Set against a backdrop of ongoing social conflict in the country, this study sets out to explore how South African journalists understand their roles and responsibilities when it comes to reporting on conflict. The study seeks to determine whether journalists believe they have a constructive contribution to make in the peaceful management and resolution of social conflict. It also seeks to establish whether journalists see themselves as being able to contribute to creating conditions that can facilitate dialogue and constructive engagement. Furthermore the study aims to explore the extent to which the views and perceptions of South African journalists could be said to be consistent with the ideas put forward in the emerging field of peace journalism. In seeking to address these questions the study begins by identifying a core set of guidelines that could be said to characteristic of peace journalism. It then draws on in-depth interviews conducted with 12 experienced reporters to gain a sense of how journalists understand their roles. The 12 reporters were drawn from mainstream newspapers from South Africa’s main metropolitan areas. Following an analysis of these interviews the study found that many journalists see themselves as having a positive contribution to make towards peacemaking and peace building. However, these contributions, they argue, must be seen as the product of good reporting rather than as emanating from deliberate attempts to intervene in conflict. The study then contrasted the journalists’ perceptions with the principles and normative guidelines proposed by peace journalism and found that many of the journalists’ beliefs are consistent with peace journalism. It appears that, while they may not directly call themselves peace journalists, many of the reporters interviewed saw themselves as playing roles similar to those advocated by peace journalism.

M.A. / On-going traumatic events have become a tragic reality within South African society, with ubiquitous psychological consequences for those involved. The major political upheaval - specifically in the past five years - and the process of transition to a new South Africa has had an impact on all South Africans. Journalists have played a fundamental role in the process of transition, and many have been exposed to scenes of extreme unrest and accompanying violence. It is apparent that the need exists to study the effects of on-going stress in this group of individuals. This study regarding the effects of unabated exposure to violence and trauma in journalists (specifically crime reporters) had the following objectives: (I) A comprehensive literature survey which focuses on the theory and history of combat-related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Theory that has developed in response to disaster psychology was included. (ii) An investigation of the effects of exposure to unremitting violence and trauma in a journalistic context. The initial part of the study focuses on a thorough theoretical investigation which provides a systemic framework for the conceptualization of PTSD. The literature reveals that not all individuals develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after a traumatic event; PTSD in individuals who have been exposed to on-going violence and trauma cannot be conceptualized on a linear level, whereby following exposure to a specific stressor/trauma, the inevitable outcome would be PTSD. It is clear that although the stressor is necessary, it is not sufficient to cause the disorder. On the contrary, there are other factors which play a fundamental role in whether or not the victim perceives the event as overwhelmingly stressful. These factors are termed - mediating factors" and include pre-existing biological factors, pre-existing psycho-social factors and events that occurred post-trauma (such as the availability of an adequate support system). The fact that insufficient psychological assistance subsequent to exposure to the trauma was available to the group of journalists that took part in the study, was apparent. The reasons for this may have been that due to the "macho-ethic" that pervades their functioning the individuals in question, deny themselves access to a structured and regular way of defusing their experiences. A criticism that could be levelled against this study is that the researcher elected to conduct a single interview with each journalist. The issues that arose as a result of the interviews were real, but were not able to be dealt with and followed up on. A further criticism is that there has been a relatively extended time factor between the heightened trauma and violence to which the journalists were subjected and the interview that provided the material for this study. Trauma has conventionally been defined as a linear occurrence, as an external event which impacts on people's lives in a random, haphazard manner. However, it is strongly felt that it should be seen within a bigger ecosystemic context as an event which has become so much a part of our society as we currently know it. Recommendations were made as a result of the study, and these are: that a follow-up study be conducted which would have as it's aim an in-depth investigation of individual long-term cases in journalists who are victims of violence; that journalists be afforded mandatory psychological intervention following their exposure to violence and trauma as it is clear that psychotherapy is strongly indicated for individuals with PTSD; that group programmes be devised with the objective of educating this group of individuals with regard to PTSD and other severe stress responses.

