Browsing by Author "Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth."

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Analysing audience reception on health reporting : an analysis of the eNCA news' coverage of the Ebola outbreak.
Moyo, Sibongile Hannah.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
BBC News reports, an estimation of 28 607 recorded cases and 11 314 deaths caused by the Ebola virus. The deaths swept across six countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and the United States of America between the 23rd of March and the 1st of November 2015. This research sought to understand the encoding and decoding process of an audience watching the eNCA news. Specific news bulletins on the Ebola outbreak were selected by the researcher to give an effective investigation on how the eNCA covered the Ebola outbreak. Health experts were interviewed in regards to the media coverage of the Ebola outbreak. The reception theory was the main tool used for this research, complimented by the theory of representation and identity. The researcher also gives a hermeneutic understanding of the eNCA bulletins on Ebola, semiotically analysing images from the bulletins. By so doing, the researcher interrogates the use of the visual and verbal composition of the text in efforts to understand the reading deduced by the focus group participants involved in this study. The researcher also provides a contextual background of Ebola and the countries directly affected by it in an effort to paint a picture of the disastrous effects of the disease. The influence of social and cultural background in decoding media messages was evident when some of the audience obtained a negotiated and or oppositional reading from the messages the eNCA projected. This research illustrated how numerous factors influence how an audience internalises information and how African media should break from stereotypical images and employ the use of positive images when reporting on African issues.
An analysis of staff responses to the merger at University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
(2010) Khan, Soomaya.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
This study examines the challenges and opportunities that face the merging of Higher Education institutions with the focus on staff’s responses to the merger at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN). The focus of the study was based on staff’s attitudes and their varying experiences since the merging of former University of Durban Westville (UDW) and University of Natal (UN) forming the new institution of UKZN. It examines the barriers, challenges and opportunities of the Heads of School, Academic staff and Administrative staff in the Faculty of Humanities, Development and Social Sciences (HDSS) and the Faculty of Management Studies. The study also reviewed the international or rather global experiences of mergers of Higher Education Institutions and brought into perspective examples of mergers such as in the UK, Australia, United States, Netherlands and Norway. The study then shifted focus to a much more local level in terms of UKZN in assessing the ethos of governance in terms of dialogue and inclusivity and how they perceived the merger of the two former institutions. Since the study is a qualitative, judgmental sampling technique was utilized in this study since it allowed me the researcher to use my own discretion as to who is in the best position to be knowledgeable about the subject under investigation. Therefore a structured interview was employed in this study with a set of inter-related questions, asked in the same order to all participants of this study. Issues of governance, mismanagement of finances, degree scandals, demoralized staff, wage disputes and academic freedom are some of the negative aspects that are perceived to riddle the new institution.
Are Africa's development failures due to cultural irrationality or the manner of development? : towards a theory of sustainable community development through communication.
(1999) Kasongo, Emmanuel.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
This study is an analysis of the implications of the manner of development, decision making and communication therein on Africa's development performance since the 1950s. It sought to establish the causes of development failures in Sub-Saharan Africa and to explore a way for sustainable community development. Four hypotheses were set: • First, Africa's development failures are due to cultural irrationality, as many modernisation theorists have suggested, including Goran Hyden (1980: 3-4) who asserts that "Africa's underdevelopment lies in the persistence of its pre-modern and pre-capitalist practices and structures" and Ulf Himmelstrand (1994: 25) with his "European superiority" notion; • Second, Africa's development failures are due to the exclusionary manner of development; • Third, as justification for the exclusionary manner of development, community participation in development could lead to disorder and paralyse governmental delivery capacities (Huntington, 1991), and • Lastly, community participation is untenable because communitarian values no longer exist in African communities. This study is in two parts. Part One verifies the first two hypotheses through reviewing the literature. Part Two verifies the last two hypotheses using field research data.
Are we there yet : investigating the perceived causes of maternal mortalities in KwaNyuswa, Ezinqoleni Municipality.
