Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is a multimodal discourse analysis of the media representations of Zimbabwean immigrants in the South African media. The aim of the investigation is to illustrate how Zimbabwean immigration and Zimbabwean immigrants are portrayed in the print media in South Africa. For the theoretical and analytical framework, the study mainly combines critical discourse analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 1992, 1995, Van Dijk, 1988, 1991, 1993, Wodak, 1999) and multimodal analysis approaches (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006). These approaches are augmented by insights from the cognitive theory of metaphor (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) and from sociologists such as Stanley Cohen (1972) who have researched on moral panic. The study analyses the coverage of Zimbabwean immigrant stories in the South African print media from the year 2000 to date. A total of five hundred and seventy five articles were randomly selected from the SA Media Database. The SA Media Database is a comprehensive collection of all newspapers published in South Africa. These data are supplemented by articles from newspaper cuttings collected during the course of the study. The focus of the analysis is on how the arrival of Zimbabwean immigrants is ‘problematized’ and transformed into a discursive crisis through the construction of anti-immigrant metaphors and generation of a moral panic. The data are grouped into emerging themes, and data analysis is guided by a multimodal critical discourse analysis approach in which the verbal and visuals are read as text. Although the findings of this study generally support earlier studies which argue that the media representation of Zimbabwean immigrants is negative, the multimodal analysis suggests a more balanced and positive image. Thus, although this study supports studies that show that media discourses represent Zimbabwean immigrants as ‘others,’ and often as criminals, the multimodal analysis of the images of Zimbabwean immigrants suggests that media discourse is much more complex. In the media, the Zimbabwean immigrants are presented as either victims or abusers of the system in South Africa. This reflects a broader discourse on migration which constructs Zimbabweans as ‘aggressors and victims.’ Through discourses of moral panic, the analysis of metaphors, the representation of female immigrants, and the multimodal analysis of language and visual data, this thesis shows an extensive deployment of discursive strategies used for the representation of us and them, characteristic of media discourse on migration. On the other hand, the South African media, through visual images, portrays a sympathetic view toward Zimbabwean immigrants and their difficulties. Thus, while the study supports Woods and King (2001), who note that media discourses represent immigrants as ‘others’ and often as criminals, the multimodal analysis of the images of Zimbabwean immigrants tend to be multivocal, in that they tend to also depict migrants as victims of circumstances beyond their control. Therefore, one conclusion that can be made is that the verbal and visual texts in the South African media do not always tell the same story. In some cases, two or more stories are being told at the same time. The study also concludes that multimodality offers the tools through which the different voices, some of which are contradictory, can be read and heard. Images evoke readers’ schemas and frames of experiences, for instance, of pain and human suffering. In fact, visual images are presented as authentic and objective pieces of evidence, not as representations of reality, but, in a sense, as reality itself (Dauber, 2001).Thirdly, the images of Zimbabwean immigrants convey additional information, beyond the journalist’s intention. With images, readers can quickly elicit a strong emotional response. This is different from a textual description. Therefore, images are not only excellent communicators, but also quickly affect us mentally and emotionally. In this study, for instance, images of Zimbabwean immigrants in long queues at the immigration department enduring cold weather, or bloodied victims of attack, or an image of a helpless Zimbabwean child eating from an empty platter seemingly abandoned and alone, by design or default, draw sympathy from the readers. Because multimodal images tend to tell more than one story, such images can also elicit anger and resentment from the readers.Lastly, this study contributes to our understanding of Zimbabwean immigration to South Africa by focusing on how the media multimodally constructs representations of Zimbabwean immigrants in the South African media. Thus, this study also fills a gap that exists in the study of the interplay between verbal texts and immigration images in the media in African contexts; and specifically contributes to the understudied representations of immigrants in South Africa. Another significant contribution is that this is the only study that has combined cognitive theory of metaphor, the sociological notion of moral panic, critical discourse analysis and current theorization on multimodality to comprehensively account for media representations of immigrants. This study points to the need for a multi-semiotic approach to the analysis of the verbal texts and images of immigration in the South African media for a comprehensive appreciation of the relationship between the verbal and visual texts.

