A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy / The thesis critically analyses the potential of digital technologies – in particular, digital terrestrial television – to enable substantive diversity of programming in a public service broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The thesis deploys critical political economy of the media approaches. These approaches argue for a social constructivist approach to technology and not a celebratory determinist approach, which confuses the potential of technology with what actually happens in ‘real world’, contested policy contexts. The research uses qualitative methodologies, specifically thematic analyses of policy texts and in-depth interviews with policy actors and informants. Ultimately, the thesis finds that the changing political context in South Africa, which has moved away from participatory policy making processes, has resulted in missed opportunities to harness the digital potential to diversify programming. The thesis finds that with the government’s deployment of more authoritarian ‘statist’ and market-orientated policies, the policy space has narrowed, ultimately limiting the possibilities for the delivery of substantive diversity of content and programming. Finally, the thesis finds that to begin to reverse these trends in the digital, multi-channel environment, the government needs to (re)commit to consultative policy making processes and to regulation and public funding in the public interest. / XL2018

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, of the University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation October 2016 / In the current era of the digital television (TV) broadcasting dispensation, the relevance of the Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) mandate in South Africa remains critical, to inform and build democracy in the public interest. Recent debates with regard to the relevance and retention of PSB in the digital era seem to suggest that there are divergent views in this regard. These debates gave rise to this study. The study aimed to assess and reconfigure the role of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) in carrying the public broadcasting mandate in the digital era. Furthermore, the study explored how the PSB remit can be repositioned to meet the needs of South African citizens in the 21st century. In addition, this study investigated the evolution of public service broadcasting policy and the role played by the Department of Communications (DoC), the policy maker in informing policy. The study seeks to ascertain whether the policy direction provided by the DoC is in actual fact in sync with the developments taking place in the TV broadcasting sector. This research followed a qualitative research approach, by exploring the relevance of PSB in the digital era and also by examining South Africa’s 3-tier broadcasting system, with a particular focus on the SABC. The research analysed the SABC (PSBs), MultiChoice (pay-TV licensee), e.tv (Free-to-Air commercial licensee) and Association of Community Television in South Africa (ACT-South Africa), a body representing Community TV licensees, in their attempts to discharge the PSB remit in the digital era. The qualitative paradigm aided in the process of describing and understanding the research topic. The main findings of this study revealed that the PSB mandate still has relevance in the digital era, however weak this may be. The multi-channel and the competitive TV broadcasting landscape will deplete the commercial advertising market share, on which the SABC heavily relies for revenue income. Secondly, the SABC’s mandate can never be upheld unless appropriate funding is secured by government. Lastly, the findings reveal that the DoC has regressed in providing policy and prescriptions and that there is thus a policy vacuum in the implementation of the PSB mandate. / MT2017

The idea the South African Indian community as a homogenous has derived from the apartheid ideology of separate development. From the time of their arrival in 1980, indentured labourer has endured a series of processes that have shaped the deve1opment of this ethnic minority. With the determination to belong and endure at any cost, the South A frican Indian celebrated 134 years in South Africa on the 16th of November 1994. In 1987, the introduction of a two-hour ethnic broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, to cater for the Indian community in South Africa seen as a means to 'satisfy a need' of the community. As a member of the Indian community and having some knowledge of the complexities of Indian culture, curiosity was awakened to the fact that can a programme of two-hours in duration accommodate not only the complex nature of Indian culture, but how is such a broadcast constructed to cope with the diversities that exist within the community? This study will examine the way in which Indian culture is imaged in the electronic media. It will proceed with the assumption that no matter what the material or technological, position of ethnic minorities, or where they are geographically located, or what historical time they live in, their objectives and actions derive from a specific cultural reference that is different to other ethnic minorities. / Thesis (M.A. (Cultural and Media Studies))-University of Natal, 1994.

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

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

Thesis (M. A. (Media Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Culture gives identity to the people, that which should run from one generation to another. In this information age, media are expected to be carriers of culture to help sustain its transmission through generations. This case study explored the role of the South African public broadcaster in sustaining African traditional culture concerning SABC 2 soap opera named Muvhango. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a sample of 25 participants from Tshakhuma village in Vhembe District. The study hypothesised that there is a misrepresentation of reality in soap opera. However, the findings of the study prove that media representations about tradition are a true reflection of the culture impersonated. The results have shown that there is a good relationship between the media and culture, which the media as transmitters of culture are fulfilling. The findings of the study have proven sustainability of culture. However, thorough research is encouraged for content producers to have more accurate and truthful representation.