Thesis (MPA) --University of Limpopo, 2006 / Ethical issues arise from our interaction with other people, especially at the point where there is potential or actual conflict of interests. In many cases, what is right for one person might not be right for other people. And, in some cases, doing the right thing might involve placing the greater good ahead of specific benefits that might accrue to oneself. Ethical choices, therefore, involve a trade-off or compromise between the interests and rights of different parties. Newspapers inform the public about events in government and the broader society. In doing so, they act within the bounds of legislation and ethical codes of conduct that are inherent in the South African society. In Limpopo Province, the newspapers are more often at loggerhead with the Department of Education when reporting on educational matters. The department claims that reporters do not report fairly and accurately about the activities of officials. Reporters flatly deny these allegations. Who then, of the two institutions, act ethically when executing its social mandate? Flowing from the question posed in the above paragraph, the problem of the ethical conduct of newspaper reporters in reporting on educational matters in the Department of Education in the Limpopo Province arises. Newspaper reporters have to adhere to and act in accordance with ethical codes of conduct, either institutional or societal. In making ethical choices about what is right, newspapers are faced with dilemmas. An ethical dilemma arises in a situation whereby it is difficult to tell right from wrong because all the alternatives may have potentially negative consequences. But, irrespective of the dilemmas that reporters face, reporters must report ethically, fairly and accurately. The Department of Education in the Limpopo Province sometimes questions the validity of the criteria that newspapers use in the evaluation and publication of information. The question frequently asked is, “How can newspapers fight for honesty and integrity when they themselves are less than honest in getting a story?” The department is, therefore, concerned about newspaper reporters who slant news and discredit the department when reporting on educational matters. To the department, this is unethical reporting.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Global climate change is the result of the natural greenhouse effect being enhanced or augmented by human activities such as industrial burning of fossil fuels and large-scale agricultural practices which have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The result – the first truly globalised consequence of pollution – is arguably one of the most pressing matters facing the future of the human species. Journalists reporting on the subject have considerable responsibility to unravel the science and present it accurately and responsibly to the public, so that the latter can make informed decisions about individual energy consumption, informed decisions at the voting poll and go further to put the necessary pressure on policy makers. However climate change is without doubt the most complex story environmental and science reporters have ever encountered, not only because it encompasses so many different fields of natural sciences (oceanography, climatology, biological sciences including flora and fauna, hydrology, horticulture etc.), but because it all too often spills over into the political, economic and social arenas. “Climate change is a difficult story to recreate… (it) is one of the most complicated stories of our time. It involves abstract and probabilistic science, labyrinthine laws, grandstanding politicians, speculative economics and the complex interplay of individuals and societies” (Wilson, 2000: 206). Specialist environmental and science news reporters only have three and a half decades of experience and history, since this is one of the more recent journalistic beats to be assigned to modern newsrooms. Such writers face a particularly challenging job of reporting the complex and growing science of global climate change. Furthermore they must do so in an environment where politicians and environmental activists feed journalists sometimes conflicting information, each with its own agenda. Increasing consumer demand for entertainment in place of information may also complicate the telling of these stories, given the financial imperative to sell newspapers. Furthermore, the “global warming story is also affected by a number of journalistic constraints, such as deadlines, space, one-source stories, complexity and reporter education” (Wilson, 2000: 206). The complexities of news values also shape the stories which finally are released to the news consuming public.