Women have been portrayed in advertising in stereotypical roles for years. Typical stereotypes include the nurturing mother or the alluring seductress. Since the social climate and the roles of females have evolved through the years, the appropriate portrayal of women in today’s media has become debatable. Findings from previous advertising research studies indicate that women are generally not depicted in powerful roles. This may limit the perceptions of women as it does not reflect their abilities and positions of power that they hold in real life. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the roles portrayed by women in magazine advertisements and television commercials in South Africa. Several secondary research objectives were set including inter alia the incidence of female models in advertisements and commercials, the ethnic representation of women in advertisements and commercials, and the types of products and services advertised using female models. Data were collected from full-page and double-page advertisements appearing in nine consumer magazines as well as commercials broadcasted during prime time on the four free-to-air television channels. The research method used was content analysis, which focused on the visual elements in advertisements and commercials - particularly the female model. The sample included 203 magazine advertisements and 245 television commercials. The results indicated that 55 per cent of magazine advertisements and 40 per cent of television commercials featured women. The findings also indicated various roles portrayed by women. The most prevalent role portrayal in magazine advertisements was that of a physically decorative woman (27%), typified as a woman that symbolises the physical ideal. In television commercials, women were most often depicted as product users, with 25 per cent of the portrayals showing a woman actually using or preparing to use the advertised product. The less prevalent portrayals included career woman, homemaker, mother, mannequin, romantic, sex object, social being, background elements as well as various “other” categories. From the “other” portrayals, the study has also identified new roles that had not been specifically identified in previous studies. The new roles identified in magazines were leisure woman and sportswoman, and in television commercials, customer and spokesperson. The results further revealed that women are used as visual attention-attracting focus points in advertisements across a range of different product or service categories. The product category that most often featured women in both media was personal care products (41% for magazine and 26% for television advertisements). The implications of the study are that South African advertisers need to consider the suitability of the models that are used to attract attention to their advertisements, as well as the fit between the role portrayal and the brand image. From a practical perspective, the study provides insight to advertisers regarding the relevance of female portrayals in advertising. One of the recommendations is that future research should be conducted to determine women’s opinions on female portrayals in advertisements. The study contributes to the available literature on this topic in several ways. Firstly, current female roles in South African magazine and television advertising have been identified. Moreover, a number of new role portrayals were also identified and described. The information gained in the study could be utilised by other researchers as a basis for future studies. / Thesis (DCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Marketing Management / DCom / Unrestricted

Student Number : 0413406F - MA dissertation - School of Journalism and Media Studies - Faculty of Humanities / This study examines the rise and fall of ThisDay newspaper by examining its strategies to break into the South African media market. The study places ThisDay in the context of certain factors of the political economy of the South African media and examines how the dynamics of advertising contributed to the collapse of the newspaper. By analysing perspectives from Bagdikian (1983) among others, that the success and failure of the media depends on its success or failure to attract advertising revenue. The study examines the specific strategies used by ThisDay’s management to attract advertising as a key source of revenue to determine how the failure or lack of such strategies could have played a contributory role in the collapse of the newspaper. Among the factors examined is the further consolidation of ownership in the competing media companies. The intricacies and complex relationships that existed between the South African media its owners and advertisers are examined, to determine whether the actions of the competition contributed to ThisDay’s failure. The findings of this study show that ThisDay’s entry met what was arguably a major need for quality news in South Africa’s daily newspaper market; this however, did not prevent its closure. It had to grapple with too many challenges, most of them internal. The underlying reason for most of the problems management encountered was the unavailability of financial resources to run a paper of ThisDay’s magnitude. However the strategies that its management adopted as well as the business plan were way off the mark. The demise of ThisDay newspaper is a loss to South African journalism in two aspects; the industry lost a quality newspaper which greatly improved the level of South African journalism (the quality of which many now say is in a decline). Secondly, its failure will serve as a deterrent to any aspiring entrepreneur who would like to put together a quality product, the perception being that quality newspapers are not profitable. With the demise of ThisDay newspaper and recently the Nova, it seems that the South African print media environment has closed its doors to new entrants.

