Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Govemment and the media are in the process of establishing South Africa's first Presidential Press Corps (PPC) based on the White House Press Corps in the United States of America. The need for a body like the Presidential Press Corps (PPC) has become increasingly evident as the recent relationship between the South African president and this country's press can only be characterised as poor. The establishment of the PPC potentially presents an ethical dilemma though due to various factors. A joumalist can only serve the public with the most comprehensive and accurate news when his or her finger is on the pulse of events that take place within the decision-making bodies. However, being so close to those in power may seriously threaten journalistic independence. This dilemma would be discussed in detail in this assignment. In May 200 I, the troubled relationship between Mbeki and the media was tackled at an Indaba between the South African National Editor's Forum (SANEF) and cabinet at Sun City. The crux and outcome of these discussions are set forth in The lf/oy Fo/wOld, a report prepared by those attending the Indaba. The establishment of the PPC is one of eight joint government and media initiatives outlined in this report. Although there is overwhelming support for the Pl'C, there is concern that the Pl'C members would be censored, manipulated and controlled by government as a result of their proximity. The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) believes the implications are far reaching and pose a serious threat to a free press. This first group of Pl'C journalists is going where no other has gone before in this country's history. They are however facing a daunting task, as the arena they are entering is fraught with novelties, challenges, obstacles and temptations. This assignment will examine the media's role in a democracy, the challenges of far closer cooperation between the media and government, the ethical dilemma potentially presented by the Pl'C as well as ways to ensure as far as possible, an ethical and professional relationship between government and the corps's members. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die regenng en die media is in die proses om Suid-Afrika se eerste Presidensiele Perskorps (PPK) te stig. Die konsep is geskoei op die van die Wit Huis Perskorps in die Verenigde State van Amerika. 'n Dringende behoefte bestaan in Suid-Afrika aan 'n liggaam soos die PPK aangesien dit duidelik geword het dat die verhouding tussen die president en die media nie na wense is nie. Die stigting van die PPK kan egter weens verskeie faktore eties-problematies wees. Joernaliste kan die publiek slegs voorsien van akkurate nuus indien hulle vingers op die polsslag van gebeure binne die land se besluitnemende liggame is. Joernalistieke onafhanklikheid kan egter in gedrang kom indien die verhouding tussen die "waghond" en die regering te intiem raak. Die PPK-Iede sal na verwagting weens gereelde kontak 'n veel hegter verhouding met die president he as wat die geval is met ander joemaliste. Die vertroebelde verhouding tussen die media en president Thabo Mbeki is in Mei 200 1 bespreek tydens 'n lndaba by Sun City. Een van die inisiatiewe waarop daar ooreengekom is in 'n poging om die probleme aan te pak, is die stigting van die PPK. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Nasionale Redakteursforum en die regering hoop dat die korps sal bydra tot 'n vryer vloei van inligting asook tot 'n beter verstandbouding tussen die regering en die media. Hoewel daar oorweldigende steun is vir die PPK, is daar ook vrese dat die korps se lede gemanupileer en beheer sal word deur die kabinet.Die eerste groep PPK-lede gaan baanbrekerswerk verrig, maar die pad voor hulle is onbekend en vol potensiele gevare. Die uitdagings, slaggate sowel as maniere hoe etiese probleme oorkom kan word, word in hierdie werkstuk bespreek.