Thesis (MPhil) -- Stellenbosch University, 2001. / Bibliography / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Few news subjects or events can be comprehensively covered in the media without numbers being used. Indeed, most reports are essentially 'number stories', or could be improved through the judicious use of numbers. Despite this there are frequent complaints about poor levels of numeracy among journalists. Although numbers are fundamental to virtually everything they write, the most superficial review of South African newspapers indicates that most encounters between journalists and numbers of any sort are uncomfortable, to say the least. Reporters shy away from using numbers, and frequently resort to vague comments such as "many", "more", "worse" or "better". When reports do include numbers, they often don't make sense, largely because journalists are unable to do simple calculations and have little understanding of concepts such as the size of the world's population, a hectare, or a square kilometer. They frequently use numbers to lend weight to their facts without having the numerical skills to question whether the figures are correct. Numeracy is not the ability to solve complicated mathematical problems or remember and use a mass of complicated axioms and formulas; it's a practical life skill. For journalists it is the ability to understand the numbers they encounter in everyday life - percentages, exchange rates, very large and small amounts - and the ability to ask intelligent questions about these numbers before presenting them meaningfully in their reports. This thesis is not a compendium of all the mathematical formulas a journalist could ever need. It is a catalogue of the errors that are frequently made, particularly in newspapers, and suggestions to improve number usage. It will hopefully also serve to make journalists aware of the potential of numbers to improve reporting and increase accuracy. This thesis emphasises the importance of basic numeracy for all journalists, primarily by discussing the basic numerical skills without which they cannot do their job properly, but also by noting the concerns of experienced journalists, mathematicians, statisticians and educators about innumeracy in the media. Although the contents of this thesis also apply to magazine, radio and television journalists, it is primarily aimed at their counterparts at South Africa's daily and weekly newspapers. I hope the information contained herein is of use to journalists and journalism students; that it will open their eyes to the possibility of improving number usage and thereby reporting, serve as encouragement to brush up their numerical skills, and help to shed light on the numbers which surround them and which they use so readily. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Min nuusonderwerpe of -gebeure kan in beriggewing tot hul reg kom sonder dat enige getalle gebruik word. Trouens, die meeste berigte is in wese 'syferstories', of kan verbeter word deur meer sinvolle gebruik van syfers. Tog is daar vele klagtes oor joemaliste se gebrekkige syfervaardigheid. Ten spyte van die ingeworteldheid van getalle in haas alles wat hulle skryf, toon selfs die mees oppervlakkige ondersoek na syfergebruik in Suid-Afrikaanse koerante joemaliste se ongemaklike omgang met die meeste syfers. Hulle is skugter om syfers te gebruik, en verlaat hulle dikwels op vae kommentaar soos "baie", "meer", "erger" of "beter". Indien hulle syfers gebruik, maak die syfers dikwels nie sin nie: meermale omdat joemaliste nie basiese berekeninge rondom persentasies en statistiek kan doen nie, en min begrip het vir algemene groothede soos die wereldbevolking, 'n hektaar of 'n vierkante kilometer. Hulle sal dikwels enige syfer gebruik omdat hulle meen dit verleen gewig aan hul feite en omdat hulle nie die syfervaardigheid het om dit te bevraagteken nie. Syfervaardigheid is nie die vermoe om suiwer wiskunde te doen of 'n magdom stellings en formules te onthou en gebruik nie; dis 'n praktiese lewensvaardigheid, die vermoe om die syferprobleme wat die daaglikse roetine oplewer - persentasies, wisselkoerse, baie groot en klein getalle- te verstaan en te hanteer. Hierdie tesis is nie 'n versameling van alle berekeninge wat joemaliste ooit sal nodig kry nie; maar veel eerder 'n beskrywing van die potensiaal van syfers om verslaggewing te verbeter en joemaliste te help om ag te slaan op die getalle rondom hulle en die wat hulle in hul berigte gebruik. Die doel van die tesis is om die belangrikheid van 'n basiese syfervaardigheid vir alle joemaliste te beklemtoon, veral die basiese syfervaardighede waarsonder joemaliste nie die verslaggewingtaak behoorlik kan aanpak nie, te bespreek, en ook om ervare joemaliste, wiskundiges, statistici en opvoeders se kommer oor joemaliste se gebrek aan syfervaardigheid op te teken. Hoewel alles wat in die tesis vervat is, ewe veel van toepassing is op tydskrif-, radio- en televisiejoemaliste, val die klem hoofsaaklik op hul ewekniee by Suid-Afrikaanse dag- en weekblaaie. Ek hoop die inligting hierin vervat sal van nut wees vir praktiserende joemaliste en joemalistiekstudente om hulle bewus te maak van die moontlikhede wat bestaan om syfergebruik, en uiteindelik verslaggewing, te verbeter en as aanmoediging dien om hul syfervaardigheid op te skerp.