This research will analyze the radio station ONUCI FM, UN’s peace radio in Côte d’Ivoire. The central focus is on journalists’ perception of their role as professional advocacy for peace and democracy. Personal interviews with five ONUCI FM-journalists provide the primary source of qualitative source. In light of the Security Council’s decision to end UN’s peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire in 2017 followed an uncertainty of ONUCI FM’s future before it was decided that the station would continue to broadcast under the Felix Houphouët-Boigny foundation. This research attempts to elucidate the consequences in similar previous cases. This research shows that the UN often lacks a long-term plan of how to handle their stations when their mission ends, thereby creating an indisputable journalistic vacuum where they previously operated. This research shows that few UN radios are capable of surviving without donations but that leaving abruptly may cause harm to the achieved peace. With the intention to provide a solution to the vacuum created after the UN this research explores the possibilities of citizen journalists filling the void after the organization’s withdrawal. This research argues that Citizen Journalism is a suitable substitute to Peace Journalism when UN radio stations stop broadcasting. Applied theories are Peace Journalism, Journalism ethics and Citizen Journalism. All theories are applicable in the analysis of journalists as nation builders, government partners, and agents of empowerment and also as watchdogs. In conclusion, the purpose of this research is to understand the journalist's own experience of working at ONUCI FM and to analyze if a radio station such as ONUCI FM, when no longer supported by the UN, can benefit of Citizen Journalism.

No description available.

African communities are among those most profoundly impacted by the climate crisis, even though they have contributed little to climate change (CDP, 2020). This crisis is especially felt by African youth, who are already disadvantaged and marginalized by political and economic conditions. Like elsewhere around the world, the existential threat of the climate crisis has led to a surge in youth-led climate activism in Africa. Nevertheless, less attention is paid to voices originating from the Global South, especially in Africa.This dissertation explores the plight of young African environmental activists in sub-Saharan nations by considering what strategies and tactics they have used to be seen and heard. To do so, it explores the challenges of communicating climate change, by asking how these young activists are attempting to use communication, information, and media tools to confront the region’s unfolding ecological crisis, educate the public, and challenge misconceptions about climate change while elaborating a social movement network across multiple African nations. To pursue this goal, it draws from African media studies (Madrid-Morales et al., 2021; Mano & Milton, 2021; Wasserman, 2018), media activism (Lim, 2018; Rodríguez, 2011), and ecological activism (T. Bosch, 2012; Fonseca & Castro, 2022; Gonzalez et al., 2021; O’Brien et al., 2018; Wolfe, 2008), to conduct a multi-sited ethnography of activists from eight African countries. The study is organized as case studies developed through a combination of in-depth interviews with the activists, analysis of the texts they have produced through digital platforms, and their relationships with their own communities as well as, more broadly, youth-centered climate activist networks emerging in the Global South and elsewhere. The findings indicate that African climate activists evolve through stages leading to their engagement. To speak for the environment and engage their audiences, they educate themselves and learn to creatively employ traditional and new media. In the process, they must also navigate a social and cultural landscape of racism, ageism, tokenism, and political repression through networking, self-care, and ingenuity. Their stories expand current understanding of eco-activism strategies and tactics, such as boycotts, public appearances, and disruptive social media virality, underscoring their place within ecological jeremiads that offer, in turn, new insights into the growing field of African Media Studies. / Media & Communication

Le discours de promotion des technologies de l'information et de la communication (TIC) s'est traduit, entre autres, par une approche technocentriste du développement de la presse, faisant de l'usage de ces dispositifs techniques la norme universelle de tout progrès, dans ce secteur d'activité. Assisterait-on, aujourd'hui, à un nivellement des pratiques journalistiques, dans toutes les sociétés humaines, où les TIC auraient été introduites dans les activités de la presse ? Refusant de nous enfermer dans le carcan diffusionniste des techniques, nous avons orienté notre étude sur l'analyse de la relation entre la presse et ses publics, en la circonscrivant dans les procès de collecte et de traitement de l'information, au niveau de la presse congolaise. L'analyse révèle une inconciliabilité de perspectives, entre la promotion des TIC et le développement d'une presse évoluant dans un contexte de dépendance politique, où le champ de l'action politique se présente comme l'unique