3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The performance of preferential procurement at the SABC(2017) Kaseke, Trevor FarayiThis study primarily sought to establish how a state owned entity, as an expected enthusiastic proponent of the State’s black economic empowerment efforts, had performed in terms of preferential procurement from majority black-owned vendors. It also sought to find out to what extent, if any, the fortunes of majority black-owned vendors had extended beyond the typical categories of catering services, cleaning services and security services. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. The basis of the quantitative analysis was procurementrelated documents, while the basis of the qualitative analysis was interviews conducted with personnel selected either for their involvement in the supply chain management process, or were the users of services or products procured by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) SOC Ltd. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. While the full population of transactions and vendors used during the period of analysis (2010 – 2015) was available, gaps in required information, as well as some withheld information, presented a limitation in terms of the data that could be used to answer the research questions. As a result of this limitation, the results of this study are indicative and not definitive. In terms of the primary research question the study found the bulk of procurement having been placed through vendors within B-BBEE levels 1 to 4. There were also significant increases in the proportion of procurement spend going to EMEs and QSEs over the analysis period. In terms of making use of majority black-owned vendors, there was a marked increase over the analysis period, with marked increases in the use of majority black-owned EMEs and QSEs. In terms of the sub-question, the study found a high proportion of spend, or increasing proportions of spend, that went to vendors offering services and products within the SABC’s core business areas such as Content Production. The qualitative interviews conducted revealed that this performance by the SABC has largely been ‘accidental’. The SABC has no strategy for black economic empowerment in general, and for preferential procurement or enterprise development in particular. All that the SABC appears to have done is implement a supply chain management policy that is aligned with the government’s black economic empowerment legislation and regulations. This particular finding appears to demonstrate how the State’s policies and related pieces of regulation are intended to work. At the barest minimum, just implementing internal policies aligned to the legislation and regulations should go some way in achieving the national imperative of broadbased black economic empowerment. The report concludes with recommendations on how the analysis from this study could be built on, as well as steps the SABC could take to improve its performance in terms of preferential procurement and enterprise development.Item Investigating whether Twitter plays any role in SABC’s television news production and if so how(2018) Trengove, IzabelThe internet and social media have changed news production. Consumer are now also potential producers of information that is available mostly free, anytime, anywhere, and everywhere. This has had a dramatic effect on traditional media who now compete with their former audience to produce news. It has weakened traditional media’s power to determine the public agenda. The social media platform Twitter enables its users instantly to create and disseminate news as it happens to many consumers. This has inspired ongoing research studies that examine Twitter’s role in news creation. This study focuses on SABC, South Africa’s only public broadcaster. It examines whether Twitter, despite SABC News not yet having adopted an official social media policy, nonetheless influences SABC News production and, if so, how. It applies key tenets of sociology of news and agenda-setting theory to answer these two key research questions. The findings conclude that Twitter has impacted on news production at the SABC. Twitter is regarded as an important tool in SABC’s news production and has affected journalistic routines and practices, and content decision making.Item Perceptions of the employees of the South African Broadcasting Corporation regarding performance management(2018) Mahlatsi, AbielThis study was undertaken in an attempt to investigate the perception of employees of the South African Broadcasting Corporation regarding performance management. Performance management was introduced by the South African Broadcasting Corporation with the intention to professionally manage employee performance by means of setting performance objectives, reviewing previous performance, assessing current performance, enhancing current poor performance, deciding on performance recognition and ultimately rewarding employees that perform exceptionally well. This research report has revealed that although performance management exists at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, more work should be undertaken to improve the current system. In order to investigate employee perceptions on performance management, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to junior management employees of the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The themes which emerged from the research led to a greater understanding of the elements that affect the implementation of performance management at the public broadcaster. The research findings indicate that although there is an understanding of performance management, effective and efficient implementation remains a challenge. An analysis of the questionnaire and employee responses, indicate a greater level of inconsistency of implementing performance management. A few of the reasons mentioned are: employees do not get appraised, not all managers provide commitment towards performance management, and a lack of consequence management by supervisor’s as a means of correction for employees who do not achieve the predetermined performance targets. In conclusion, an urgent intervention is necessary to address the challenges experienced with the current performance management system at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The current performance management system is not achieving its intended objectives.Item An evaluation of corporate entrepreneurial environments at broadcasting companies in South Africa(2018) Maluleke, Nkateko CBackground: Traditionally, the broadcasting sector is a fast paced, competitive industry with consistently changing technologies. The change is opening a gap for the sector to strengthen its initiatives relating to innovation and pro-activity within their strategic approaches. Sustainability and performance for Broadcasting Companies going forward will thus be dependent on their entrepreneurial orientation. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore if an internal environment conducive to entrepreneurial activity exists within the broadcasting industry of South Africa by analysing the dimensions of corporate entrepreneurial orientation in relation to betyour-company organisational culture and employee rewarding. Methodology: An exploratory study consisting of descriptive and analytic components was used to collect data from employees of six Broadcasting Companies. The participants were analysed in terms of the relationship between elements of a corporate entrepreneurial orientation (innovation, pro-activeness and risk taking) and a bet-your-company organisational culture and the relationship between elements of a corporate entrepreneurial orientation (innovation, proactiveness and risk taking) and employee rewarding at the broadcasting companies included in the study by means of a structured questionnaire. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and an ordinal regression analysis. Ethical approval to conduct the study was granted by the Faculty Ethics Committee of the Wits Business School. Permission from ATTV, Eclipse TV, Massive Metro, Touch HD, Trace TV and Power FM to conduct the study was granted by the Management of the respective Companies. Results: A total of forty-nine broadcasting industry employees participated in the study. Majority of the respondents were in the 25-35 year age category (n=27, 55%) Innovation was found to be positively correlated to pro-activeness and organizational culture, while pro-activeness also has a positive correlation with risk and organisational culture; likewise with the correlation between risk and organisational culture and pro-activeness. Two ordinal regression models were evaluated to test: H1: There is a positive relationship between elements of a corporate entrepreneurial orientation (innovation, pro-activeness and risk taking) and the bet-your-company organisational culture of broadcasting companies in South Africa; and H2: There is a positive relationship between elements of a corporate entrepreneurial orientation (innovation, pro-activeness and risk taking) and employee rewarding within broadcasting companies in South Africa. Conclusion: The study demonstrated the positive correlation exits between organizational culture with innovation, pro-activeness and risk taking. However, only risk taking was demonstrated to be statistically significant in the ordinal regression model (OR, 95% CI). There is thus a need to establish CEO within the broadcasting industry so that it may be an environment that sustains and attracts employees who are entrepreneurial in natureItem 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 An analysis of the viability of the public broadcaster's mixed funding model in South Africa(2017) Hlongwane, Priscilla FikileThe South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has experienced major financial and mismanagement problems since mid-2000 and yet current scholarship has neither provided a satisfactory explanation of this situation nor suggested effective solutions to these challenges. Based on a qualitative research methodology, this study seeks to determine how issues of viability of the mixed funding model of the public broadcaster (SABC) can be addressed. In addition, this study reflects on different but related public service broadcasters (PSBs) mainly in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom- BBC for aspects of their models that the SABC could emulate in order to resolve its viability issues. At its heart, this study explores and articulates the macro-level effects of the mixed funding model of the SABC. The core argument generated by this study revolves around the current lack of viability of the mixed funding model of the SABC owing to the fact that it is heavily dependent on commercial revenue –income generated primarily from advertising – while government funds and public funds (licence fees) play a minuscule role. The findings of this study reveal that the viability of the mixed funding model of the SABC should not be seen narrowly in terms of finances, but rather in the ability of the SABC to deliver on its public mandate as these are intrinsically intertwined. The findings also point to the fact that the SABC must be funded predominantly by public funds– a licence fee collected not by the public broadcaster itself, but by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) to ensure its viability going forward. In addition, for a public mandate to be realised, it is imperative that the SABC has a solid and independent governing structure, which is a key requirement for a public broadcasterItem Public service broadcasting and diversity in the digital age: policy and options for SABC television(2017) Skinner, Katherine Alicia MaryThe thesis critically analyses the potential of digital technologies – in particular, digital terrestrial television – to enable substantive diversity of programming in a public service broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation. The thesis deploys critical political economy of the media approaches. These approaches argue for a social constructivist approach to technology and not a celebratory determinist approach, which confuses the potential of technology with what actually happens in ‘real world’, contested policy contexts. The research uses qualitative methodologies, specifically thematic analyses of policy texts and in-depth interviews with policy actors and informants. Ultimately, the thesis finds that the changing political context in South Africa, which has moved away from participatory policy making processes, has resulted in missed opportunities to harness the digital potential to diversify programming. The thesis finds that with the government’s deployment of more authoritarian ‘statist’ and market-orientated policies, the policy space has narrowed, ultimately limiting the possibilities for the delivery of substantive diversity of content and programming. Finally, the thesis finds that to begin to reverse these trends in the digital, multi-channel environment, the government needs to (re)commit to consultative policy making