On the faultline: a critical analysis of the Human Rights Commission's hearings into racism in the media

Abstract

In March 2000, the South African Human Rights Commission launched an inquiry into racism in the South African media. This dissertation discusses a number of issues that were neglected during the Commission’s inquiry. The main argument has been that the discussion about racism in the media could have been much more fruitful if the Commission in their research as well as during the hearings themselves would have focused on a wider set of factors that influence media content. Furthermore, if the Commission had shown a greater understanding of the historically troublesome relationship between the media and the government in South Africa it would have facilitated interaction with the media and done less to alienate the media from the process.