(2016) Vilakazi, Mbali S.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Are We There Yet: Investigating the perceived causes of maternal mortalities in KwaNyuswa, Ezinqoleni Municipality. Studies conducted within Southern African countries link causes to the absence of the provision of maternal healthcare through accessible healthcare structures. Other factors which perpetuate mortalities are infections deriving from HIV/AIDS, particularly in South Africa and more specifically, within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Maternal mortalities are, by definition, the death of pregnant women at childbirth or during pregnancy due to various complications. With an annual record showing almost half a million pregnant women dying from causes, some known and others not, it is imperative to conduct this study, which is aimed at investigating causes of maternal mortality from perspectives of communication and culture, particularly within the rural community of KwaNyuswa. In conclusion, pertinent findings gathered through this study reveal that maternal health knowledge is lacking amongst pregnant women and women prior to falling pregnant. This included knowledge on prenatal and antenatal care. Additionally, the fear of HIV-testing acts as a barrier for mothers who seek maternal healthcare. The pregnant women fear testing positive, which then affects their agency meaning programmes such as the prevention from mother to child transfer (PMTCT), which are fully operational in KwaNyuswa. Additionally, traditional birth attendants (TBA) do not exist in this rural community; therefore they cannot be listed as contributing to maternal mortalities in this community. This study indicates that community caregivers act as a source of information and accountability for pregnant women, as they ensure attendance at necessary antenatal care appointments. This investigation revealed more than one child mortality case in the area and that a lack of transportation to healthcare facilities contributes to maternal mortalities. Lastly, inadequate service further disempowers pregnant women’s ability to secure maternal healthcare services. It is recommended that community perceptions around the PMTCT programme and the causes of child mortalities be considered for further investigation. Further, suggestions include a quantitative study which should be conducted in the KwaNyuswa rural area to determine the maternal mortality rate (MMR)
"As we are, so shall they..." : a re-articulation of the North-South vertical global green communications discourse.
Evans, Henri-Count.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
The emergence of a new global discourse on climate change, a discourse that has become both political and ideological, and the realisation that the global media are the dominant providers of global climate change information motivated this study to examine the manner in which climate change issues of the developing countries (global south) are dealt with in selected newspapers in developed countries (global north). The study sought to investigate the manner in which a sample of quality mainstream newspapers from the global north report on, and represent, issues concerning climate change in the global south. The study also explored, through the structural theory of imperialism, how the media, while covering global climate change, consciously or subconsciously can either reinforce or subvert structural inequalities between the global north and the global south, and investigated the flow of information around issues of climate change as they traverse the global north information economy. In order to achieve the above objectives, the study used four newspapers located in the Northern hemisphere, two from the East Coast of the United States (The Washington Post and The New York Times); and two from London in the United Kingdom (The Telegraph and The Guardian). The study took a qualitative methodological approach rooted in the interpretative research philosophy. The news stories for analysis were downloaded from the newspaper websites‘ archives using purposive sampling strategies. Twenty stories focussing on climate change issues in the global south (Southern hemisphere) were chosen for analysis with five stories from each newspaper. The newspaper articles analysed were collected from the newspaper websites through keyword searches. The study used news articles published between March 2014 and March 2015. The study found that the global south is represented in the global north mainstream newspapers as poor countries in need of climate change aid, as barriers to global climate change deals and agreements and also as selfish and insensitive to environmental concerns. The sourcing patterns across all the stories reveal bias towards global north political, scientific and business elites. The stories also sought to advance neo-capitalist interests in dealing with climate change portraying climate change as an opportunity for businesses to harness and not as a threat to humanity.
Audience perception of portrayals of women in selected Lokshin Bioskop films.
Mtshede, Sibusiso Thembalami.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
This study was aimed at audience perceptions on the representation of women in Lokshin Bioskop films. The purpose of carrying out this research is to find out what the female audience has to say on the female representation in three Lokshin Bioskop feature films. This study will be informed by the encoding and decoding theory. The research explored representations of women in feature films through an assessment of the audience’s perceptions therefore this study seeks to gain an insight into gendered reception hence the focus group participants are women. Three feature films Taxi Ride, Umalokazana and Jezebel have been selected for this study and will be viewed by the targeted audience and representation analysis will be drawn from these films. This study analysed how the audience perceived the representations of women from the three selected Lokshin Bioskop films by the directors.
