Thesis (MPhil) -- Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a time of uncertainty for newspapers due in part to dwindling circulation, loss of
advertising revenue and declining readership, Internet-based technologies have continued to
grow. The unprecedented rise of social media, of which Facebook and Twitter are wellknown
examples, has not gone unnoticed by the newspaper community. Despite their initial
misgivings about the credibility of the information disseminated on these media, mainstream
journalists worldwide have gradually started to adopt social media as professional tools.
Social media serve as channels that help to funnel information towards journalists. Some
newspaper journalists also use these media to broadcast news and promote their personal
brands.
The continued use of social media on a professional level will arguably have an
impact on the daily routines and cultures within a newsroom. Academic research in this area
is limited, especially within the South African context. This study explores whether the
professional use of social media, with specific reference to Facebook and Twitter, influences
the processes and cultures of news selection and presentation at the South Africa newspapers
Rapport and the Mail & Guardian. A newsroom study within a social constructionism
paradigm employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies,
including self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and ethnography.
The main findings of this study were that the majority of journalists at Rapport and
the Mail & Guardian used Facebook and Twitter actively on a professional level – mainly for
trend tracking. The newsroom cultures were open and encouraging towards social media use.
Journalists were also aware that social media create opportunities for their audiences to
challenge the traditional roles of journalists and the realities constructed by the mainstream
media. According to the journalists from Rapport and the Mail & Guardian the professional
use of social media had not significantly altered their processes of news selection and
presentation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Terwyl koerante ’n onsekere tyd beleef, deels weens dalende sirkulasiesyfers, ’n verlies aan
advertensie-inkomste en ’n afname in lesertalle, het Internetgebaseerde tegnologieë aanhou
groei. Die ongekende groei van sosial media, waarvan Facebook en Twitter welbekende
voorbeelde is, het nie ongesiens by die koerantgemeenskap verby gegaan nie. Ondanks hul
aanvanklike bedenkinge oor die geloofwaardigheid van inligting wat op dié media versprei
word, het hoofstroomjoernaliste wêreldwyd geleidelik begin om sosiale media as
professionele hulpmiddels te aanvaar. Sosial media dien as kanale waardeur inligting na
joernaliste vloei. Sommige koerantjoernaliste gebruik ook die media om nuus uit te saai en
hul persoonlike handelsmerk te bemark.
Die volgehoue gebruik van sosial media op ’n professionele vlak sal bes moontlik ’n
impak op die daaglikse roetine en kulture binne ’n nuuskantoor hê. Akademiese navorsing op
die gebied is beperk, veral binne die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek
of die professionele gebruik van sosiale media, met spesifieke verwysing na Facebook en
Twitter, ’n invloed het op die prosesse en kulture van nuusseleksie en
-aanbieding by die Suid-Afrikaanse koerante Rapport en die Mail & Guardian. ’n
Nuuskantoorstudie, binne ’n sosiale konstruktivisme paradigma, het ’n kombinasie van
kwantitatiewe en kwalitatiewe navorsingsmetodologieë ingespan, insluitende:
selfgeadministreerde vraelyste, halfgestruktureerde onderhoude en etnografie.
Die hoofbevindinge van die studie was dat die meerderheid van die joernaliste by
Rapport en die Mail & Guardian Facebook en Twitter aktief op ’n professionele vlak gebruik
het – hoofsaaklik om tendense dop te hou. Die nuuskantoorkulture was oop en aanmoedigend
teenoor die gebruik van sosiale media. Joernaliste was ook bewus daarvan dat sosiale media
geleenthede skep vir hul gehore om die tradisionele rol van joernaliste, sowel as die realiteite
wat deur die hoofstroommedia geskep word, te betwis. Volgens die joernaliste van Rapport
en die Mail & Guardian het die professionele gebruik van sosiale media nie hul
nuusinsamelings- en aanbiedingsprosesse noemenswaardig beïnvloed nie.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/20101 |
| Date | 03 1900 |
| Creators | Jordaan, Marenet |
| Contributors | Botma, Gabriel, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | Unknown |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 196 p. : ill. some col. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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