Arnold S. de Beer

Which public? Whose interest? The South African Media and its role during the first ten years of democracy

Abstract A number of salient issues arose in the South African media landscape during the first ten years of its democracy. This article outlines the significant changes brought about by democratisation, such as the shift from governmental control to self-regulation and ownership changes. The focus is on conflicts between the mainstream media sector and the new democratic government, especially as these conflicts relate to the difference in understanding the medias role in post-apartheid society, that is, whether the media should serve the ‘public interest’ or the ‘national interest’. In discussing these debates, the article contrasts the theoretical perspectives of functionalism and critical theory.

South African Journalism and Mass Communication Scholarship: negotiating ideological schisms

The history of South African journalism and mass communication (JMC) scholarship at university level stretches back to the 1960s. Five primary paradigms could be distinguished between 1960 and 1990. These were the German and Netherlands tradition (Zeitungswissenschaft and Perswetenschap, i.e. media history, law, ethics), positivist, functionalist, interpretative and Marxist. The last four approaches corresponded broadly to three sociological paradigms, namely: the positivist, idealist and realist. Different academic departments combined elements of the three approaches in varying proportions and combinations, each developing a preferred paradigm. This article begins with a cursory historical sketch of South African journalism, followed by a brief overview of JMC departments. The main trends in scholarship are then discussed against the backdrop of a qualitative analysis executed for this article. The authors conclude that theoretical and political rapprochement rather than division is occurring and evolving within post-apartheid JMC; that there is increasing co-operation and willingness to debate issues; that there is a recognition of the value of paradigm difference in debating issues, and that there is the need to locate South African JMC in an African and global context.

Sanef's ‘2002 South African National Journalism Skills Audit’

Abstract This article presents the media section of the Sanef 2002 skills audit. The purpose of the research was to conduct a situation analysis of reporting, writing, and accuracy skills among reporters with 2–5 years experience. It was conducted amongst 112 reporters working at a stratified sample of 32 media institutions in South Africa. Some of the recommendations include that reporting, writing and accuracy skills were areas that needed urgent attention. It was also found that improved interaction between the media industry and tertiary institutions; a regulated system of internships; and an accreditation system should be put in place as soon as possible.

NEWS FROM AND IN THE “DARK CONTINENT”: Afro-pessimism, news flows, global journalism and media regimes

The concepts news flow, global journalism/news and media regime are under theoretical construction. News media content is becoming increasingly deterritorialized, involving complex relations and flows across national borders and continents. Consequently, it becomes more difficult to categorize news in the traditional binary context as either national or international news as was the case with news flow studies since the mid-1990s. These changes are perhaps most evident in centres outside the global North, where rapid development of media infrastructures, coupled with political and social shifts as a result of widespread democratization since the mid-1990s, have brought about complex configurations of the local/global relationship in news. Global journalism/news is suggested as an alternative concept and the notion of media regimes is introduced as a way to interrogate assumptions about global news flows as it relates to Africa. A content analysis of TV news channels in three world regions was conducted to...The concepts news flow, global journalism/news and media regime are under theoretical construction. News media content is becoming increasingly deterritorialized, involving complex relations and flows across national borders and continents. Consequently, it becomes more difficult to categorize news in the traditional binary context as either national or international news as was the case with news flow studies since the mid-1990s. These changes are perhaps most evident in centres outside the global North, where rapid development of media infrastructures, coupled with political and social shifts as a result of widespread democratization since the mid-1990s, have brought about complex configurations of the local/global relationship in news. Global journalism/news is suggested as an alternative concept and the notion of media regimes is introduced as a way to interrogate assumptions about global news flows as it relates to Africa. A content analysis of TV news channels in three world regions was conducted to facilitate the analysis.

Covering HIV / AIDS : towards a heuristic comparison between communitarian and utilitarian ethics

Abstract This article considers two approaches to ethical decision-making on the issue of reporting on human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS)-related deaths in the popular media. The conflict between cultural values and the public interest is explored via the ethical approaches of communitarianism and utilitarianism. The death of a former South African presidential spokesperson, is taken as an illustration of how these approaches might lead to different ethical decisions.

The Professional Teaching of Journalism as a Science approach - an introduction

Journalism education in South Africa is, as elsewhere in the world, at the crossroads. This is due to a number of factors, namely: changing socioeconomic, political and technological circumstances, as well as changes in education, journalism and the media system itself. Despite the number of university journalism programs in South Africa, and despite the apparent need for better trained people in the New South Africa, journalism education at universities is still not in the clear as far as acceptability of its present status and future role is concerned. In this article the Professional Teaching of Journalism as a Science approach is presented.