Ruth First was an activist, journalist and sociologist trained by experience and credentialed by her numerous publications. Having lived most of her adult life as an intellectual and activist, First died in August 1982 at the hands of a regime and its supporters who intensely detested all these pursuits. This research project sketches the intellectual contributions made by the South African sociologist during her time at the Centre of African Studies at Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. Her life like the newspaper she edited in the early 1970s was a Fighting Talk and this research project is about celebrating that life and valorising some of the life’s work that she left behind. Making use of qualitative research methods such as archiving, semi-structured interviews and contents analysis, this thesis sought to document Ruth First’s intellectual interventions while at the Centre of African Studies. Engaging with her work while she was in Mozambique and inserting her intellectual contributions, which like those of many African scholars have given way to debates from the global North, into our curriculum would perhaps be the real refutation of the assassin's bomb. This engagement is also crucial as it extends much further than the striking accolades which take the form of buildings and lectures established in her honour.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Black journalists in South Africa have played a crucial role in exposing the political oppression of black South Africans during the Apartheid era. In this regard the Sowetan newspaper made a great contribution. However, the political role that black women journalists played at the Sowetan has been ignored, before and after 1994. After 1994, political black women journalists at the Sowetan continued to make strides despite the hostile environment that these women journalists worked in. The limitation of beats and assignments, lack of promotions and many other challenges that black women journalists faced during this period made their work environment unfriendly and hostile towards their performance. This study examines the political role made by black women journalists at the Sowetan newspaper from 1994 to 1999. The study shows how the black women journalists brought different perspectives in news at the Sowetan through their manner of reporting and also how they viewed matters within the context of a new democracy in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Swart joernaliste in Suid-Afrika het ’n onontbeerlike rol gespeel in die onthulling van die politieke onderdrukking van swart Suid-Afrikaners tydens die apartheidsjare. In hierdie verband het die Sowetan-koerant ’n groot bydrae gelewer. Die politieke rol van swart vrouejoernaliste by die Sowetan is egter geïgnoreer, voor en ná 1994. Ná 1994 het politieke swart vrouejoernaliste by die Sowetan steeds opgang gemaak, ten spyte van die vyandige omgewing waarin hierdie vroue gewerk het. Beperkte opdragte en spesialisonderwerpe om te dek, ’n gebrek aan bevordering en die talle ander uitdagings wat swart vrouejoernaliste in hierdie tydperk moes trotseer, het hul werksomgewing onvriendelik en vyandig gemaak met betrekking tot hul werksverrigting. Hierdie studie ondersoek die politieke rol wat vanaf 1994 tot 1999 deur swart vrouejoernaliste by die Sowetan gespeel is. Die studie toon aan hoe die swart vrouejoernaliste ander nuusperspektiewe na die Sowetan gebring het, met die wyse waarop hulle verslag gedoen het en ook waarop hulle aangeleenthede in die breë verband van ’n nuwe demokratiese bestel in Suid-Afrika beskou het.

