Browsing by Author "Jordaan, Marenet"

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    Die belang van kritiese selfrefleksie deur joernalistiekopvoeders
    (Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns, 2018) Jordaan, Marenet
    Die joernalistieke bedryf is onder groot druk en verander teen ʼn ongekende pas. Dit beteken joernalistiekopvoeders – veral op tersiêre vlak – moet gedurig herbesin oor wat in die lesinglokaal gebeur om tred te hou met omwentelinge in die bedryf. Die kernargument in hierdie artikel is dat joernalistiekopvoeders die basiese beginsels van kritiese selfreflektiewe onderrigpraktyk in gedagte moet hou wanneer hulle interaksie met studente het en kurrikula ontwikkel. Kritiese selfreflektiewe onderrigpraktyk beteken om deeglik na te dink oor bestaande waardestelsels en ervaring alvorens besluite oor toekomstige onderrigbenaderings gemaak word (Larrivee 2000:294). In die artikel word kennis geneem van debatte binne joernalistiekonderrig, wat insluit die soms gespanne verhouding tussen die akademie en die bedryf, sowel as onsekerheid wat steeds bestaan oor waar joernalistiekprogramme in die groter universiteitsomgewing inpas. Aandag word ook geskenk aan die veranderende leerstyle van studente. Die gebruik van digitale media-tegnologie word as voorbeeld gebruik van hoe daar soms wanopvattings kan bestaan oor studente se ervaring binne en buite die lesinglokaal. Kritiese selfreflektiewe onderrigpraktyk word gedefinieer ten einde te argumenteer dat dié benadering veral relevant kan wees vir joernalistiekonderrig op universiteit. As voorbeeld van hoe kritiese selfrefleksie aangewakker kan word onder joernalistiekopvoeders, word verwys na ʼn gevallestudie by die Universiteit Stellenbosch se nagraadse joernalistiekdepartement. In dié geval word terugvoer uit fokusgroepe met honneursstudente aangewend om te reflekteer oor kursusinhoud en leerbenaderings wat ook tot kurrikulumvernuwing kan lei.
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    Newswork in transition : An ethnography of Netwerk24
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Jordaan, Marenet; Botma, Gabriel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores how journalists at Netwerk24, as Afrikaans news website and national newsroom, experience and describe newswork during a time of disruption and transition. Situated within the field of journalism studies, this newsroom ethnography analyses how newsroom culture is structured by, and structures, the way journalists interact with each other and with non-human actors, such as digital media technologies. A thorough literature review indicates that digital media technologies can, on the one hand, change newswork on a structural level. On the other hand, such technologies can also, often simultaneously, become naturalised parts of existing newsroom practices and routines. What becomes clear, however, is that a technocentric view of changes to the newsroom is too limited, and that the role of culture and context should also be considered. As such, a novel theoretical framework is used in order to address the historical dispositions that influence journalists’ actions, while simultaneously addressing the current associations that develop amongst journalists and between journalists and the so-called material “stuff” they use during newswork. The study thus relies on a combination of the basic tenets of Bourdieu’s field theory, more specifically the professional journalistic habitus, and Latour’s actor-network theory. The argument pursued in this study is that journalists who were and are socialised in a specific professional manner into newsroom culture are actors within an unstable news-producing network; a network where digital media technologies also play an active role. By using an ethnographic research design, this exploration of Netwerk24 adds to existing studies from within the newsroom; an approach that allows the researcher to open the so-called “black box” of newswork. More than 250 hours’ worth of participant observation field notes from four different geographical newsroom offices, in combination with semi-structured interviews with purposively selected research participants contribute to a better understanding of what happens where news is produced for Netwerk24. More importantly, the analysis of findings – using ATLAS.ti version 7 – provides insight into why the cultures, practices and routines at Netwerk24 are structured the way they are. The research findings reveal that digital media technologies (such as Facebook and WhatsApp), while key to newswork, are not the main drivers of change and disruption within the Netwerk24 newsroom. These technologies enable, or force, the journalists to be multi-skilled and thus add to their workload. Yet the Netwerk24 journalists appear to have accepted and incorporated these non-human actors quite naturally into their newswork. What is of more concern for the journalists are the culture and communication in the newsroom. A lack of clarity about radical changes, the influence of specific newsroom personalities, an inability to share the vision for Netwerk24 due to a perceived lack of internal communication, and other challenges to newswork seem to cause more uneasiness amongst journalists than technological disruptions. The study thus concludes that while most journalists are willing to adapt to change and accept the uncertainty of a future in journalism, they often hold on to traditional conceptualisations of journalism and crave to know where they fit into the Netwerk24 newswork network.
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    Social media in the newspaper newsroom : the professional use of Facebook and Twitter at Rapport and The Mail & Guardian
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2012-03) Jordaan, Marenet; Botma, Gabriel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In a time of uncertainty for newspapers due in part to dwindling circulation, loss of advertising revenue and declining readership, Internet-based technologies have continued to grow. The unprecedented rise of social media, of which Facebook and Twitter are wellknown examples, has not gone unnoticed by the newspaper community. Despite their initial misgivings about the credibility of the information disseminated on these media, mainstream journalists worldwide have gradually started to adopt social media as professional tools. Social media serve as channels that help to funnel information towards journalists. Some newspaper journalists also use these media to broadcast news and promote their personal brands. The continued use of social media on a professional level will arguably have an impact on the daily routines and cultures within a newsroom. Academic research in this area is limited, especially within the South African context. This study explores whether the professional use of social media, with specific reference to Facebook and Twitter, influences the processes and cultures of news selection and presentation at the South Africa newspapers Rapport and the Mail & Guardian. A newsroom study within a social constructionism paradigm employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, including self-administered questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and ethnography. The main findings of this study were that the majority of journalists at Rapport and the Mail & Guardian used Facebook and Twitter actively on a professional level – mainly for trend tracking. The newsroom cultures were open and encouraging towards social media use. Journalists were also aware that social media create opportunities for their audiences to challenge the traditional roles of journalists and the realities constructed by the mainstream media. According to the journalists from Rapport and the Mail & Guardian the professional use of social media had not significantly altered their processes of news selection and presentation.