To fully comprehend the complex process of news making, we must first understand that the events we read about everyday in the newspaper are not merely a reflection of the world in which we live. News does not just happen. Rather, it is a socially constructed product in which events are “made to mean” (Hall, 1978). Thus, the news plays a fundamental role in shaping our interpretations of reality - our perceptions of the world as we know it. Informed by a structuralist approach to news making, this research provides a detailed ethnographic study of the determinants that shape and produce news in the South African print media. I provide examples of the influence various factors, operating at all levels, exert within the news making process. The research focuses on the news production process at East Cape News Pty. Ltd. (ECN) a small news agency operating in the peripheral news region of South Africa’s Eastern Cape. It considers the journalistic routines and interests of the ECN reporters; how these reporters select events and turn them into news, how they interpret their significance and how they formulate them as news stories. The research also considers the second stage of selection ECN news must pass before it is read by the public - the “gates” of external newspapers. In this section, the study is primarily concerned with which ECN news stories succeed past the gates of national newspapers as these are the newpapers that play an influential role in shaping national perceptions of the marginalised Eastern Cape region. A province burdened with devastating rural poverty, unstable government, and little economic growth, the Eastern Cape warrants little coverage from the national, Johannesburg-based news market. As a result, little news of the Eastern Cape is published nationally, further perpetuating the region’s perceived insignificance on a national level. This point also demonstrates the fact that news both shapes, and is shaped by, our ideologies. News, therefore is ideological (Fishman, 1977). My findings reinforce many of the observations of other media researchers informed by a structuralist approach in the field of news making. However, some elements of news making emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other studies of news making. These elements are primarily a result of ECN’s informal organisational structures which allow the journalists a greater level of autonomy than a larger more bureaucratic organisation might. Thus, in addition to considering the structures that shape the news, I also discuss the role of human agency in making the news.

Thesis (MA (African Languages))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This study invesitgates a selection of hard news articles in isiZulu that were published in the newspaper Ilanga within the framework of genre theory. The study invokes in particular the orbital structure approach to the organisation of the structure of hard news articles advanced by White (1997) in analysing the isiZulu articles. Hard news reports are typically associated with eruptive violence, reversals of fortune and socially significant breaches of the moral order. Hard news reports are distinguished in terms of two types, namely those reports which are primarily grounded in a material event such as an accident, natural disaster, riot, or terrorist attack, and those reports grounded in a communicative event such as a speech, interview, or press release. The research in this study presents an analysis of four articles in isiZulu of each of these two types. The analysis of the isiZulu articles presents support for White’s view that both types of hard news reports exhibit the same generic structure, a mode of textual organisation unique to mass media which gives hard news its textual distinctiveness. Both types hard news reports achieve their informational and rhetorical objectives through a non-linear, orbital structure in which dependent ‘satelites’ elaborate, explain, contextualize and appraise a textually dominant nucleus.