This research is premised on the understanding that media texts are discourses and that all discourses are functional, that is, they refer to things, issues and events, in meaningful and goal oriented ways. Nine articles are analysed to explicate the sorts of discourses that were promoted by The Chronicle during the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe between 1982 and 1986. It is argued that discourses in the news media are shaped by the role(s), the type(s) of journalism assumed by such media, and by the political environment in which the news media operate. The interplay between the roles, types of journalism practised, and the effect the political environment has on news discourses is assessed within the context of conflictual situations. This is done using insights from the theoretical position of peace journalism and its critique of professional or mainstream journalism as promoting war/violence journalism. Using the case of The Chronicle's reportage of the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe, it is concluded that, in performing the collaborative role, state owned/controlled media assume characteristics of war/violence journalism. On the other hand, it is concluded that The Chronicle developed practices consistent with peace journalism when it both espoused the facilitative role and journalistic objectivity. These findings undermine the conventional view among proponents of peace journalism that in times of conflict, the news media should be interventionist in favour of peace and that they should abandon the journalistic norm of objectivity which they argue, promotes war/violence journalism.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this assignment is to examine two investigative journalism programmes in South Africa, namely Carte Blanche and SpecialAssignment in order to ascertain whether two South African policing organisations have been subjected to racist stereotyping on these two programmes. Both these programmes are held in high esteem within South African and international media circles. Carte Blanche has won many awards, such as the prestigious eNN African Journalist of the Year Award in 2002. Special Assignment won the equivalent award in 2001. The approaches and styles in revealing the truth by using investigative forms of journalism are however slightly different. Both Carte Blanche and Special Assignment have produced stories from August 2003 to September 2004 that have exposed corruption within the South African policing organisations. Many of the perpetrators within the police force were identified as people of colour. This assignment therefore aims to discover whether racist stereotyping exists in this niche of investigative journalism television programmes. This opens up the possibility for these portrayals to be seen as stereotypical, since the dominant press codes in South Africa stipulates that reference to 'race' in news reporting should only be done where it will contribute significantly to understanding the subject matter or if the reference to the race of the person is particularly applicable. This assignment aims to discover whether racist stereotyping exists in this niche of investigative journalism television programmes. The research method comprised analysing programmes on Carte Blanche and Special Assignment that dealt with the South African policing organisations from August 2003 to September 2004. The original transcripts of the programmes were retrieved from the relevant websites of Carte Blanche and Special Assignment and have also been studied. Sources on media ethics as well as newspaper and magazine articles dealing with the South African policing organisations, crime and corruption were scrutinized in order to provide background information for the study. The analyses of the programmes was complemented by interviews conducted with the investigative journalists at the helm of the two programmes, namely, Ruda Landman from Carte Blanche and Jessica Pitchford from Special Assignment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie is om twee ondersoekende joernalistiekprogramme in Suid-Afrika, naamlik Carte Blanche en Special Assignment, te ondersoek ten einde vas te stelof die Suid- Afrikaanse polisiëringsorganisasies in dié twee programme aan rassestereotipering onderhewig is. Albei dié programme word hoog geag in Suid-Afrikaanse en internasionale mediakringe. Carte Blanche het reeds verskeie toekennings gewen, soos die toonaangewende eNN Afrikajoernalis van die Jaar Toekenning in 2002. Special Assignment het hierdie toekenning in 2001 gewen. Die benaderings en styl wat tydens die bekendmaking van die waarheid gevolg word deur die toepassing van ondersoekende vorme van joernalistiek verskil egter effe. Sowel Carte Blanche as Special Assignment het van Augustus 2003 tot September 2004 stories opgelewer wat korrupsie in die Suid-Afrikaanse polisiëringsorganisasies aan die kaak gestel het. Baie van die skuldiges in die polisiemag is geïdentifiseer as gekleurde mense. Hierdie studie beoog dus om vas te stel of daar rassestereotipering in hierdie afdeling van televisieprogramme met betrekking tot ondersoekende joernalistiek bestaan. Ondersoekende joernalistiek is ongetwyfeld een van die stimulerendste afdelings van die joernalistiek. Dit is 'n uitgesproke vorm van joernalistiek wat die vermoë het om die samelewing te beïnvloed. Ondersoekende joernalistiek maak gewoonlik misdrywe aan die publiek bekend. Die konsekwente uitbeelding van gekleurde mense op 'n negatiewe wyse sou kon lei tot die inboet van etiese waardes en dus tot rassestereotipering. Die navorsingsmetode het behels dat daar van Augustus 2003 tot September 2004 na programme oor die Suid-Afrikaanse polisiëringsorganisasies op Carte Blanche en Special Assignment gekyk is en dat dit op band opgeneem is. Die oorspronklike transkripsies van die programme is van Carte Blanche en Special Assignment se onderskeie webtuistes verkry en word as bylaes by hierdie studie aangeheg. Bronne oor media-etiek asook koerant- en tydskrifartikels wat oor die Suid-Afrikaanse polisiëringsorganisasies, misdaad en korrupsie handel, is noukeurig nagegaan. 'n Persoonlike onderhoud is met Ruda Landman van Carte Blanche gevoer, en met Jessica Pitchford van Special Assignment is 'n onderhoud per e-pos gevoer. Landman en Pitchford was albei betrokke by die samestelling van die betrokke