The Bold and the Beautiful and Generations : a comparative ethnographic audience study of Zulu-speaking students living in residences on the University of Natal's Durban campus.
(2002) Tager, Michele.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
This thesis is an ethnographic study of the soap opera viewing patterns and interpretations of Zulu-speaking students living in residences on the Natal University's Durban campus who watch The Bold and the Beautiful (an American soap opera) and Generations (a South African soap opera). It presents an analysis of how the viewing practices of the students compare with the findings of soap opera audience studies conducted abroad. The students' motivations and reasons for watching both soap operas are investigated. The reason for choosing black students as subjects is that I wanted to determine how a soap opera (Generations) which is comprised largely of black cast members and designed with a young black audience in mind, is interpreted and impacts on the lives of said audience, when compared with an American soap opera (The Bold and the Beautiful) which has an almost exclusively white American cast, and is popular with young black viewers in spite of the fact that it appears on the surface to be unrelated to their everyday lives. Individual one-on-one interviews were conducted with 40 students, 20 male and 20 female. The interviews were analysed to gauge how the viewing behaviour of the students differs from, or is similar to, soap opera studies conducted elsewhere in the world. It emerged that the students watch in groups and not alone, and that watching Generations and The Bold and the Beautiful is a social activity, not motivated from loneliness or isolation. The ways in which the students relate to the characters and situations of both soap operas is also examined, in an attempt to establish the role that these two shows play in the creation of the students' identities. The students displayed a tendency to be more critical of Generations than of The Bold and the Beautiful in the sense that they compared it (unfavourably) in terms of quality of production, to its American counterpart, as well as in the sense that they analysed storylines in terms of their own lived experiences and were quick to criticise Generations when they felt that it did not conform to their notions of the reality of being a black South African. They accepted situations and characters on The Bold and the Beautiful far less critically, although they did voice objections to certain characters and situations which they felt were morally questionable in terms of their understanding of right and wrong. It also became apparent that there was a greater emotional involvement with the characters on The Bold and the Beautiful than with those on Generations. The students interpretations of (and level of involvement with) situations, characters and storylines are examined, as well as the ways in which they derive pleasure from both soaps and incorporate them into their own lives. In summary, this thesis examines the consumption of an American and a South African soap opera by a black South African audience .
Botswana television (BTV) negotiating control and cultural production in a globalising context : a political economy of media state ownership in Africa.
(2007) Mosime, Sethunya Tshepho.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Botswana is considered an exemplary democracy in Africa. It is imperative to assess how an enviable democracy could flourish when the most widely available mass media was not independent. The fact is, despite the fact that media has been at the heart of development in Botswana, it has often been ignored in local academic and popular discussions about democracy and governance. A 1994 seminar on the media in a democracy organized by the Mmegi Publishing Trust (Leepile, 1994), was one of the very few forums where the role of the media in Botswana was given any attention. Even then, most the presentations were not substantive, mainly providing basic information about media institutions in Botswana and laws that protect and threaten freedom of the media. Botswana's contemporary state - media nexus can only be understood within the context of a long history of media dependence and domination by neighbouring South Africa (Zaffiro, 1991) assisted by British colonisation. To appreciate the challenges of cultural production at Botswana Television (BTV) required a study of the problematic encounter between the quest for creative and professional freedom within BTV on the one hand,·and the authoritarian gaze of state power on the other hand. BTV operated under an ill-defined broadcasting model, of a state bureaucratic arm, attempting to fulfil the ethos of public service broadcasting. Through the lens of the Newsroom, in-house productions, commissioning and procurement of foreign and local content, the study shows the subtle ways in which state ownership of the media compromises freedom of expression and freedom of information in Botswana. Yet, Botswana continued to enjoy that status of Africa's exemplar of democracy. Good governance indicators consistently gave media in Botswana cursory attention, thereby reinforcing state authoritarianism in Botswana. With a media dominated by state power, Botswana still emerged as exemplary. This complicated the quest for the ideal communication environment towards democratization in the Third World, particularly in a globalizing context. In situations such as that of Botswana, where the institutions that should protect the media from government control are either absent or weak, universal ideals on media freedom are often not enough. Media practitioners are more likely to find support in the local discourses, repertoires and cultures that call upon all, regardless of status, to tolerate opposition. A local tradition of the kgotla in particular, often heralded as Botswana's indigenous form of democracy, is placed in this chapter, at the heart of much of the freedom, limited as it may be, that BTV enjoyed.
