policy was, to some extent, fluid, as were his views on South Africa’s constitutional position. Debates about South Africa’s links to Britain and the nature of the envisioned republic preoccupied Afrikaner nationalists throughout the first half of the twentieth century – and served as an outlet for regional and generational tensions within the movement. Malan’s clashes with nationalists such as Tielman Roos, J.B.M. Hertzog and J.G. Strijdom are highlighted as an indication of the internecine power struggles within the National Party (NP). By emphasising these complexities, this study seeks to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the South African past. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is politieke biografie van D.F. Malan (1874–1959), die eerste van die apartheid-era Eerste Ministers, en dek die jare 1874 tot 1954, toe Malan uit die politiek getree het. Dit poog om onversuikerde beeld van Malan te skets wat heersende mites en stereotipes aangaande sy openbare beeld en sy benadering tot die politiek uitdaag. Die fokus is hoofsaaklik op Malan se politieke loopbaan, maar besondere aandag word aan sy private lewe geskenk om sodoende veelsydige portret van sy karakter te skilder. Die biografie is in die vorm van naatlose narratief geskryf en maak van literêre skryfstyl gebruik. Dit is gebaseer op argivale navorsing, waartydens daar van D.F. Malan se privaat versameling gebruik gemaak is, sowel as die privaat versamelings van sy tydgenote. Malan is ten alle tye die sentrale figuur en die biografie fokus op sy persepsies en ervarings. Malan se denke oor Afrikaner nasionalisme, wat sy vernaamste prioriteit was, word beskryf en in verband gebring met sy opinie van Britse imperialisme, sowel as ander ideologieë soos kommunisme en totalitarisme. Die studie wys op die verband tussen Malan se denke oor rasseverhoudinge en sy besorgdheid oor die armblanke vraagstuk. Dit dui daarop dat Malan se rassebeleid tot sekere mate vloeibaar was. Dit was ook die geval met sy benadering tot Suid-Afrika se konstitusionele posisie. Afrikaner nasionaliste het tydens die eerste helfte van die twintigste eeu baie aandag geskenk aan debatte oor Suid-Afrika se verhouding tot Brittanje en die aard van die voorgenome republiek. Dit was tot mate weerligafleier vir reeds bestaande spanning tussen die onderskeie streke en generasies. Malan se botsings met nasionaliste soos Tielman Roos, J.B.M. Hertzog en J.G. Strijdom word belig as aanduiding van die diepgewortelde magstryd binne die Nasionale Party (NP). Deur op hierdie kompleksiteite klem te lê, poog die studie om bydrae te lewer tot meer genuanseerde begrip van die Suid-Afrikaanse verlede.