This thesis examines the complex ways in which notions of the public interest and commercial imperatives intertwine in journalism practice. It does this through a study of the 2004 takeover and relaunch of the Sowetan newspaper, the highest circulation daily in South Africa throughout the 1990s and an institution of black public life. The ‘public interest’ and ‘the commercial’ are recurring ideas in journalism scholarship and practice, and the relaunch appeared to be a challenge to reconcile the Sowetan’s commercial challenges with its historical responsibility to a ‘nation-building’ public. However, the research shows that the public/commercial aspects of journalism were inextricably entangled with Sowetan’s organisational culture, which was the matrix through which its journalism practice was expressed. Conflict in the organisation over the changes was not simply a contest between commercial realities and the public interest, with journalists defending a responsibility to the public and managers pushing commercial solutions, but a conflict between the culture of Sowetan “insiders”, steeped in the legacy of the newspaper, and “outsiders”, employed by the new owners to effect change. Another conclusion of the research is that commercial “realities” – often conceptualised as counter to the public interest – are highly mutable. Basic conditions, such as a dependence on advertising, exist. However, media managers must choose from a range of strategies to be commercially viable, which requires risk-taking, innovation and, often, guesswork. In such situations, the ‘wall’ between media managers and senior editors is porous, as all executives must manage the relationship between business and editorial imperatives. Executives tend to overlook culture as a factor in changing organisations, but I argue that journalism could benefit from engaging with management theory and organisational psychology, which offer ways to understand the specific dynamics of the organisation. Finally, I argue that the case of the Sowetan throws into question the idea that there may be a broadly universal journalism culture. The attachment of Sowetan journalists to their particular values and practice suggests that forms of journalism evolve in certain contexts to diverge from the ‘professional’ Anglo-American modes. These ‘journalisms’ use similar terms – such as the ‘public interest’ – but operationalise them quite differently. The responsibility to the public is imagined in very different ways, but remains a significant attachment for journalists.

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.

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.

Global research shows that media owners tend to influence the editorial direction of their newspapers. Such influence generally tends to be in line with the media owner’s economic and / or political interests. Naturally, this is a challenge because media is regarded as the fourth estate and is supposed to be an objective yet effective channel for the citizenry to make informed decisions about their world. The study seeks to find out if the owners of four daily newspapers in South Africa, based on their political proximity; may have influenced their newspapers to be biased in favour or against any of the three biggest political parties contesting the 2016 Local Government Elections. This study is an exploratory and descriptive content analysis based on an Agenda Setting theoretic framework – supported by framing analysis and game framing. Findings reveal the correlation between the media owner’s interests and the biased reporting within their respective newspaper. This suggests that although media may not be directly or explicitly forced to adopt a specific ideology, it can be argued that political relations with media owners can influence editorial decisions. Therefore, it can be inferred that media owners of The New Age, The Citizen and The Star influenced editorial content of their newspapers during the 2016 local government elections. Given the findings of this study and the elections scheduled for 2019 in South Africa, it is important for more political communication studies to be conducted in order to establish guidelines for unbiased news reporting across all media – including newspapers. Alternatively, to compel media owners to declare their bias towards and against specific political parties in each news content, upfront. Particularly important during election period, is the need for each media (including newspapers) to have an independent editor – potentially one from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to ensure that each piece of content produced is validated as bias or impartial. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication Science)

