Zugl.: Berlin, Steinbeis-Hochsch., Diss., 2009

This research is premised on the understanding that alternative forms of media emerge to deal with specific ideological projects and, as such, must be seen as satisfying a specific need at a specific point in time. Using the case of a weekly newspaper, The Southern Star which was in circulation from January 2012 to June 2012, this study sought to understand the factors that led to the establishment of the newspaper, what it sought to achieve, how it went about putting that into practice, its message in relation to debates emanating from the ‘Matabeleland Question’ and also the factors that led to the its collapse. In order to address my research questions, I adopted a two stage research design qualitative content analysis and semi structured in depth interviews. In locating the study within the qualitative epistemic understanding of research, it was clear from the qualitative content analysis of 13 editions of the publication and in depth interviews held with 15 respondents that the newspaper was set up with the aim of serving a marginalised section of the population (in this instance the Ndebele) by providing them with a platform to articulate issues affecting them. It also sought to ‘speak’ the ‘unspoken’ within the mainstream media by focusing on Matabeleland identity politics. It achieved this by creating content around the Gukurahundi genocide, Matabeleland development, Matabeleland history and Matabeleland heroes. The newspaper also sought to emancipate the people from the South by advocated for social, cultural, economic and political justice as a resolution to the ‘Matabeleland Question’. However, the newspaper failed to sustain operations due to lack of advertising revenue. As a result of the constraining political environment in which the newspaper operated, potential advertisers were afraid of placing advertisements in the newspaper because of the nature of the content produced, which in view of Zimbabwe’s rival ethnic history, could easily be labelled ethnically divisive. Also, being a new player in the market worked to their disadvantage as prospective advertisers opted to place their adverts in “tried and tested” publications (Zimpapers and Alpha Media Holdings). Additionally, because of poor management, roles were not clearly defined and hence the newspaper failed to operate as a business enterprise. As noted during interviews with junior reporters, there was little or no experience at management level. The paper lacked a coordinated circulation strategy and from inception, was never officially launched, which resulted in the failure to reach significant audiences.

“What constitutes corporate publishing?” is the question that motivated the research for this study. It is not easily defined, but can be contextualised as part of the communications and marketing strategy of an organisation. In essence it entails the conceptualisation, planning and realisation of professional publications in an organisation. By conducting interviews with publishing personnel in selected South African banks, best practices pertaining to corporate publishing structures and processes were derived. It was found that traditional book publishing activities, such as commissioning; planning and creating content; reviewing, copy-editing and proofreading; design and layout; production, marketing; printing; and distribution can be used as basis for a corporate publishing venture. The convergence of media, however, is challenging publishers to rethink traditional methods of publishing. Electronic publishing is opening new vistas for organisations as it is an efficient tool for them to build and strengthen their corporate identity and to reach wider markets. To acommodate electronic dissemination, the adoption of an integrated, parallel publishing workflow is proposed in the study. Utilising a single source document for creating multiple formats enhances the publishing process and ensures the longevity of information. In order to draw all the publishing activities in an organisation together in a consistent and cohesive way, a centralised publishing strategy seems to be the most effective solution. The golden thread running through this study is the important role of corporate publishers as service providers in information-rich organisations. / Dissertation (MA (Publishing))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Information Science / unrestricted