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Since South Africa’s transition from a nationalistic state to a democracy in 1994, debates about the media’s role have intensified as the challenges and complexities of the South African society unfolded. In this debate, which mainly played out between the government and the media, the liberal theory and the developmental theory were used as the two main normative positions from which to contest the media’s role. As normative theories they describe the ideal role of the press within societal systems and thus fall within the functionalist paradigm. Historically, the liberal approach was seen as the accepted normative framework for the media within a democracy to protect that very democracy. The liberal consensus adopted by the post-apartheid media therefore came as no surprise. However, the optimism initially experienced regarding the independence of the new, liberal media, its professionalisation and economic restructuring, is gradually being challenged by the critical perspective. This perspective questions the extent of transformation in a public sphere where entrance is still restricted by class structures. The argument of this paper is that although the above changes to the media landscape are recognised as important, they do not account for issues of class and how the poor, the spaces they live in and the factors impacting on their lives, are framed by the media. This paper is presented as a normative undertaking and presents civic journalism as alternative normative framework. It moves from the premise that the representations afforded to the poor in die media are being hampered by the individualistic aims of the Western, liberal, journalistic tradition. The argument is further that the use of a community-driven approach should lead to broader representation of the poor in the media and the inclusion of this currently marginalised group in the public sphere. Reframing, one of the most important methods of civic journalism, is singled out to explore the possibility of applying civic journalism to the South African context. The motivation for this paper is the belief that the need exists for a greater plurality of voices and discourses. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Sedert Suid-Afrika in 1994 beweeg het van ’n nasionalistiese staat na ’n demokrasie, het die debat oor die rol van die media algaande verdiep namate die uitdagings en kompleksiteite van die Suid-Afrikaanse situasie ontvou het. In die debat tussen die postapartheid media en die regering was die twee normatiewe posisies van waar die media se rol by uitstek betwis is, die libertynse en ontwikkelingsteorie. As normatiewe teorieë wat die ideale rol van die pers binne samelewingsisteme verwoord, val dit binne die funksionalistiese paradigma. Histories word die liberale benadering gesien as die vanselfsprekende roete wat ’n media binne ’n demokrasie moet volg om daardie demokrasie te beskerm. Die liberale konsensus van die post-apartheid media was in die lig hiervan geen verrassing nie. Maar die optimisme wat aanvanklik ervaar is oor die onafhanklike, liberale media, sy professionalisering en ekonomiese herstrukturering, word algaande uitgedaag deur ’n kritiese perspektief. Hierdie perspektief bevraagteken die waarde van ’n getransformeerde media waar toelating tot die openbare sfeer steeds deur klasstrukture gereguleer word. Alhoewel die bogenoemde erken word as belangrike veranderinge, is die argument dat die liberale normatiewe paradigma nie genoeg was om kwessies van klas te verreken en hoe armes, die kwessies wat hulle lewens beïnvloed en die ruimtes waarin hulle ’n bestaan maak, deur die media beraam word nie. Hierdie werkstuk is ’n normatiewe onderneming wat burgerlike joernalistiek as normatiewe raamwerk wil voorstel. Die uitgangspunt is dat representasie van armes in die media deur die individualistiese doelstellings van die Westerse, liberale joernalistieke tradisie beperk word. Die argument is verder dat die toepassing van ’n gemeenskapsgerigte benadering behoort te lei tot ’n breër representasie van armes en die insluiting van dié tans gemarginaliseerde gemeenskappe by die openbare sfeer. Herberaming, een van die belangrikste metodes van burgerlike joernalistiek, word uitgesonder om die toepassingsmoontlikheid van burgerlike joernalistiek as alternatief te ondersoek. Die motivering vir die werkstuk is die oortuiging dat daar in die Suid-Afrikaanse mediakonteks ’n behoefte bestaan aan ’n groter diversiteit van stemme en diskoerse.

