Electronic Theses and Dissertations (Masters)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37994

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    How Does the Media Frame Human Trafficking in South Africa: A Study of Four Metropolitan Newspapers
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Seeth, Avantika; Finlay, Alan
    Human trafficking has become a widely discussed topic in the South African media in recent years, with an apparent increase in media reports on kidnappings, abductions and arrests. Given the severity and frequency of the crime, and that it happens in South Africa, the way in which the media frames its coverage of human trafficking is important in terms of creating public awareness and even informing lawmakers. This research investigates how the print media in South Africa frames its stories on human trafficking by looking at coverage in four metropolitan newspapers, The Star, The Cape Times, The Witness and The Pretoria News, from 2015 to 2019. This time frame was chosen as it is the period in which unabridged birth certificates for minors were introduced and then removed, in an effort to combat human trafficking by the South African government. Based on an analysis of a total of 306 articles, the findings from this study indicate that when it comes to human trafficking, there is a striking absence of investigative reporting on the topic. Coverage of human trafficking in South Africa tends to happen when prominent people are involved, or comment, or if an event like a court case happens. Amongst the frames identified, the topic of sex trafficking and sex work is often misunderstood, and yet reports on human trafficking are linked to sex trafficking the most. A high volume of reports deal with child exploitation. While the media is dependent on international stories for some of its coverage, these are often not given a local angle or relevance.
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    In the crosshairs of ANC factional battles A historical study of the transformation of the SABC from a public broadcaster to an ANC party broadcaster (2008 – 2018)
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mda, Lizeka Noxolo; Steenveld, Lynette
    This research set out to investigate the way in which the African National Congress’s political authority influenced changes in the South African Broadcasting Corporation through its webs of power and influence, exercised not only in relation to the Board and various line authorities, but in subtle forms of power exercised through the influence of the ANC’s culture of ‘discipline’, loyalty, and non-critical engagement with authority. Focusing on the years of the Jacob Zuma presidency – 2008 to 2018 – the research explores how the organisational cultures of both the ANC, as an organisation and the leading party in government, and the SABC, enabled the ANC to undermine the SABC’s mandate as a public broadcaster. Both the ANC government’s policies and practices regarding broadcasting and media freedom, and board selection, and the party’s less formal practices, such as cadre deployment, are probed and analysed to understand how the factional battles within the ANC undermined the public broadcaster. A qualitative approach using archival material and in-depth interviews is adopted.
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    (Re)composing: A study of the musical documentary in reimagining the historical archive through song
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Roberts, Daniel Ronald Newland; Kaplan, Kenneth
    This thesis investigates conventional documentary reenactments and proposes a different approach by examining the role of purpose-composed songs as a medium for historical reenactment in the music documentary. It scrutinizes this approach as an alternative to traditional notions of reenactment often associated with Hollywood-style documentaries where the convention is to restage historical events. Instead, the argument made is for the transformative and imaginative of poetic verse and musical expression to embody historical texts. The research explores the profound connection between the performer and the historical subjects through ancestral bonds, examining how this relationship enhances the performance's potency. In addition, it delves into the collaborative process between musicians and documentarians in creating purpose-composed songs, especially when performances are situated within locations deeply connected to the historical context, assessing how this impacts audience engagement. Reflecting on the evolution of the music documentary genre since the 1960s, the thesis critically examines Bill Nichols’s enduring analysis of documentary modes. It investigates the continued reliance on the vérité style in music documentaries while using selected case studies to map more diverse documentary forms extending beyond Nichols's purely observational mode. The artistic component of this research is an essay film, which offers a contemplative view of the symbiotic relationship between cinematographer and musician. It probes into the nuances of creating poignant artistic expressions that address historical traumas while simultaneously managing the complex interplay of the subjectivities inherent in filmmaker and musician. This dual-focused inquiry seeks to illuminate the capacity of music documentaries to convey historical narratives in a manner that resonates with contemporary audiences, marrying historical accuracy with emotional depth.