In this dissertation on Nat Nakasa I argue, in Chapter 1, that he is one of South Africa's first literary flaneurs. Walking the city as an urban spectator, part journalist, part sociologist, his modernist writings of the metropolis celebrate Johannesburg and also place him in a broad international context. His `tactics of the habitat', in Foucault's phrase, become subversive ruses, a navigation through the cultural seam of South Africa in the 1960s, and this approach offers an alternative to a reductionist anti-apartheid critique. Chapter 2 analyses the excavation of his memory and subsequent elevation to media icon, with the naming of the SANEF Award for Media Integrity after him. Chapter 3 discusses how his auto/biographical writings and representation of self and other contribute to `making history's silences speak'. Finally in chapter 4, I discuss his elusive identity as part of the Drum generation, an insider/outsider, and his exile and suicide in America. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Television is a powerful tool in the diffusion of information to the masses. It is therefore influential in the way society perceives and responds to children, and in so doing it has an influence on the provision and protection of children's rights. According to international and locally conducted studies children are not high on the media agenda, are seldom given a voice or status, and if they are, issues around them are mostly formulated by adults. This assignment sets out to determine whether the same conclusion can be drawn from South African free-to-air television station e-TV. In particular it seeks to establish whether e- News has been successful in placing children's rights in on the public agenda or whether it has reported on children in an ad hoc manner. Children's human rights issues have been defined in accordance with the United Nation's Children's Rights Charter and the South African Bill of Rights, which makes specific provision for the child/children. This assignment takes its lead from a Media Monitoring Project study. Like the MMP report this research is conducted within a human rights framework and concedes according to Section 28 (2) of the Constitution that "the child's best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child". The methodology employed in this assignment, while replicating a Media Monitoring Project study, also employs discourse analysis in the form of interviews and questionnaires conducted with e-News members of staff. The methodology was applied to a sample of 71 stories which included reference to a child or children and which were broadcast on e-News Live at 7 and e-News live at 10 between January and August 2004. In brief it was found that the rights to privacy, dignity and freedom of speech were satisfactorily upheld (as per the Bill of Rights), but that issues about children are mostly sourced by and commented on by adults. Furthermore it was found that children's rights do not form an implicit part of the e-News agenda. Given that a human rights framework is normative for e-News, it is recommended that children's rights be placed in context, that stories challenge stereotypes about children and that e- News should consider appointing 'children's correspondents'. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Televisie is n' kragtige medium vir die verspreiding van inligting na die samelewing. Om hierdie rede speel televisie n' invloedryke rol op die manier waarop mense met kinders omgaan en dus het dit ook n' groot invloed op die voorsiening en berskerming van kinderregte. Volgens internastionale en plaaslike studies is kinders nie hoog op die media se agenda nie. Hulle word selde status verleen en indien wel, word kwessies wat hulle raak, dikwels deur volwassenes geformuleer. Hierdie opdrag wil bepaal of hierdie gevolgtrekking ook spesifiek betrekking het op die televisiestasie, e-TV. Daar word spesifiek gefokus op e-News se agenda met betrekking tot kinderregte en of dit suksesvol genhandhaaf word of nie. Kindreregte-kwessies is gedefineer soos in die Verenigde Nasies se Handves van Kinderrregte en die Suid-Afrikaanse Hanves van Menseregte wat specifiek focus op voorsiening vir kinders. Hierdie opdrag is volg die voorbeeld van n' verslag van die Media Monitoring Project (MMP). Soos die MMP-verslag word hierdie narvorsing binne n' menseregte-raamwerk gedoen en neem ook artikel 28 (2) van die Suid-Afrikaanse Grondwet in ag, wat stipuleer dat die kind se belange van kardinale belang is asook elke aspek wat die kind betrek. Die metodologie wat in hierdie opdrag gebruik word, repliseer tegelykertyd die MMPstudie en maak gebruik van diskoersanalise in die vorm van onderhoude en vraelyste onder e- News personeellede. Hierdie metodologie maak gebruik van n' steekproefvan 71 nuusstories wat verwys na n' kind/kinders wat tussen Januarie en Augustus 2004 op e-News Live om 19hOO uitgesaai is. Ter opsomming is bevind dat privaatheidsregte, waardigheid en vryheid van spraak van kinders bevredigend benader is. Kwessies wat kinders aanraak word egter meer deur volwassenes aangespreek as deur kinders self. Daar is egter ook bevind dat kinderregte nie n' intergrale deel van e-News agenda vorm me. Gegewe dat n' menseregteraamwerk bye-News toegepas word, word dit aanbeveel dat kinderregte binne konteks geplaas word en dat berigte sal streef daarna om stereotypes oor kinders te verander en dat e-News oorweeg om kinderkorrespndente aan te stel.

This study set out to investigate Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of information and communication technologies in news-gathering and processing using the social shaping of technology as a theoretical lens. It mainly focuses on digital ICTs that journalists use in news-gathering and processing including the Internet, electronic mail, and mobile telephony. Grocott’s Mail is a small-scale newspaper based in Grahamstown, South Africa. Using qualitative research method and the case study as its sub-method, the research reveals that Grocott’s Mail journalists’ appropriation of ICTs involves various opportunities and challenges in news-gathering and processing. In terms of the state of the existing technological infrastructure, the study reveals that since it embraced the digital ICTs in 2003, Grocott’s Mail boasts an adequate ICT infrastructure for a small-scale African newspaper with 30 PCs and one laptop, and professional software for 28 permanent employees. On the other hand, the research reveals serious constraints with the existing ICTs: a huge need for staff training and capacity building to fully utilise the ICTs, and the need to look for ways of raising funds to either upgrade or replace the existing ICTs. Grocott’s Mail journalists use the Internet to do background research on news stories, to verify the accuracy of information, and to check competition across other media. These are the merits of the Internet in news-gathering and processing. On the other hand, there are specific unintended consequences of the Internet such as wasting the company’s working time, and its use leading to lazy/press release journalism. Informants unanimously indicate that the main problems of the Internet are heavy dependence on other online news-sources and wasting time on online entertainment. In terms of using email in news-gathering, the research finds email technology as having advantages such as being a tool of flexibility and speed, a tool for email interviews, and as a technology that promotes participatory journalism. On the other hand, challenges related to email include its limitations because of what interviewees view as its supplementary and small-scale use because of its low contextual richness as opposed to face to face interviews. In terms of cellular telephony, the study finds that regardless of the ubiquity of cell phones and cell phone networks, they have not yet been deployed in news-gathering and processing due to various constraints. These are cell phones not being a big factor in reporting, lack of a proper funding and refunding scheme, prevalence of negative attitudes towards cell phones, and lack of a business model. Thus, cellular phones seem to have little or no relevance in news-gathering and processing at Grocott’s Mail presently.