M.A. / Het doel van deze studie is te komen tot een inventarisatie van de problemen -zowel op praktisch als theoretisch vlak- aan welke de nieuw gekozen plaatselijke overheden het hoofd moeten bieden, zoals deze zijn overgeleverd vanuit het verleden. Daarnaast wordt middels het empirische gedeelte bekeken, hoe de dagbladen in de provincie Gauteng - vaak het 'hart' van Zuid-Afrika genoemd - met deze problematiek en geschiedenis omgingen om de lezer annex kiezer adequaat te informeren. 3 Gekozen is voor een media-onderzoek over enkele maanden rond de twee laatste verkiezingen voor plaatselijke overheden: oktober 1988 en november 1995. Daarnaast wordt gekeken naar enkele van de vele begripsverwarringen binnen de Zuid-Afrikaanse politieke en media-context, zoals deze bijvoorbeeld onder meer bestaan rond zaken als 'democratie', 'macht', 'detribalisatie' en 'non-racialisme; allen termen die er in het discours omtrent regeren en geregeerd worden, nieuws produceren en nieuws ontvangen voortdurend met de haren bijgesleept worden maar voor de verschillende deelnemers aan het debat soms geheel uiteenlopende betekenissen hebben. De scriptie hoopt met deze onderwerpskeuze een bijdrage te leveren aan het voortdurende debat in Zuid-Afrika over het heden, verleden en wellicht ook toekomst van de gedrukte media, de politieke en sociaal-economische geschiedschrijving en de functionering en definiring van plaatselijk bestuur. Hoewel deze studie weliswaar nauwelijks alternatieve voorstellen voor de toekomstige behandeling van deze kwesties aandraagt, kan een kritisch en samenvattend overzicht hiervan zoals gepresenteerd in de hierna volgende hoofdstukken hemieuwde stof tot nadenken bieden, zowel gedragen als beperkt door de buitenlandse kijk van de auteur.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During Gulf War II, the American government implemented new media policies which, due to their potentially manipulative impact, became a subject of concern to academics, social commentators and the media alike. Key to these policies was the Department of Defense's Embedded Media Program which allowed hundreds of selected reporters to accompany US forces to the war front. The US openly tried to win international support for the war, and critics felt that this policy was designed to saturate the media with reports supporting the American point of view. This study examines these policies, the history of war reporting as a separate news genre, as well as the fluctuating relations between the US military and the media. Because of the US media policies, the fact that only one South African newspaper reporter was in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom phase of the war and South African newspapers' consequent reliance on foreign news sources, there was a real possibility that the American position would be propagated in the local press. To test whether this was the case, the way the war was reported on in four leading South African newspapers is examined in terms of gatekeeping, agendasetting and framing. Using an adapted version op Propp's fairytale analysis as a standard, it compares the slant and content of the South African coverage to the way four senior US government officials presented the war. Also, the coverage of the newspapers is compared to one another. The analyses indicate that while most of the information published by the newspapers came from American sources, the news reports generally did not mirror the US standpoint, but instead criticised President Bush and the war on Iraq. Neither the frequency of the newspapers, nor its cultural background showed any correlation with the way the war was depicted by the different newspapers. It is therefore concluded that while the US might have been successful in their attempt to "occupy the media territory" in terms of sources cited, they were not able to sway the opinion of the South African press in their favour. However, the US is aware of these failures and plans to rectify the mistakes made in Gulf War II by means of proactive global operations started in times of peace. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tydens die Tweede Golfoorlog het die Amerikaanse regering 'n nuwe mediabeleid ingestel wat weens die potensieel manipulerende impak daarvan ’n bron van kommer vir akademici, sosiale kommentators en die media self geword het. Sentraal tot hierdie nuwe beleid was die Departement van Verdediging se sogenaamde "Embedded Media Program" wat honderde uitgesoekte joernaliste toegelaat het om Amerikaanse magte na die oorlogsfront te vergesel. Die VSA het openlik probeer om internasionale steun vir die oorlog te werf en kritici het gevoel dat dié beleid ontwerp is om die media met nuusberigte wat die Amerikaanse standpunt steun, te versadig. Hierdie studie ondersoek dié beleid, die geskiedenis van oorlogsverslaggewing as afsonderlike nuus-genre, asook die wisselvallige verhouding tussen die Amerikaanse weermag en die media. Weens die Amerikaanse mediabeleid, die feit dat slegs een Suid-Afrikaanse koerantverslaggewer tydens die Operation Iraqi Freedom fase van die oorlog in Irak was en Suid-Afrikaanse koerante gevolglik van buitelandse nuusbronne afhanklik was, was daar 'n werklike moontlikheid dat die Amerikaanse posisie deur die plaaslike pers gepropageer kon word. Om te toets of dit die geval was, is die manier waarop in vier vooraanstaande Suid-Afrikaanse koerante oor die oorlog berig is, ondersoek in terme van hekwagterskap, agendastelling en raamskepping. Deur 'n aangepaste weergawe van Propp se feëverhaalanalise as maatstaf te gebruik, is die neiging en inhoud van die Suid- Afrikaanse dekking vergelyk met die manier waarop vier senior Amerikaanse amptenare die oorlog voorgehou het. Die koerante se dekking is ook met mekaar vergelyk. Die analises wys dat hoewel die meeste van die inligting wat deur die koerante gepubliseer is van Amerikaanse bronne kom, die nuusberigte oor die algemeen nie die Amerikaanse standpunt weerspieël nie, maar eerder krities teenoor President Bush en die oorlog teen Irak is. Nie die frekwensie van die koerante of die kulturele agtergrond daarvan het enige korrelasie getoon met die manier waarop die oorlog deur die verskillende koerante uitgebeeld is nie. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat hoewel die VSA moontlik daarin geslaag het om die "mediaterrein te okkupeer" in terme van aangehaalde bronne, het hulle nie daarin geslaag om die Suid-Afrikaanse pers se opinie in hul guns te swaai nie. Die VSA is egter bewus van die foute wat tydens die Tweede Golfoorlog gemaak is en beplan om dit deur middel van proaktiewe globale operasies in vredestyd reg te stel.