Centring development : education centres supporting rural development in KwaZulu-Natal.
(2006) Gush, Kathryn.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Since the 1950s, various paradigms of development have aimed to achieve improvement in the living conditions in the developing world (Africa, Asia and Latin America). Today the effects of globalisation have increased the gap between the information and technology haves and have-nots and development practice (born out of the paradigms developed over the last fifty years) now seeks to address issues such as access to Information Communication Technology (ICT) and the need for developing countries to participate in the global economy. The practice of development has and continues to raise debate, as Friberg and Hettne (1985 in Melkote and Steeves, 2001:19) note "there is no universal path to development. Each society must find its own strategy". Thus development projects have ranged in approach and focus. This research project examines the first year of the joint venture between the Media in Education Trust (MiET) and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (KZNDE) to develop Education Centres Supporting Rural Development in KwaZulu-Natal. These education centres aim to address a number of development issues for rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal. Through these centres access is provided for schools and communities in the area to Information Communication Technology, teacher development programmes, educational materials (including textbooks), library services, skills development programmes (including Adult Basic Education and Training), youth programmes and HIV/AIDS education and support. This research examines the Education Centres project in relation to Development Communication Theory and the local and global development context. The local context focuses on the challenges faced by South Africa as a developing nation and the urban-rural divide. The global perspective is gained through examining the centres project in relation to the Millennium Development Goals. In order to examine the Education Centres, this research project examines three centres in KwaZulu-Natal and their objectives in relation to the issues of participation, access, sustainability and the economic and socio-economic impact of the development project. These issues relate not only to the local and global context for development but to the relationship between technology, education and development. This Education Centres project is still in the early stages and thus the challenges faced could still be resolved during the course of the project. The key challenges identified when examining the three centres in relation to the issues of participation, access, sustainability and the economic and socio-economic impact of the development project are the lack of physical resources currently available in the centres and the lack of Internet connectivity in two of the centres. These two factors restrict the centres from fully achieving their objectives in the context of access, participation, sustainability and the socio-economic impact of the project. The Education Centres project is scheduled to establish these Education Centres over four years. This research presents an analysis of the first year of the project, thus there is opportunity for additional research as the project progresses and this future research can more accurately examine if the Education Centres project is meeting its objectives in relation to the issues outlined in this research - those of access, participation, sustainability and the socio-economic impact of the development project.
Cinematic fact and the film services industry: production contexts and contexts of production in Zimbabwe (1980-2016)
(2016) Ureke, Oswelled.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
The thesis is an exploration of the film services industry in Zimbabwe. It attempts to explore the nature of skills, infrastructure and organisational networks exploited in the production of film and video in Zimbabwe. The study is situated within film services (Goldsmith and O’Regan, 2005; Goldsmith et al, 2010) and political economy frameworks which acknowledge and critique the roles of multiple players and services in the film production value chain. The study proposes and applies a holistic cinematic-fact analysis of the film industry’s components rather than the content or the filmic fact (Stam et al, 1992). Four purposively selected films, King Solomon’s Mines, Everyone’s Child, Tanyaradzwa and Sinners? are analysed to establish the composition of film services employed in their production. The different socio-economic contexts in which the films were created supposedly had an influence on the film services and ultimately, on the aesthetic norms and themes of the narratives. The study is also informed by political and shadow economy theories, attempting to link socio-economic and political circumstances to the content of the films. Data for the study was collected using mainly the interview method as well as collection of archival materials. Filmmakers purposively sampled for their roles in the four productions were interviewed about their experiences on the film sets. Policy-makers with a bearing on the functioning of the film industry were also selected, either purposively or through snowball sampling, and interviewed to provide qualitative data about the nature of the film services industry in Zimbabwe. Thematic analysis and hermeneutics of interpretation were used to analyse the data. The study found out that film production in Zimbabwe, has transformed from an era of being modelled as a formal enterprise with clear, specialised roles to one that is constituted as a shadow economy (Lobato, 2012) which has no clear structures and does not depend on specialised film services. The ‘industry’ now uses a ‘guesswork’ approach to making film. This has had a net effect of creating a new genre of film whose building blocks are not traditionally associated with the classical film medium. This genre, dubbed the drasofi (dramma, soapie, film) is a genre of convenience borne out of the difficult circumstances that filmmakers and other enterprises operate under in Zimbabwe. Though the typical film produced in this set-up may be of poor aesthetic quality, it is one borne out of a truly indigenous and artistic endeavour; a trashy but auterist narrative.