This study investigated the nature of opinions and attitudes expressed in letters to South African newspapers regarding selected incidents of interracial controversy, namely the Botes (2010) and Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) (2008) incidents. A qualitative and quantitative content analysis of these letters was conducted to gauge the attitudes that writers displayed towards members of their cultural group (ingroup) and members of other cultural groups (outgroups). The results of the qualitative analysis indicated that individuals in a racial group have different perspectives of in- and outgroup members. The results of the quantitative analysis, however, showed that the majority of writers tend to display positive attitudes towards ingroup members and negative attitudes towards out groups. The dominance of positive attitudes towards ingroups and negative attitudes towards outgroups can be attributed to myths and discourses circulating in postapartheid South Africa and the current social climate in general. The study concluded that although individuals’ attitudes may differ from the stark negative attitudes displayed towards outgroups during the apartheid era, negative attitudes towards outgroups persist. / Communication Science / M. A. (Communication Science)

In this dissertation on Nat Nakasa I argue, in Chapter 1, that he is one of South Africa's first literary flaneurs. Walking the city as an urban spectator, part journalist, part sociologist, his modernist writings of the metropolis celebrate Johannesburg and also place him in a broad international context. His `tactics of the habitat', in Foucault's phrase, become subversive ruses, a navigation through the cultural seam of South Africa in the 1960s, and this approach offers an alternative to a reductionist anti-apartheid critique. Chapter 2 analyses the excavation of his memory and subsequent elevation to media icon, with the naming of the SANEF Award for Media Integrity after him. Chapter 3 discusses how his auto/biographical writings and representation of self and other contribute to `making history's silences speak'. Finally in chapter 4, I discuss his elusive identity as part of the Drum generation, an insider/outsider, and his exile and suicide in America. / English Studies / M.A. (English)

This thesis discovers the spiritual and aesthetic vision of poet-journalist Robert Grendon (c. 1867–1949), a man of Irish-Herero parentage. It situates him in the wider Swedenborgian discourse regarding African ‘regeneration’. While preserving the overall diachronic continuity of a literary biography, it treats his principal thematic preoccupations synchronically. The objective has been to show the imaginative ways in which he employs his rich and diverse religio-philosophical background to account for South Africa’s social problems, to pass judgement upon the principal players, and to point out an alternative path to a brighter future. Chapter 1 looks at Emanuel Swedenborg’s mystical revelations on the heightened spiritual proclivity of the ‘celestial’ African, and the consequences of New Jerusalem’s descent over the heart of Africa, which Swedenborg believed to be taking place, undetected by Europeans, around 1770. It also examines how those pronouncements were received in Europe, America, and—most particularly—in Africa. Chapter 2 examines the circumstances surrounding Grendon’s birth and childhood in what is today Namibia. It takes note of a family tradition that Joseph Grendon married a daughter of Maharero, a prominent Herero chief, and it looks at Robert Grendon’s views on ‘miscegenation’. Chapter 3 deals with Grendon’s schooling at Zonnebloem College, Cape Town. Chapter 4 describes his cultural, sporting, and political activities in Kimberley and Uitenhage in the 1890s, bringing to light his editorship of Coloured South African in 1899. It also considers his conception of ‘progress’. Chapter 5 looks at some early poems, including the domestic verse-drama, ‘Melia and Pietro’ (1897–98). It also contextualizes a single, surviving editorial from Coloured South African. Chapter 6 treats Grendon’s tour de force, the epic poem, Paul Kruger’s Dream (1902), as well as his personal involvement in the South African War, and his spiritualized account of the ‘Struggle for Supremacy’ in South Africa. Chapter 7 relates to Grendon’s fruitful Natal period, 1900–05: his headmastership of the Edendale Training Institute and of Ohlange College, and his editorship of Ilanga’s English columns during the foreign absence of the editor-in-chief, John L. Dube, from February 1904 to May 1905. Chapter 8 analyzes some of the shorter and medium-length poems written in Natal, 1901–04. Chapter 9 is a close examination of the poem, ‘Pro Aliis Damnati’, showing its Swedenborgian basis, and how it dramatizes Swedenborg’s concept of ‘scortatory’ love. Chapter 10 describes Grendon’s early years in Swaziland from 1905. Chapter 11 deals with his period as editor of Abantu-Batho in Johannesburg, 1915–16. Chapter 12 describes his last years in Swaziland, and his relationship with the Swazi royal family. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007.