Assignment (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The media, in its ongoing task to inform and educate South Africans, seemingly set the agenda in such a way that depicts poor black African people as the only racial group that is affected and infected by HIV/Aids. Photographs of poor black Africans are also used to inform and educate the public about the pandemic. In short, the media has set an agenda that has given HIV/Aids a black African face: vulnerable, helpless and living in squalid conditions. The hypothesis of this research is that it is racial stereotyping of poor black Africans, and that it is perpetuated by the Daily Dispatch and other media. It is also important to note that the voices of the affected and infected are not prominent in news reports about the pandemic. Their stories are either told by the journalists themselves or someone else as a spokesperson. The media must begin to give space to the heroes and heroines who are affected and infected by the HIV/Aids pandemic to tell their stories in their own words. Qualitative content analysis of the Daily Dispatch from 1 to 31 December 2004 was conducted. News stories, photographs, headlines and captions were analysed. This analysis shows that the voices of the affected and infected are still lacking in news reports and that poor black African people are used as the only visuals in HIV/Aids news stories. This study recommends that more attention should be given to upholding and respecting the rights of the affected and infected by the disease. The media should also allow their voices to be heard, not through spokespeople, but from their own mouths. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit lyk of die media in sy voortgaande taak om Suid-Afrikaners in te lig en op te voed, die agenda op so ’n manier stel dat dit arm swart Afrikane as die enigste rassegroep voorstel wat deur MIV/Vigs geaffekteer en geïnfekteer word. Foto’s van arm swart Afrikane word ook gebruik om die publiek oor die pandemie in te lig en op te voed. In ’t kort, die media het ’n agenda gestel wat MIV/Vigs ’n swart, Afrika-gesig gee: een wat arm, ontvanklik en hulpeloos is, en wat in haglike toestande leef. Die hipotese van hierdie navorsing berus daarop dat dit rasse-stereotipiering is van arm swart Afrikane, en dat die Daily Dispatch en ander media dit perpetueer. Dit is ook belangrik om daarop te let dat die stemme van die geaffekteerde en geïnfekteerde nie so prominent in nuusberige oor die pandemie is nie. Hul stories word vertel deur die joernaliste self, of iemand anders wat ’n segspersoon is. Die media moet begin om hierdie helde en heldinne wat deur die siekte geaffekteer en geïnfekteer is, self hul storie te laat vertel, in hul eie woorde. Kwalitatiewe inhoudsanalise van die Daily Dispatch van 1 tot 31 Desember 2004 is uitgevoer. Nuusstories, foto’s, opskrifte en onderskrifte is geanaliseer. Hierdie analise toon dat die stemme van die geaffekteerde en geïnfekteerde steeds in ons nuusberigte ontbreek en dat arm swart Afrikane die enigste visuele onderwerpe in MIV-Vigs nuusstories is. Hierdie studie beveel aan dat meer aandag gegee moet word om die regte van die geaffekteerde en geïnfekteerde te bewaar en te respekteer. Die media moet ook toelaat dat diegene se stemme gehoor word, nie deur segspersone nie, maar uit hul eie monde. / ISISHWANKATHELOL: Kubonakala ngathi amajelo eendaba kwinzame zawo zokufundisa nokwazisa uluntu loMzantsi Afrika ngesifo sikaGawulayo neNtsholongwane yaso, abonakalisa abantu abaMnyama beli njengohlanga ekukuphela kwalo oluthi luchatshazelwe sesi sifo. Nkqu nemifanekiso ethi isetyenziswe kumabalili athetha ngesi sifo, yileyo yabantu abaMnyama abazimpula zikalujacu ezingathathi ntweni. Ngokufutshane amajelo eendaba anika isizwe umzobo osengqondweni othi, uGawulayo neNtsholongwane yakhe