Citizens of the nation, citizens of the world? : a comparative content analysis of globalisation in SABC 3 and e-TV national television news.
(2007) Emslie, Neville Desmond.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
South Africa is a country interconnected with Africa and also more connected with the world.South African national television news evidently is also more global or 'glocalised' (Robertson, 1996) today in comparison to the period during apartheid. This research incorporates an analytic-empirical, social constructivist approach, and interprets news as a specific construction of reality, a "social artifact" (Hjarvard, 2002: 91) of the context in which it is produced (Venter, 2001: 197). This definition allows for the analysis of existing aspects in news items to determine exactly what makes news reality global, 'glocal' or cosmopolitan.The methodology uses a comparative content analysis of three non-sequential weeks selected during September, October, and November 2006, of SABC 3 and e-TV national television news, focusing only on the first fifteen minutes of bulletins, and examining only foreign news. Foreign news includes foreign news locally and news with a South African connection abroad (Sreberny-Mohammadi etal, 1985). The current research analyses the influence of globalisation on each broadcaster - economically, politically, culturally, and technologically - and examines the mediation of global, 'glocal', and moderate cosmopolitan perspectives in news items. Findings reveal that globalisation does influence SABC 3 and e-TV in similar ways with slight differences, and while national or international perspectives are more prominent, global, 'glocal', and moderate cosmopolitan outlooks are still present, and e-TV represents these slightly more than SABC 3. Conclusively, SABC 3 and e-TV construct its news audience as citizens of the nation and citizens of the world, by representing a 'sliding scale' (Wallis and Baran, 1990) from national to international and global perspectives. This present study demonstrates how SABC 3 and e-TV mediate "allegiances to the outer circle" (Bowden, 2003: 242-243) - regional, international, and global - by examining the relevance of extending beyond a South African perspective in news broadcasts.
Communicating AIDS : the coverage of HIV/AIDS discourse in two Ugandan newspapers, 1992-2011.
(2017) Napakol, Angella.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Abstract available in PDF file.
Community radio as a pulpit.
(1999) Feyissa, Kebede.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
All over the world - except underdeveloped countries - many religious congregations worship in 'electronic churches'. This represents one of the 20th century's great religious achievements. Societies have become the comfortable beneficiaries of their newly invented technologies. However, since 1995 the phenomenon of FM community radio has been growing rapidly. It has become a new way to meet the public service communication need for entertainment, education and information in a very professional way. Religious community radio stations are a new and growing mode of transmission, and the object of this research is to highlight the development and growth of the religious community radio as a better way of providing communication services to religious groups. All churches and religious groups take it for granted that mass media have a role in the erosion of religious values. Yet they also proclaim that mass media provide the only means to reach out behind atomic individuals' closed doors, communicating intimately with the millions souls in that universe. My research uses the example of a South African community radio station, Radio Khwezi at Kwasizabantu Mission, to show (i) how a religious group has managed to create a viable non-denominational community service; and (ii) that regulatory and operational problems can be overcome in a suitable environment of regulation. I conclude that there is no need for mainstream religious groups to feel threatened by electronic media, that the mass media are an extension of the good tidings of the kingdom of the Lord.