instance de construction sociale du sens. Ce contexte a induit un procès de médiatisation exclusive, consistant en la couverture quasi exclusive des opinions relevant de l'élite politique au pouvoir. Le déploiement de ce procès cristallise ainsi l'appropriation professionnelle des TIC autour des logiques sociales de la communication, où la construction de l'information de presse se conçoit comme une simple opération de valorisation de la parole de l'élite politique. Dès lors, la presse congolaise, évoluant dans un tel contexte, paraît encore inapte à toute forme d'innovation économique et professionnelle significative, que l'usage des TIC est censé accompagner. Ce constat contraste avec ce que l'on observe au niveau d'une presse française, par exemple, évoluant dans un contexte sociopolitique libéral, où les TIC accompagnent déjà des innovations organisationnelles et des pratiques journalistiques, qui se traduisent par la mobilisation des stratégies de coopétition, entre les médias dits « traditionnels » et les « nouveaux » acteurs de l'information et de la communication. / Promoting information technology and communication (ICT) has induced among other things, a technocentric approach in the development of the press, making the use of these technical devices as the universal norm for all progress in this business segment. Therefore, it raises the question in knowing if we attend today, a leveling of journalistic practices in all human societies, where ICT has been introduced in the press activities. Refusing to be locked in the diffusion of techniques ideology, we focused our study on the analysis of the relationship between the press and public, limiting this relationship in the process of collecting and processing of information, in the Congolese press. The analysis reveals an irreconcilability of perspectives, between the promotion of ICT and the development of media, operating in a context of political dependence, where the field of political action is presented as the unique authority in the social construction of meaning. This context leads to a process of the exclusive media coverage, consisting in almost exclusive media coverage of political elite opinions. The deployment of this process is crystallizing the professional appropriation of ICT around social logics of communication, where the construction of press information is conceived as a simple valorization of the political elite opinions. Therefore, the Congolese press, operating in such a context, still seems incapable of any significant form of economic and professional innovation that the use of ICT is supposed to accompany. This finding contrasts with what is observed in a French press, for example, operating in a liberal sociopolitical context, where ICT is already accompanying organizational innovations and journalistic practices, which results in the mobilization of coopetition strategies, between "traditional" media and "new" operators in the field of information and communication.

No description available.

Recent attacks on media freedom in South Africa, that includes the ruling ANC party’s proposal for statutory regulation of the press, have seen press self-regulation fiercely contested and the ombudsman of the Press Council of South Africa (PCSA) defending the press’ constitutional right to freedom of expression. Extensive arguments have been made by government, the public and the press for other forms of press regulation, such as statutory and independent co-regulation. In addition no accurate, detailed trends arising from complaints the ombudsman has dealt with in recent years, have been freely available on which arguments in such a debate could be based. This research analyses the complaints dealt with by the press ombudsman in recent years in order to evaluate the present self-regulatory system, which is based primarily on the theories of freedom of expression and social responsibility of the press. The analyses involves determining what trends exist in complaints cases that the ombudsman, Joe Thloloe, has dealt with since he took office in August 2007, until August 2011 when a Review of his office was published by the PCSA. The study takes a qualitative approach, with some degree of quantification, and utilises document analysis and qualitative content analysis as data collection methods to analyse 593 cases, with specific focus on government complaints which form 15% of all cases analysed. The findings reflect that the ombudsman’s approach in dealing with complaints was fair, that he displayed intolerance for transgressions and that his rulings were free of any obvious bias. This is evident in, amongst other findings, the very few appeals lodged against his rulings and even less successful appeals. In addition the press often voluntarily corrected their mistakes before prompted by the ombudsman. The findings also dispel some of the ANC’s criticisms that have led to its calls for statutory press regulation, such as the public and government’s acceptance of the self-regulation system, complaints from government largely having involved accuracy and not privacy as the ANC claimed, and that government’s failure to sign the legal waiver often resulted in cases being dismissed. The findings also point to a significant increase in complaints, specifically from government, in the year 