uchaphazela ze ubulale abantu abaMnyama abahluphekileyo nabaphila phantsi kweemeko zobugxwayiba. Kusenjalo olu hlalutyo lubonakalise ukuba amazwi abantu abanesifo sikaGawulayo nabo bachaphazelekayo awakho kupapasho lweendaba. Kwakhona iingxelo ngesi sifo zinika ingqwasela kubantu abaMnyama abahluphekileyo neminifanekiso yabo kuphela. Akukho nto ithethekayo ngezinye intlanga. Okokuqala, olu phando ngoko ke lucebisa ukuba makuhlonitshwe umGaqo Siseko weli ngokubhekiselele kumalungelo abantu ingakubi abo banesifo sikaGawulayo neNtsholongwane yaso. Okwesibini, amajelo eendaba mawaqinisekise ukuba abantu abagula sesi sifo nabo sibachaphazelayo bayazithethela ngemilomo yabo kuba ngabo abajamelene neentlungu umhla nezolo.

Thesis (MPhil (Journalism))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / 131 p. / This thesis explores how six commercial local newspapers based in the towns of Swellendam, Bredasdorp, Caledon and Gansbaai are reporting on gender and HIV/AIDS in ways that may help to shift specific attitudes as well as to generate appropriate community responses. The overall aim of the study is to advance theories around the location of commercial news media in the development context. It also aims to inform and empower development workers and activists on the opportunities or pitfalls in engaging with rural local media to advance their development goals. In most prior studies into the nature of gender or HIV/AIDS reporting in the media in South Africa, the focus has been exclusively on mainstream corporate and/or urbanbased media titles and very little investigation has been done into the performance of small ruralbased media. The study employs two methods of data collection namely, a quantitative content analysis of newspapers and structured interviews with the editors of the papers, and a sample group of government employees and community activists in the respective towns. The structured interviews provide a qualitative dimension to the content analysis, bearing in mind the dangers of quantifying media content and making isolated judgements on the actual context of journalistic practice. Through the interviews, the researcher has been able to explore the extent to which the perceptions of the media editors visavis a public interest role with respect to gender and HIV/AIDS actually differs from the quantitative evidence of their performance and the perceptions of key informants in their communities. The findings of the study suggest that local rural media hold out great hope with respect to the advancement of development communication goals through commercial media platforms. The editors in the four towns have established organic connections with their community, albeit tenuous, but which extend into the ranks of development workers in their towns. The data from the content analysis suggests that women enjoy high visibility in the pages of their local papers, and they are most likely to be portrayed as positive achievers than as women encountering violence. The tenuous nature of the connections between editor and community are most starkly evident around the issue of HIV/AIDS, with coverage of this being very low despite much work being undertaken in the community to deal with the pandemic. With respect to the issue of gender, there was demonstrable evidence from actual examples of content, that showed on the one hand the capacity to motivate for change in women's lives, but also on the other hand a danger of reinforcing attitudes that compound women's oppression. The study offers recommendations to a range of roleplayers to ensure, firstly, the continued survival of local rural newspapers, and also support in building capacity to see these papers mature into journalism products that are integrative and transformative. / Ford Foundation and the Media Development and Diversity Agency