Contested spaces: an analysis of the ANC government's approach to the promotion of media development and diversity in South Africa, with a particular focus on the policy process that led to the formation of the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MIDDA).
Date
2006-10-26T08:25:00Z
Authors
Skinner, Katherine Mary Alicia
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The dissertation tracks the media development and diversity policy positions of the South
African government with a particular focus on the establishment of the Media
Development and Diversity Agency. It tracks the reasons for the reduction in the
Agency’s funding and the curtailing of its mandate. The dissertation argues that a
powerful coalition of forces including the commercial media sector and the Department
of Finance (now National Treasury) impacted on the policy process to drive government
thinking in a more market-driven direction. It explores the implications of this market
thinking for the deepening of media development and diversity in the country. Further,
the research looks at an alternative critical political economy of the media vision – firstly,
in terms of how this vision was scuppered in the policy process, but also how it might be
resurrected.
The critical political economy of the media school argues that development and diversity
issues are not unproblematically served by the market and commercially driven media
systems. Critical political economists of the media call for a number of state intervention
including anti-monopoly legislation, subsidies for struggling more marginalised media
sectors and so forth. Also, they call for the development of a core non-commodified,
citizenship-orientated and inclusive public service media sector.
Description
Faculty of Humanities
School of Literature and Language Studies
8703354e
kate.skinner@mweb.co.za
Keywords
Media, Diversity, Pluralism, Development, Concentration