Doctoral Degrees (Journalism)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Journalism) by Subject "City Press -- European influences"

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    The political role of black journalists in Post-apartheid South Africa : the case of the City Press – 1994 to 2004
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2011-12) Sesanti, Simphiwe Olicius; Rabe, Lizette; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigated the political role of the City Press. black journalists in post-apartheid South Africa. Taking into consideration its ownership by a white media company, the study investigated the role played by African cultural values in the execution of their tasks with a particular focus on the period 1994 to 2004. The interest in the role played by African cultural values in the execution of the City Press. black journalists. tasks, and in the issue of the newspaper.s white ownership, was driven by an observation that historically, the trajectory of black newspapers was to a great extent influenced by the interests and values of the owners. The issue of ownership was of interest also because the black political elite frequently accused black journalists in South Africa of undermining the ANC government so as to please the white owners of the newspapers they worked for. Also, taking into consideration that the City Press played a conscious role in the struggle against apartheid, the study sought to investigate the role the City Press defined for its journalists in post-apartheid South Africa, specifically in the first decade after 1994. Three theoretical frameworks were deemed applicable in this study, namely Liberal- Pluralism, Political Economy, and Afrocentric theories on the media.s political role in society. The first was chosen on the basis of its theorisation on the political role of the media. The second was chosen on the basis of its analysis of the link between the performance of the media and ownership, although that is not the only issue Political Economy deals with. The third was chosen on the basis of its focus on African historical and cultural issues. The study has employed qualitative research methods, namely content analysis and interviews. It has a quantitative aspect in that it involved the counting of the City Press. editorials, columns and opinion pieces, as an indication of how many journalistic pieces were analysed. The period of this study ends in 2004 in the year that the City Press was re-launched as a ¡°Distinctly African¡± newspaper. The ¡°Distinctly African¡± concept had both cultural and political implications for the City Press. journalists. This study covers some of these aspects in a limited way since the research period ends in the year 2004. The research found that in post-apartheid South Africa, the City Press. black journalists. political role was to make sure that the objectives of the anti-apartheid struggle were achieved. It also established that the City Press. black journalists executed their tasks independently without interference from their newspaper.s white owners. The study also established that some of the newspaper.s black journalists experienced tensions between what they perceived as expectations of journalism and what they perceived as the prescriptions of African culture.