processes and to regulation and public funding in the public interest.Item Mediating the nation-building agenda in public service broadcasting: convergence active user-generated content (AUGC) for television in Kenya(2016) Ambala, Anthony TerahThe violence, destruction and death of more than 1 200 people resulting from the highly disputed 2007 election results in Kenya was a considerable watershed moment. It exposed the deep fragmentation within the nation-‐state and became a significant fissure for the simmering tensions among the 42 “tribes” of Kenya. In the media-‐scape, these events evinced the elitist and tribal hegemony in media ownership and revealed, more than ever before, that certain voices and narratives were privileged over others. These events also unmasked recurrent motifs, which illuminated the stranglehold that the political, media and economic elites wielded over media instruments and platforms, for their own benefit. This study aims to explore the extent to which active user-‐generated content in the digital media space can intervene in, and disrupt, some of these exclusionary practices in the public service mediascape, to potentially inspire a re-‐imagination in this space for nation building in Kenya. It is premised on a participatory action research approach that draws on theoretical discourse on nationalism and nation building, as this is the field from which the study’s key problems stem and where conceptual discourses on digital media converge. The study also draws on participatory discourses in the media, as these potentially present an emancipatory platform for those on the margins of the hegemonic centres. Here it mainly draws on Bhabha’s cultural difference theory, Billig’s banal nationalisms, Jenkins’ ideas on convergence culture, Carpentier’s thoughts on maximalist media participation and Thumim’s assertions on self-‐representation in the digital space. The study also hinges on the practice-‐informed pilot project titled Utaifa Mashinani Masimulizi ya Ukenya (UMMU) digital narratives, co-‐created by the researcher together with the Abakuria (the Kuria people) of Kenya. This is a community marginally represented in the public service broadcasting-‐scape in Kenya and a people whose narrative discourse is seldom present in the public sphere. The study argues that broadcast content – not just in Kenya but also in Africa – on User Generated Content (UGC) for broadcasting predominantly focuses on passive forms of UGC rather than Active User Generated Content (AUGC) -‐ a term coined in this study to refer to user-‐generated content that entails a more meaningful, emancipatory and empowering form of participation amongst those traditionally referred to as consumers of broadcast content. It contends that although many contemporary television broadcasters around the world continue to create a perception of increasing and robust audience participation in televised content, in Kenya this is certainly not the case. It argues that significant forms of current participation on television are illusionary, minimalist and futile, as they largely entrench television’s balance of power among the media elites. Ordinary people are often ‘invited’ to participate in broadcasting, but their entry point into these narratives tends to be limited to accessing already-‐completed narratives and engaging in what constitutes token participation, with minimal, and in most cases, no impact on the story, its conception, distribution and socio-‐ economic benefits. Drawing on insights from the UMMU project, the study proposes that AUGC can potentially disrupt some of the existing tropes and motifs in the Public Service Mediascape opening up spaces for multiple and diverse voices and narratives in Kenya. This potentially enables active participation from constituencies that have traditionally been on the margins of the Kenyan nation-‐state to partake in the nation building process.Item Bring back the signal: an evaluation of the existence of a digital public sphere in the South African mediascape.(2017) Sibiya, NkululekoOn the 12th of February 2015, in an unprecedented move, members of the media in South Africa (SA) protested in Parliament and chanted “bring back the signal”, waving their smartphones in the air after discovering that a signal jamming device had been activated to disrupt cell phone signals in the National Assembly. Their protest denied President Jacob Zuma the opportunity to deliver his State of the Nation Address (SONA) until the signal and connection to the internet had been restored. It was the first time in the History of democratic SA the SONA was disrupted. The presence as well as the rapid spread and use of new media technologies in the SA mediascape has led scholars like Yu-Shan Wu to question the nature of their use and impact on government policy decisions. This study contributes to such work as well as long standing debates about the role of new media technologies in advancing democratic ideals in emerging democracies and the internet’s role as a public sphere. It does this by using a case study research method focusing on SONA 2015 to evaluate whether the South African digital space constitutes a digital public sphere. This paper concludes that indeed the South African digital space does constitute a form of digital public sphere. This sphere is largely operated and structured by news media organisations that use their websites, social media and various online platforms to engender it.Item New media influences on the public broadcaster's content value chain and business model(2012-09-21) Khan, Imraan DawoodThe emergence of new media technologies has influenced the broadcasting marketplace causing it to evolve and become more competitive. The various platforms that new media technologies have made available for content repurposing and the increased number of channels available via digital television and radio has altered the landscape of the public service broadcaster in an unprecedented manner. Thus, questioning its viability amongst the other private media organisations whose core focus is on commercialisation of content rather than serving the public interest. Based on the case study of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), this study articulates the influence of new media broadcasting on the public broadcaster’s business model and value chain. It investigated the legitimacy of public service broadcasting in the new media age. This study examined the current status of the SABC’s broadcasting policy and concluded that there is urgency for policy revisions to be fast tracked.