A comparative analysis of the content and framing of Nguni and English language news as presented on SABC 1 and SABC 3, 13 July 1998-13 August 1998.
(1998) Mapukata, R. P. N.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
This treatise employs comparative analysis to examine the content of television main news bulletins as broadcast on SABC 1 in the Nguni group of languages and on SABC 3 in English. Specific emphasis is placed on the extent of uniformity in news construction and presentation techniques applied across news bulletins in the two channels. This research was conceived in the light of endeavours which began in 1994 to transform the corporation into public service broadcasting; given its history of manipulation of its activities more especially in the news departments, by previous governments. From racial divides to language groupings as core requisites for channel divisions; this treatise saw the policy shift as providing a unique window in a moment of transition in public broadcasting in relation to rapid social and political change. Empirical data in the form of recorded news bulletins was collected between 13 July and 13 August 1998. The findings did not reveal any substantial differences in the news construction techniques that are applied on both SABC 1 and SABC 3 news bulletins. The project is organised into five sections. Section one is a brief historical overview of the SABC 's channel division structure from 1992 to 1998. This section also outlines the changes that have taken place during the past year at Television News due to the impact of the SABC 's public mandate to transform from state to public broadcaster. Section two carries a definition of television news. In this section a body of media theories and models are reviewed and their relevance to the present treatise is highlighted. Section three talks about the methodology and research employed. These included daily recordings of news bulletins on SABC 1 and SABC over a period of one month , as well as both telephonic and personal interviews with role players at the SABC. Section four contains an analysis of the recorded data. This data is tallied with the SABC' s policy documentation. Section five concludes the study.
A comparative analysis of the use of social media by "People's Democratic Party and All Progressive Congress" during the 2011 political election campaign in Nigeria.
Olorode, Sumbo Oluwakemi.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Ever since President Obama won the American presidential elections in 2008, credited to his innovative use of social media, the use of social media by politicians all over the world has experienced an exponential growth. The Nigerian presidential elections in 2011 reflected such innovative trends with the use of social media by incumbent President Jonathan Goodluck announcing his candidacy through Facebook. Such a charismatic gesture by a political candidate created euphoria of political excitement, especially among the youths of Nigeria, to read from their President on Facebook. For this reason the research was aimed at comparing how the two leading political parties People’s Democratic Party and All Progressive Congress along with their presidential candidate’s use of Facebook during the 2011. To realise the objective of the study, the researcher used a qualitative research approach within an interpretivist paradigm. Data for the study was collected through interviews with those who took part in the presidential elections; twenty participants took part in the study. Additional data were collected from the official Facebook page of the two political parties selected for the study. The theoretical framework that guided the study was the social network theory, through the theory the computer mediated communication was understood as a form of social networking which was computer dependent. The finding of the study revealed that Nigerians, especially the youths, were actively engaged in the 2011 presidential election through the use of Facebook as the leading social media in Nigeria. It was also revealed that both political parties took advantage of the potentials of Facebook for political purposes. Nevertheless, the PDP is credited for initiating the use of Facebook for political purpose in Nigeria. This party made earlier and more extensive use of Facebook to show their political achievement in the form of health, educational and infrastructural developments. The PDP also used graphics for political propaganda and to attract more voters. In contrast, the APC used their Facebook page to discredit the political achievements of the PDP. This was done through the use of graphics mainly illustrating issues of corruption and division within the party. The use of language by both political party was English and was suggested that this was perhaps due to the fact that only the educated youths participated on Facebook political discussions. The researcher recommended that a similar study be carried out for the upcoming presidential elections in 2015 and should be done during the elections proper as the exact opinions of the voter and political parties would capture as the elections proceeded. Also a study should be done for each political party respectively without comparing one against the other, as this will provide an in-depth use of Facebook by these parties.
A content analysis into the framing and representation of 'corrective rape' in three South African newspapers.
Van der Schyff, Marchant.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
“cor▪rec▪tive: intended to make something better” – The word has positive connotations as scientists and activists across disciplines spend their lives finding and developing remedies to problems which plague the planet. However, when coupled with sexual violence against especially black lesbians living in depressed communities, to describe a tool used to ‘rectify’ their personal identity, ‘corrective rape’ becomes an ironic misnomer as it is a term used to describe an act of sexual assault in an attempt to ‘rectify’ deviant lesbian or homosexual behaviour. ‘Corrective rape’ cases are growing and the reasoning varies from a misogynistic culture rooted in traditional perceptions of women faced with a new and emancipatory democracy, to alcoholism and homophobia. This study introduces a discussion on ‘corrective rape’, which necessitates a description of rape and the power relationships which enable its subsistence; the saturation and desensitisation of South African media and citizenry resulting in apathy is argued. The aim of this study is to investigate whether South African media reports on the issue of ‘corrective rape’ and if they report on it, how those reports are framed in an attempt to understand the linear communication and relationship of media-issue-audience. Agenda setting theory as well as Framing and Representation is presented as part of a critical paradigm and then applied in this study in order to understand the media’s representation of the issue of ‘corrective rape’.
Convergence of information, communication and technology : a case study of Sentech.
(2005) Metso, Marathane Reggy.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
The global media landscape has undergone fundamental changes. South Africa is one of the countries that has been part of the global media revolution, and it is therefore not surprising that the broadcasting and the telecommunications industry in South Africa finds itself in the midst of critical and rapid changes. From a technological and legislative viewpoint, the industry is grappling with the meaning and implications of the convergence of broadcasting (Sentech Annual Report, 2002). Sentech Limited is used as a case study for this dissertation. The present study examines the nature of Sentech's transformation as a service arm within the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) to a fully-fledged, profit driven, state-owned enterprise. The advent of technological convergence and the introduction of new digital technologies afford Sentech exciting new opportunities to expand in the communications arena. The first chapter entails the methods of data collection used, as well as the analysis of data collected from the interviews and surveys. It is worth reviewing the challenges that Sentech faces as it operates independently of SABC, as well as how its transition into a digital oriented enterprise has developed and necessitated the possible access to information. Chapter two discusses and outlines Sentech's history and its structure. The two issues raised guide the reader towards a better understanding of the 'old Sentech', and its transformation to a 'renewed entity'. The history surveys Sentech's establishment from the initial stages when it was a mere division of SABC, focused on technological aspects of analogue terrestrial signal distribution. The new technological revolution introduced and transformed Sentech into a digital transmitter. The 'new Sentech's outfitted with new technological platforms for distribution and transmission. For instance, IP Wireless mobile broadband and other new technological structures contributed to reshaping Sentech into a digitally oriented transmitter. The design of the company tracks different developments in which Sentech has engaged over the past ten years, and are dealt with the following sections. The third chapter deals with Sentech's transformation as an outcome of the liberalization wherein the effects of this process need to be looked at including the role of the government, market structure, issues of competition with Orbicom and Telkom, the new competitive strategies and ICASA's role as a regulator. The fourth chapter covers the concepts and theories that may help inform the discussion in the dissertation. Three theories will be used in the discussion to help to analyze and evaluate the data collected. The theories are very important as they motivate this study. They are concerned with the concept of political economy. Political economy signifies "the production, distribution, and consumption of the more general interest in the process of control and survival in social life" (Mosco, 1996: 17). These will exemplify the opportunities that Sentech faced as an independent commercial enterprise. Furthermore, the section explains technological components. Sentech is a signal distributor, which underwent transformation. Concepts such as 'convergence' produce a vivid explanation of how Sentech was allowed to undertake an aggressive business transformation, from being traditional signal distribution to international telephony and multimedia service. Chapter five entails the performance of Sentech. This part discusses the revenue, public interest on matters relating to access and some of the key challenges. There is also a discussion on globalization, digitization and convergence which Sentech has engaged in. The last chapter will be concerned with a conclusion and will recommend a way forward.
Crime and punishment on the box : a contextual/discursive/semiotic analysis of SABC documentaries in the global era.
(2005) Burelli, Elaine.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
The SABC has embraced a mandate that advocates the promotion of cultural diversity within the broader ambit of national identity. Although SABC3 consitutes the commercial wing of the station, it too is required to produce programmes in accordance with the spirit of this mandate. With tight budgets, pressure for audience ratings and an assortment of individual producers with individual production agendas, it may be naIve to presume that the SABC could consistently give priority to this mandate. Nonetheless, this is what it has undertaken. Considering this unifying and optimistic mandate, how then are frightening, troubling or disillusioning social phenomena depicted? The representation of one such phenomenon, crime, has been selected here for examination as it appears in Special Assignment and Expressions programmes. The way in which the SABC tackles essentially negative material and puts it in documentary form for national consumption sends out a message to South African viewers. The nature of this message - and its relation to the broadcaster's mandate - forms the basis for this dissertation. Each of nine selected documentaries is analysed using a mixture of semiotic, discursive and contextual principles. The programmes are examined in terms of four sections. The first is global trends and theories. Criminological, documentary and other theories that are global in scope have been adapted to powerfully, but subtly, underscore all of the documentaries, with implications for the representation of national identity. Secondly, a sociological examination of the way in which the local has been depicted (and whether it is given much attention at all) has implications for the fulfilment of the part of the mandate relating to cultural diversity. Thirdly and fourthly, the overall portrait of national identity in the documentaries is largely dependent on the combined representation of national culture - including values, symbols, rituals and beliefs - and the nation-state. Both of these should be construed in an optimistic light, taking into account, nonetheless, the critical watchdog function of the media. The evaluation remains strictly textual and preferred meaning is determined through theoretically supported analysis rather than via audience research. Issues such as global neoliberalism and its impact on the SABC and newsroom values are touched on and acknowledged, but ultimately, their effect on the fulfilment of the mandate is not examined in this dissertation. The central thrust of the dissertation in thus, strictly, the way in which the levels of the global, national and local, as they are represented in the documentaries, constitute interlocking factors, which impinge on the manner in which the SABC complies with its mandate. The findings of the dissertation were unsurprising in many respects. Overall, there appeared to be no consistent pattern to which documentaries were produced. The immediacies of production pressures and deadlines appear to outdo the broadcaster's mandate in terms of priority. Having said this, however, certain features do recur, such as the prevalence of sensationalism or, on the positive side, the humanising of criminals in a way that offers hope. Consequently, the study isolates approaches that foster national identity and those that do not, noting the frequency with which they occur and thereby implicitly offering a roadmap for future productions.
A critical assessment of the role and governance of Muslim community radio in South Africa : the case of Radio Al-Ansaar.
(2006) Mall, B. Ayesha.; Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.
Community participation is a fundamental element of community radio. Therefore in countries where this form of radio exists, community participation is one of its most important licence criteria. It is no different in South Africa. Community radio in this country is a relatively young form of radio, just over a decade old, and is based on models in countries where community radio is a long established institution. Many of the South African community radios are faith-based stations. However, existing research on community participation in such radios are based mainly on Christian stations. The focus of this paper is on Muslim community radio. The study evaluated the extent of community participation in the ownership, management, programming and other aspects at Radio Al-Ansaar, a Muslim community radio based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. As this radio serves a Muslim constituency characterised by ideological, racial and class divisions, the study sought to find out if optimal and meaningful community participation from all sectors of the community is actualised. Furthermore, given this diversity in the Muslim community, the paper examined if Al-Ansaar, through its programmes, induces transcendence of or accentuates differences through discourse of divergent ideologies, views and beliefs among Muslims. In addition to the examination of the level of community participation in Radio Al- Ansaar, the paper assesses the economic viability of the station. It highlights the significance of advertising as an important revenue stream and assesses the prospects for financial sustainability within the context of the hegemonic influence of vested mercantile interests. The evaluation of the Al-Ansaar project took place against the stipulations of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and against the backdrop of key Islamic precepts. Furthermore, in the analysis of the various elements mentioned, cognisance was taken of the perceptions of the varied individuals associated with the station.
Currents of power: State broadcasting in South Africa.
(2021) Teer-Tomaselli, Ruth Elizabeth.; Muller, Johan.; Tomaselli, Keyan Gray.