SEMENYA, ANNA MOSHALA2024-11-142024-11-142024Semenya, anna moshala. (2024). Analysing misinformation coverage by three newspapers during the 2nd phase of covid-19 vaccination in south africa: the daily sun, the daily maverick, and the sowetan from 7 may to 7 july 2021 [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg].https://hdl.handle.net/10539/42456A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of e Masters of Arts degree in Journalism and Media Studies to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024As South Africa geared up for a mass vaccination programme to inoculate its citizens, with the public eager to return to normalcy after enduring varying degrees of lockdowns for over a year, the enigma surrounding the virus provided fertile ground for anti-vaccine groups to propagate misinformation consisting of misconceptions, myths, fake news and rumours. The mainstream media, wielding significant power and influence, played a pivotal role in disseminating information to enhance public health awareness during the pandemic before and after vaccines became available. This paper endeavours to assess how three national newspapers addressed the prevalent misinformation at the time. It does so by reviewing articles published 10 days before the phase two vaccination campaign commenced up to two months after the aforementioned commencement. The results indicate that one newspaper attempted to address the misinformation explicitly, another did so through subtle discourse whilst the last one remained resolute in its pro-vaccine stance and did not entertain the misinformation.en© 2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.agenda-setting, COVID-19, fake news, framing, misinformation, newspapers, vaccines, newspaper coverage, south african newspapers, vaccination coverageSDG-3: Good health and well-beingDissertationUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg