3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item A content analysis of South African media coverage of China during the FOCAC 2015 Johannesburg summit(2018) Yu, MengPrevious studies on South African media responses to the developing China-South Africa relationship show there is a disparity between the media representation of China versus the official tone set by the two governments for their bilateral relationship. This paper compares how two SouthAfrican newspapers,The NewAge andThe Citizen, located at the opposite ends of political spectrum, reported on China during a six month period which approximates the duration of the Forum of China Africa Cooperation Sixth Ministerial Conference also known as The Johannesburg Summit. The aim of this comparison is to map the media factors leading to these differences. Before delving into the content analysis, the study first reviewed the media frames of China in Africa using the political economy of media theory. The triangulation of these theories linked the frames to the political economic orientation of the chosen newspapers. A quantitative content analysis of The New Age and The Citizen was conducted focusing on topics, tones, sources and theframeswhichweresummarisedfromChinaAfricaacademicliterature. Results disclosed both The New Age and The Citizen had business and commerce topics as the main point of interest. Other aspects of the bilateral relationship were not receiving much media attention despite government efforts. The Citizen had more coverage, although negative, of the JohannesburgSummit with diverse topics, different tones and sources thanThe NewAge. Judging by application of the frames, The Citizen showed an editorial leaning towards the opposition of the ruling party, and economic orientation towards its elite readers. Content analysis also confirmed the government-control nature of The New Age. China was more positively portrayed in The New Age. The research proves that ownership and funding had shaped South African mediarepresentationofChinaItem Media representation of political leadership and governance in South Africa: press coverage of Jacob Zuma(2017) Nkomo, SibusisoThis research report examines news media representation of political leadership and governance in South Africa between 2007 and 2013, when President Jacob Zuma served his first terms as ANC leader and later as the head of state. The research sought to find out what themes and ideas exist about political leadership in news media more than 20 years since the advent of democracy. Quantitative manifest content analysis is utilised to analyse newspaper articles from the City Press, Mail & Guardian, the Sunday Independent and the Sunday Times. The results show that media representation of political leadership is most discussed in opinion articles and editorials and relies on key democratic concepts such as freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The key themes and ideas that emerge include the personalisation of leadership, defining leadership, debate on how to lead, Zuma’s own leadership traits versus expectations and it became clear that news media evaluated Zuma as head of state or leader of the nation more often than as president of his party.Item Press coverage of a national security issue(2016) Malinda, Nthomeni EdwardSouth Africa, like other liberal democracies worldwide, is characterised by constant tension between government and the media, particularly the press. At the centre of the tension is the need by government to maintain a certain level of state secrecy on the grounds of national security on the one hand, and the need for transparency and the right of access to information on the other. Both these rights are provided for in international and local statutory instruments. Press reports about an alleged secret procurement by South Africa’s Department of Defence of a spy satellite have also heightened the tension. The purpose of the research is to explore the nature of the tension through a case study focusing on some national newspapers. The study examines if the South African press, which, when it dispensed information to the public, published sensitive state information that detrimentally impacted national security. This research shows that in some instances local newspapers published classified and sensitive information relating to national security. Although a court of law is the proper organ to determine whether the press contravened the law by publishing sensitive security information, the disclosure arguably prejudiced the national security interests of South Africa.Item How does the South African media socially construct minibus taxi drivers?(2016) Sugden, CaitlinAbstract The following research report aimed to determine how the South African print media socially constructs minibus taxi drivers. In order to achieve this aim, a media survey of South African newspaper articles reporting on minibus taxi drivers in the year 2014 was conducted. The collected articles revealed the print media’s social constructions of minibus taxi drivers. The media is a very powerful entity which has the ability to create and shift the perceptions of those who read their reports. It is through this ability, that the media portray the current social relations existing in post-Apartheid South Africa. The researcher was able to determine these different social constructions through the use of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) methodology. This methodology allowed the reader to look beyond the words the journalists used, and rather to focus on the implications of these words as well as what had not been explicitly mentioned. This research found that the minibus taxi driver was socially constructed using three discourses: ‘The Bad Citizen’, ‘The Victim’ and ‘The Good Citizen’. This research provides the platform for future research into the perceptions of the minibus taxi and the minibus taxi industry. Understanding these perceptions is vital in transforming the transportation industry of South Africa. Key words: Minibus taxi drivers; Minibus taxi industry; Social constructions, South African print media; Newspaper articles, 2014.Item Between science, politics and human rights: media coverage of the blood controversies(2012-08-31) King, CharlesSouth Africa obtained a new constitution in 1994 that enshrined the right to sexual orientation, race and gender equality, as well as – crucially – ensuring the “freedom of the press and other media”. However, consequent national debates appear to indicate that the country is still grappling with issues of sexual orientation and of sexual practices. It is against the complexity of this background that this research examines – through a focus on reported conflict over South Africa’s blood transfusion service – how certain debates and controversies around issues of race and sexual orientation arose and played out in the media. The editorials and opinion pieces of both The Star and The Citizen newspapers were more than mere platforms for debates to unfold upon. While both publications did undoubtedly provide a seemingly neutral platform for the two controversies to play themselves out, which included ample input from their readers, both publications from their editorial position intervened in a wide range of editorials, opinion pieces, commentaries and one cartoon. Thus, in fact, they played a powerful role in the curating manipulation of the debates.