Masters Degrees (Journalism)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Journalism) by browse.metadata.advisor "Botma, Gawie"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Local but global? An exploration of the representation of English football clubs in English sports journalism
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Mokonyana, Teboho Phillip; Botma, Gawie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The increase in popularity and foreign influence of English football clubs has made them global brands. Improvements in media technology and coverage, means that fans around the world can now follow news about their preferred clubs with the same immediacy as those in England. This study’s aim is to explore the identity formation of English football clubs as global brands in English sports journalism. To observe this pattern, coverage on the European Super League from Sky Sports and Talk Sport was analysed. The researcher opted to use othering theory and stereotype theory to interpret the data collected. The former describes why groups and individuals are differentiated from the dominant group, while the former discusses repeated attributes and themes throughout the process of othering. Using qualitative research methods, in vivo and values coding, the researcher found that English sports journalists had a negative identity of the said clubs as global brands. These approaches are beneficial because they explain the attitudes, beliefs, and language used in the identity formation of English football clubs as global brands. The said clubs were stereotyped as greedy and othered for attacking perceived English ideals such as competitive integrity and meritocracy. English sports journalists also rejected increasing global exposure out of concerns of a higher risk of the exploitation of local English football fans. This study concurs with previous literature that found a distrust from English sports journalists towards foreign actors in English football.
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    Mobile journalism and broadcast news practices: e.tv News & Sport in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Whittles, Chantelle Dionita; Botma, Gawie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates how e.tv News & Sport is using mobile phones to gather news, the implications of using a mobile phone to film news stories, instead of a traditional television camera and crew, how mobile journalism is affecting the structure of the newsroom, and the ethical guidelines mobile journalists adhere to. Mobile journalism is a practical way of gathering news using only a mobile phone for storytelling. This new form of storytelling started in 2007 and as mobile technology evolved, media organisations started to become more aware of the impact and capabilities of mobile devices. The advantages of mobile journalism include that it is affordable and portable. However, this newfound way of storytelling has mostly been implemented by international broadcasting organisations. In South Africa, mobile journalism is not yet that widely used in the media landscape, especially within the broadcasting industry. Although some media organisations in South Africa have started to experiment with this form of storytelling, it is still mostly practiced through citizen journalism. The social responsibility theory, which is one of the four traditional theories of the press, and the information society theory were used in order to investigate the role of journalists and the social responsibility of these mobile journalists in the media and towards society. The impact technological innovations had on the journalism profession, with specific reference to the broadcast industry, was investigated. The information society theory was also used to establish how the mobile journalists employed at the television news channel, e.tv News & Sport, are using their mobile devices to gather news. A qualitative case study research design was chosen for this study and data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observation. This study found that e.tv News & Sport has successfully implemented mobile journalism at the television news channel, by integrating mobile journalism into the existing newsroom workflow. e.tv News & Sport employs seven mobile journalists, who previously had no television or mobile journalism experience, in different provinces across South Africa. These mobile journalists use their mobile phones to shoot, film and edit their news stories. e.tv News & Sport is currently the only national television news channel in South Africa who predominantly rely on mobile journalists, instead of a traditional television news crew, to shoot and film news stories. Despite some of the mobile journalists feeling they did not receive adequate training at the time when the television channel launched in 2018, and the work phones they received were of a basic range, they still persevered.
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    The normative role of the corporately owned community newspapers in the digital era: District Mail, Northern News and Eikestad Nuus in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Dinabantu, Keith Sindile; Botma, Gawie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the normative role of three corporately owned community newspapers and provides vital contribution to the study of community press in the digital era. Explored literature highlights that corporately owned community newspapers dominate the local press ecosystem. This study includes both Media24’s District Mail and Eikestad Nuus, and Independent Media Group’s Northern News. This study acknowledges different ownership patterns in the South African community newspaper ecosystem. These are community- owned not-for-profit, independent for-profit, and corporately owned community newspapers. However, available literature largely focuses on normative role of community-owned not-for-profit newspapers, and minimal on corporately owned press. Theoretical points of departure draw from the insights of normative theory of media and information society theory. These theories helped to outline community newspaper’s normative function, and the impact of digital media on their daily journalistic operations. Methodologically, this study adopted a qualitative design, with conducted interviews with editors, journalists, and analysis of documents as data collection methods. These documents helped to identify whether these newspapers are, as widely known in print media sector, are also facing challenges associated with declining circulations. This study’s findings highlight the newspapers endeavour to fulfil their ideal role as prescribed by normative theory of media. These roles include production of hyperlocal content, being a watchdog, and promotion of community participation in news production. The challenges they face, inter alia - are dwindling print circulation, as highlighted by in the literature review chapter of this study. Reader’s shift to digital news, budget cuts, and pressure to acquire multi-skilled journalists are the cause for these challenges. Despite the challenges, respondents from these corporately owned newspapers believe their role remains important as key stakeholders of the community.
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    Representation of official languages on South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) television: A study of selected Tshivenda programmes
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Rathando, Mpho Given; Botma, Gawie; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the official public broadcaster in South Africa. Part of its responsibilities, informed by the public broadcasting service model (PBS), is to cater for all South Africans in their different languages. The Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA, 2000), is the statutory body responsible for regulating the distribution of the official languages on SABC’s public broadcasting service based on a“ language quota” stipulation in the corporation’s broadcasting licenses. With Tshivenda being one of the 11 official languages, this study sought to investigate how it is represented on SABC2 television. The social responsibility theory was used to underpin this study recognizing its emphasis on the importance of the media to serve its audiences indiscriminately including language use. This is a qualitative research project which used focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews to gather data from participants who were selected using non-probability sampling method in Limpopo and the SABC2 management respectively. For document analysis, the SABC editorial policy, which draws qualitative elements; and the SABC2 programming schedules which have quantitative elements were used. The number of programmes broadcast in Tshivenda in a period under study is counted. The study found that SABC2 does not represent the South African official languages equally leading to audiences to call for better programming.