Deliberate, ignorant or expedient? explaining ‘local’ newspaper reporting on foreign nationals in the context of violence

Abstract

The South African constitution (1996) states that “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity”. To realise this vision, all actors in society must work to promote tolerance and inclusion. At the heart of this thesis is the premise that the media plays a vital role in shaping views and policies on various subjects including immigration. Xenowatch, which monitors violence across South Africa recorded incidents of xenophobic violence between 1994 and 2018 resulting in “309 deaths, 901 physical assaults, 2193 shops looted and over 100 000 people displaced”(Misago and Mlilo 2019:3). Despite constitutional commitments to promoting inclusion in South Africa, such as the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (2000) which excludes hate speech along with “incitement to violence and propaganda for war from protection of free speech”, a growing body of literature on the South African media and xenophobia, shows how large media houses continue to represent black African foreigners using language and imagery that can reinforce negative stereotypes. Fine and Bird (2002) note that “media coverage tends to blur the distinctions between the different categories of migrants and represents them as illegal immigrants, aliens or criminals”. Chiumbu and Moyo (2018) agree with this and argue that these representations contribute to forms of xenophobic violence that have claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in billions of rand in lost property. Ina context of real violence against immigrants in the country, including the stabbing to death of Mozambican national Emmanuel Sithole in Alexandra during the 2015 xenophobic attacks, such inflammatory language could potentially incite violence. In a country where hate speech and other forms of discriminatory reporting are formally prohibited, the question remains why South African media continues to report on immigration in ways that are factually questionable and at least potentially inflammatory. There are studies that have helped to establish how the mainstream media covers issues of race, migration and xenophobia in South Africa. Wasserman et al(2017) noted the media’s failure to contribute to an emerging democracy during conflicts such as xenophobic attacks and its orientation towards elite audiences. Chiumbu and Moyo (2018) noted that the media have, wittingly or unwittingly, used narrative frames that justify the exclusion of foreigners, thereby entrenching a perception of insiders and outsiders. While Duncan (2016) blamed the media for xenophobic panic in South Africa. While there are pockets of media that are xenophobic and racist, little information is available about the coverage of local media (Bird 2009, 54). Using media theories including agenda setting, framing and representation, I examined the themes in Alex News and Soweto Urban’s Dobsonville Urban commercial community newspapers when reporting on black African foreign nationals during and after the 2015 xenophobic attacks. The findings were surprising and upset generalised accusations that the media is xenophobic, racist and discriminatory. The interview process revealed that severe institutional constraints such as a lack of money, staff and time, limit the kind of coverage available and that the reporting is not based on the bias of journalists and editors