CAPES / Esta dissertação aborda como profissionais do jornalismo, através das práticas do cotidiano, se apropriam de artefatos e tecnologias computacionais para trabalhar com Jornalismo Guiado por Dados e, especificamente, com visualizações de dados. Para isso, considera-se que é no cotidiano que as tecnologias são apropriadas por quem as usa, e que este uso leva as tecnologias a uma estabilização, na qual elas deixam de ser percebidas como um elemento estranho. Os modos de uso dos artefatos também são considerados enquanto elementos construtores de identidades. O objeto principal da pesquisa são seis profissionais que fazem uso de artefatos e técnicas do Jornalismo Guiado por Dados no seu dia a dia. Através de entrevistas e observações, foram levantadas algumas maneiras através das quais as práticas e apropriações de tecnologias constroem as identidades de quem faz uso delas e levam os artefatos à estabilização. A análise das práticas do cotidiano colaboraria para uma visão menos instrumentalista no desenho de artefatos e também no ensino de técnicas, legitimando assim os modos de uso de cada pessoa. Para entender essas práticas do cotidiano, são apresentados os conceitos de “táticas” e “estratégias” com o objetivo de situar as relações de poder do cotidiano e como as pessoas podem subvertê-las, e conceitos dos estudos em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade como SCOT – construção social da tecnologia – e códigos técnicos, para analisar os processos que levam à estabilização de uma tecnologia. Relacionando esses conceitos com o jornalismo, é analisada a conotação de neutralidade dos grandes conjuntos de dados e comparando-a com a ideia de neutralidade da tecnologia. O Jornalismo Guiado por Dados é então relacionado a algumas taxonomias de gêneros e formatos jornalísticos, e é apresentado um breve histórico do uso do computador no jornalismo, para situá-lo dentro do jornalismo de modo geral e nas identidades jornalísticas que são construídas através das tecnologias consumidas no cotidiano. Por sua vez, é apresentado como os produtos jornalísticos derivados de grandes bases de dados propõem outro tipo de relação entre o jornalismo e o público, especificamente através da visualização de dados. São consideradas as possibilidades da visualização como forma de explorar e/ou comunicar grandes conjuntos de dados, assim como formas de leituras que elas propiciam. São descritos alguns processos para produzir visualizações de dados e mostrados exemplos de visualizações usadas no jornalismo, além de descrições de ferramentas de software usadas no Jornalismo Guiado por Dados. Como conclusão principal, defende-se que a legitimação das táticas, assim como uma visão menos instrumentalista e determinista do computar e de outras tecnologias, colaboraria para que mais pessoas se aproveitem dos recursos do Jornalismo Guiado por Dados e das visualizações. / This dissertation looks at how journalism professionals, through everyday practices, appropriate artifacts and computational technologies to work with Data-Driven Journalism and, specifically, with data visualization. For this, we considered that it is in everyday life that technologies are appropriated for those who make use of them, and that this use leads technologies to a closure or stabilization, in which they are no longer perceived as a foreign element. We also consider the way people make use of artifacts as elements that construct identities. The main study subjects are six professionals that make use of artifacts and techniques related to Data-Driven Journalism in their everyday life. Through interviews and observations, we collected some ways through which people appropriate technology, and thus takes them to stabilization and build identities. The analysis of everyday practices would collaborate to a less instrumentalist approach in artifact design and technique teaching, thus legitimating the ways each person makes use of technologies. For a better understanding of those everyday practices, the concepts of "tactics" and "strategies" are introduced, in order to situate the everyday power relations and how people can subvert them, as well as concepts from the Science, Technology and Society studies – STS –, such as SCOT – social construction of technology – and technical codes, in order to analyze the processes that lead to the closure of technology. Relating these concepts to journalism, the neutral connotation of large data sets is analyzed and compared to the idea of technology neutrality. Data-Driven Journalism is then related to some taxonomies of journalistic genres and formats, and a brief history of computer use in journalism is presented to situate it within journalism and how journalism’s identities are constructed through technology consumed in daily life. In turn, is presented how journalistic products derived from large databases propose another type of relationship between journalism and the public, specifically through data visualization. We describe some possibilities of visualization as a way to explore and/or communicate large data sets, as well as some different ways of reading they provide. We also describe some processes and tools for producing data visualization in journalism, as well as some software tools used in Data-Driven Journalism. The major conclusion of this study is that legitimating tactics, as well as a less instrumentalist and determinist approach to computing and other technologies, would help more people in making use of the artifacts and techniques of Data-Driven Journalism and data visualization.

