3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The role that journalists in South Africa play in reporting on the asset management industry(2019) Jones, GillianThe way that financial journalists in South Africa do their jobs has not been well researched and consequently is not well understood. The intention of this report is to develop preliminary insights into the conditions that shape financial news in South Africa, and thus to contribute to the existing research on financial journalism in the country. The study explores the role played by financial journalists in South Africa in reporting on the asset management industry, which is crucial to the economy through its control of vast sums of money representing the savings of citizens, investments in business and funding of government. In view of this and the potentially increasing risk in the asset management industry, the way in which the media covers the sector is important. Focusing attention on how the media report on the asset management industry provides insights that may extend to the financial media in general. The report draws on the liberal-pluralism argument that media functions as a watchdog in society to ensure that no single body should hold too much power. The constraints to the media’s ability to play a watchdog role as argued by political economists were considered. In addition, the study applies relevant aspects of the organisational approaches to media production, in order to understand some of the factors that influence the ability of financial journalists in South Africa to play a watchdog role. In particular, the study considers the relationship between journalists and sources within the asset management industry to determine who is setting the agenda in news coverage of the investment sector. This may indicate whether or not financial media are fulfilling the watchdog role. The research method involved in-depth qualitative interviews with financial journalists to explore the environment in which financial news is produced. A content analysis, quantitative and qualitative, of Business Day, Financial Mail, Finweek and Sunday Times Business Times, was employed to further explore the subject. As this is a complex topic, this study introduces the key issues and highlights some areas where future research could assist in improving our understanding. A key finding of the study is that financial journalists in South Africa are not acting as effective watchdogs over the asset management industry. This may be due to a combination of a lack of resources and not having the mindset of a watchdog built into the financial media’s approach to daily news production. In addition, the balance of power in setting the agenda on media coverage of the asset management industry lies predominantly with the corporations.Item Morality and journalists: objectivity versus duty of care(2018) Leshilo, Thabo MaphikeIn this research report I address the question: Do journalists have a moral duty towards those they report on beyond the objectivity requirement of their job? I use the famous example of freelance photojournalist Kevin Carter and his iconic photograph of a starving Sudanese child, seemingly on death’s door and being stalked by a vulture. He was roundly condemned for shooting the image but doing nothing to save the child’s life. I examine this classic example of the observance of the journalistic standard of objectivity and non-intervention, against the Kantian imperative to respect human life. I contrast this with two examples in which, in my view, journalists acted correctly in terms of Kantian ethics by putting human life above their own, narrow professional roles and interests.Item Analysis of how perceptions of surveillance affect investigation journalism in South Africa(2017) Gcukumana, MzimasiThere has recently been an intensifying discomfort about State spying on investigative journalists in South Africa. Journalists are harassed by what the media has now termed ‘rogue spies’. Hanton (2013) defines rogue spies as “trained intelligence operatives working outside of the usually accepted rules”. The findings show that investigative journalists are being spied on. Some of the respondents in this study say they have hard evidence to prove this, while others give a perspective account of their suspicions of being under surveillance. Findings furthermore show a growing trend of self-censoring among the respondents who argue that they merely try to protect their sources. Respondents say that even though surveillance of journalists is bad, it has made their journalism better and more responsible, as there is now no room for errors. In addition, findings show that there is a serious need for government to tighten the weak legislation and oversight on intelligence with regard to state security. Findings also show that the State’s effort to intimidate and harass whistleblowers strangles information flow from sources into the public domain. The study examines how perceptions of surveillance affect investigative journalism in South Africa. This study is located within the context of significant local investigative journalism events that deal with investigative journalists and their perception of surveillance.