Looking for journalism education scholarship in some unusual places: The case of Africa

Abstract It is argued in this article that due to the ‘knowledge colonialism’ that exists in the world today, Northern (especially American and British) academic publishing houses have become so prevailing that generations of journalism students in English-speaking African countries have become entrapped in the Northern ‘way of doing things’. In the field of communication studies, this is perhaps best exemplified by the way in which introductory American textbooks on journalism have become not only the major, but more often than not, the sole published source for journalism students in Africa, as well as in the way journals tend to consist of Northern editorial board members, even though the research area is Africa. This situation is discussed against the background of the curtailment on the free flow of information in Africa on the one hand, and the Northern knowledge hegemony on the other. A North–South and South–South publishing model is suggested.Abstract It is argued in this article that due to the ‘knowledge colonialism’ that exists in the world today, Northern (especially American and British) academic publishing houses have become so prevailing that generations of journalism students in English-speaking African countries have become entrapped in the Northern ‘way of doing things’. In the field of communication studies, this is perhaps best exemplified by the way in which introductory American textbooks on journalism have become not only the major, but more often than not, the sole published source for journalism students in Africa, as well as in the way journals tend to consist of Northern editorial board members, even though the research area is Africa. This situation is discussed against the background of the curtailment on the free flow of information in Africa on the one hand, and the Northern knowledge hegemony on the other. A North–South and South–South publishing model is suggested.

The Internet in Africa: A New Road to Developmental Opportunities or a Digital Highway Leading to Nowhere?

Abstract This article deals with the issue of censorship and access restrictions to the Internet in sub-Saharan Africa as part of a general discussion on sustainable social development. Formal aspects of media censorship are discussed. The article then deals with what could be called ‘informal censorship’ issues that adversely restrict the free flow of information through the Internet, namely infrastructure and certain socio-cultural aspects. It is argued that the future of the Internet in Africa offers realistic and positive possibilities when the continents culture, as well as modern technology, are put to use in creative ways to bypass, if not overcome, censorship and access restrictions. The use of the African oral tradition of interpersonal communication, innovative developments such as cyber kiosks, technological ‘leap-frogging’ and the South African Media Development and Diversity Agency initiative are considered. However, it is concluded that the role of the Internet in sub-Saharan Africa needs much study and research, especially when viewed against the background of the requirements for sustainable social development within the context of globalisation.Abstract This article deals with the issue of censorship and access restrictions to the Internet in sub-Saharan Africa as part of a general discussion on sustainable social development. Formal aspects of media censorship are discussed. The article then deals with what could be called ‘informal censorship’ issues that adversely restrict the free flow of information through the Internet, namely infrastructure and certain socio-cultural aspects. It is argued that the future of the Internet in Africa offers realistic and positive possibilities when the continents culture, as well as modern technology, are put to use in creative ways to bypass, if not overcome, censorship and access restrictions. The use of the African oral tradition of interpersonal communication, innovative developments such as cyber kiosks, technological ‘leap-frogging’ and the South African Media Development and Diversity Agency initiative are considered. However, it is concluded that the role of the Internet in sub-Saharan Africa needs m...

Afro-optimism/Afro-pessimism and the South African media

Abstract After its first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa was often seen as an example of a peaceful democratic transition on the African continent, in which democratic institutions like the media were firmly established and safeguarded by a new constitution. Over the course of the first decade and a half, this optimistic view of South Africa has made way for a counterdiscourse of Afro-pessimism, in which clashes around the role of the media – in particular the public broadaster – were interpreted as signs that some of the democratic gains in South Africa were being reversed. The often fractious relationship between government and the media in post-apartheid South Africa was then also taken as a reflection on the viability of democratic media on the continent. This article aims to show how the media – in particular the public broadcaster – became a site for the contestation between Afro-optimistic and Afropessimistic discourses.

Ecquid Novi – the search for a definition

News people, researchers and the public alike have addressed the issue of news over centuries. Still, this fleeting, elusive, but essential feature of journalism defies practical definition, let alone scientific specification. The research problem stated in this article is that little progress has been made to find an overarching conceptualisation of the term news: What does news consist of, how can one define it, and will there be universal acknowledgement if such a definition should exist? A literature and historical study was undertaken in which the origins and concepts of news were analysed, while the underlying paradigmatic assumption was that of a functionalist approach to media and society. The purpose of this article is then to explore four of the crucial or key theoretical and research dimensions of news as it traditionally developed over a number of decades, and which have contributed, but also hindered, the quest for a definition of news, namely: objectivity; typologies of news values; news pre...News people, researchers and the public alike have addressed the issue of news over centuries. Still, this fleeting, elusive, but essential feature of journalism defies practical definition, let alone scientific specification. The research problem stated in this article is that little progress has been made to find an overarching conceptualisation of the term news: What does news consist of, how can one define it, and will there be universal acknowledgement if such a definition should exist? A literature and historical study was undertaken in which the origins and concepts of news were analysed, while the underlying paradigmatic assumption was that of a functionalist approach to media and society. The purpose of this article is then to explore four of the crucial or key theoretical and research dimensions of news as it traditionally developed over a number of decades, and which have contributed, but also hindered, the quest for a definition of news, namely: objectivity; typologies of news values; news preferences and reading habits; new news concepts; as well as training and education. Examples to clarify points made are taken from international journalism. It is concluded that a heuristic model for the development of a news definition should extrapolate and build on these four dimensions of news.