2010, which is the year in which the ANC renewed its calls for statutory regulation. This does not necessarily reflect a sudden decline in the quality of journalism but rather indicates that the ruling party differed fundamentally in its philosophical thinking regarding the press, which was perhaps informed by a developmental model of the press rather than the social responsibility model on which the present system is based. In this sense the government sees it fit to interfere or censor the press if it feels the system is not performing. The findings show the ombudsman’s office lacked proper record-keeping from which accurate statistics could be derived, leaving a gap for criticism against the ombudsman. In addition, most often complaints against newspapers involved accuracy and fairness (such as not asking for comment). As is evident in several complaints falling outside the ombudsman’s mandate and the high number of dismissed cases, the findings also point to a lack of awareness or information of the system and of the ombudsman’s roles. In light of the theoretical frameworks that set out how the self-regulation system, which is entrenched in the notion of press freedom, can enhance the cause of press freedom by its ombudsman enforcing a socially responsible Press Code, the findings ultimately lead to the conclusion that the ombudsman’s work has advanced the cause of press freedom in South Africa during the research period. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Recent attacks on media freedom in South Africa, that includes the ruling ANC party’s proposal for statutory regulation of the press, have seen press self-regulation fiercely contested and the ombudsman of the Press Council of South Africa (PCSA) defending the press’ constitutional right to freedom of expression. Extensive arguments have been made by government, the public and the press for other forms of press regulation, such as statutory and independent co-regulation. In addition no accurate, detailed trends arising from complaints the ombudsman has dealt with in recent years, have been freely available on which arguments in such a debate could be based. This research analyses the complaints dealt with by the press ombudsman in recent years in order to evaluate the present self-regulatory system, which is based primarily on the theories of freedom of expression and social responsibility of the press. The analyses involves determining what trends exist in complaints cases that the ombudsman, Joe Thloloe, has dealt with since he took office in August 2007, until August 2011 when a Review of his office was published by the PCSA. The study takes a qualitative approach, with some degree of quantification, and utilises document analysis and qualitative content analysis as data collection methods to analyse 593 cases, with specific focus on government complaints which form 15% of all cases analysed. The findings reflect that the ombudsman’s approach in dealing with complaints was fair, that he displayed intolerance for transgressions and that his rulings were free of any obvious bias. This is evident in, amongst other findings, the very few appeals lodged against his rulings and even less successful appeals. In addition the press often voluntarily corrected their mistakes before prompted by the ombudsman. The findings also dispel some of the ANC’s criticisms that have led to its calls for statutory press regulation, such as the public and government’s acceptance of the self-regulation system, complaints from government largely having involved accuracy and not privacy as the ANC claimed, and that government’s failure to sign the legal waiver often resulted in cases being dismissed. The findings also point to a significant increase in complaints, specifically from government, in the year 2010, which is the year in which the ANC renewed its calls for statutory regulation. This does not necessarily reflect a sudden decline in the quality of journalism but rather indicates that the ruling party differed fundamentally in its philosophical thinking regarding the press, which was perhaps informed by a developmental model of the press rather than the social responsibility model on which the present system is based. In this sense the government sees it fit to interfere or censor the press if it feels the system is not performing. The findings show the ombudsman’s office lacked proper record-keeping from which accurate statistics could be derived, leaving a gap for criticism against the ombudsman. In addition, most often complaints against newspapers involved accuracy and fairness (such as not asking for comment). As is evident in several complaints falling outside the ombudsman’s mandate and the high number of dismissed cases, the findings also point to a lack of awareness or information of the system and of the ombudsman’s roles. In light of the theoretical frameworks that set out how the self-regulation system, which is entrenched in the notion of press freedom, can enhance the cause of press freedom by its ombudsman enforcing a socially responsible Press Code, the findings ultimately lead to the conclusion that the ombudsman’s work has advanced the cause of press freedom in South Africa during the research period. / Thesis (MA (Communication Studies))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013