Text in Afrikaans / It has become clear that the continued existence of the Afrikaner in the 21st century will demand a recontextualisation of the identity and values attached to being an Afrikaans-speaking South African in a post-apartheid South Africa. Various institutions and intellectuals are already busy with this process. The study used the social phenomenology of Alfred Schutz to describe and analyse the first steps taken in the recontextualisation of Afrikaner identity from the perspective of letter writers to the Afrikaans daily newspaper, Beeld. Phenomenology accepts that the world of everyday life is man's fundamental and pervasive reality. Schutz uses concepts like the social stock of knowledge, typifications and intersubjectivity to explain how people interpret their everyday reality so that it becomes meaningful to themselves and others in communication. The task of the phenomenologist would be to question the taken-for-grantedness of this life world and identify its underlying principles (or essences). The study found that, while the letter writers did adjust their typification of the Self, no fundamental review of their typification of the Other (black South Africans) took place. Letter writers managed to free themselves of the baggage of apartheid after De Klerk gave up power in 1990 and declared white South Africa ready for negotiations for a new democratic South Africa. Together with giving up power, letter writers also freed themselves from the aspect of Christian-nationalism which was one of the fundamental building blocks of Afrikanerskap. The Afrikaner of 2004 seems to be a white minority, proud of their language and culture, and fighting for their right to speak and hear Afrikaans. However, no major revision of the Other has taken place. The study will show that letter writers have adjusted their perception of blacks in so far as it became practically relevant to do so for survival in the new South Africa. Very few, if any, fundamental changes took place in terms of the perception of racial or cultural superiority. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)

Text in Afrikaans / It has become clear that the continued existence of the Afrikaner in the 21st century will demand a recontextualisation of the identity and values attached to being an Afrikaans-speaking South African in a post-apartheid South Africa. Various institutions and intellectuals are already busy with this process. The study used the social phenomenology of Alfred Schutz to describe and analyse the first steps taken in the recontextualisation of Afrikaner identity from the perspective of letter writers to the Afrikaans daily newspaper, Beeld. Phenomenology accepts that the world of everyday life is man's fundamental and pervasive reality. Schutz uses concepts like the social stock of knowledge, typifications and intersubjectivity to explain how people interpret their everyday reality so that it becomes meaningful to themselves and others in communication. The task of the phenomenologist would be to question the taken-for-grantedness of this life world and identify its underlying principles (or essences). The study found that, while the letter writers did adjust their typification of the Self, no fundamental review of their typification of the Other (black South Africans) took place. Letter writers managed to free themselves of the baggage of apartheid after De Klerk gave up power in 1990 and declared white South Africa ready for negotiations for a new democratic South Africa. Together with giving up power, letter writers also freed themselves from the aspect of Christian-nationalism which was one of the fundamental building blocks of Afrikanerskap. The Afrikaner of 2004 seems to be a white minority, proud of their language and culture, and fighting for their right to speak and hear Afrikaans. However, no major revision of the Other has taken place. The study will show that letter writers have adjusted their perception of blacks in so far as it became practically relevant to do so for survival in the new South Africa. Very few, if any, fundamental changes took place in terms of the perception of racial or cultural superiority. / Communication Science / M.A. (Communication)