Repository logo

Masters Degrees (Centre for Communication, Media and Society)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7771

Browse

Browsing Masters Degrees (Centre for Communication, Media and Society) by SDG "SDG3"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An examination of how Sowetan Live and Daily Sun reported on Operation Dudula and foreign nationals: January to June 2022.
    (2023) Xulu, Luyanda Randy.; Dyll, Lauren Eva.
    Abstract available in PDF.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ‘Beauty is in the eye of the Instagrammer’: a walk-through approach exploring narratives of female beauty on Instagram among Durban higher education students.
    (2023) Webster, Kayley Jade.; Gibson, Sarah Elizabeth.
    In the twenty-first century female beauty is increasingly perceived as a social construct that intersects identity and femininity. Social media platforms have evolved into participatory spaces for women to negotiate and perform their identities, share information about their daily lives, engage with user-generated content, and explore modes of self-expression. South Africa's media landscape has witnessed a shift towards social media platforms, with millions of active users in the country. The literature revealed the need for research on African perspectives in the context of media, and revealed gaps in the intricate connection between feminism, femininity, and social media's influence on women's self-presentation and identity. This study aimed to address the gap in research in focusing on the unique narratives of young female higher education students in actively engaging in the construction of feminine beauty on Instagram. It sought to explore how this construction of feminine beauty on Instagram shaped the articulation of a feminine gendered identity through gender performances. This study also explored how young female students negotiated concepts of feminism and femininity through their engagement in the construction and negotiation of female beauty on Instagram. To ensure that the goals of this study would be achieved, a qualitative phenomenological approach was adopted. The main data collection method employed in this study was a form of walk-through known as the media go-along method that were conducted with 13 young female higher education students. The participants were selected by means of purposive sampling and a reflexive thematic data analysis was performed. The themes ‘Digital Craftsmanship’, ‘Instagram Performativity’, and ‘Dialectics of Empowerment’ ultimately generated insightful findings pertaining to young South African women's contributions to constructing female beauty on Instagram, the platform's role in shaping gender performativity, and the intricate interplay of feminism and femininity in this digital space. This study's findings revealed that young female students on Instagram engage in diverse modes of active curation to shape their beauty ideals in alignment with personal preferences and values. Instagram played a role in constructing future career aspirations by interplaying beauty, professionalism, and identity. Instagram’s unique features further encouraged participants to become content co-creators, fostering creative expression and digital discourse. An insightful finding was that young women’s self-representation balanced beauty norms with playfulness and authenticity. Cultural and social influences were evident in beauty practices, and these young women navigated a complex negotiation between conforming to and challenging beauty norms while engaging in feminist discussions on Instagram.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the reception of global health campaigns at a local level: a study of the WHO #SafeHands handwashing social media campaign for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Twitter.
    (2024) Haffenden, Sarah.; Gibson, Sarah Elizabeth.
    This study explores the efficacy of the universal WHO #Safehands Handwashing campaign at a localised level, specifically for students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa. It is essential to develop a greater understanding of the reception and effectiveness of global health campaigns in the context where they are received to improve future campaigns' success. This study also explores participatory platforms for health communication, such as social media platforms, to determine if they have a more significant impact on behaviour change. This study is helpful in assessing whether these platforms should be used more often in the future to achieve a greater impact on health communication campaigns. A further objective of this study is to better understand the affordances and limitations of health communication campaigns on Twitter (now X), as Twitter was the main platform utilised to distribute the WHO #SafeHands Handwashing campaign. This study is beneficial in guiding future campaigns that plan to utilise Twitter as an example of social media to disseminate health communication campaigns, particularly pandemic campaigns, as more effective campaigns can save lives. Within the study, a qualitative research approach was performed in the form of online focus groups conducted via Zoom. The sample included registered UKZN students based in KwaZulu-Natal who were either in a rural or urban area during the initial COVID-19 lockdown period. The data analysis technique performed was the six-phase reflexive thematic analysis process to identify emerging themes and differentiate the three potential readings of the campaign from Stuart Hall’s Reception Analysis. Reception Analysis and Participatory Culture were the theoretical guides for this study. The reception of the campaign was positive overall, and participants felt better equipped to wash their hands effectively after seeing the campaign. The challenge of recreating videos within the campaign, which encouraged participants to actively participate in the campaign, however, was not received as positively. This is largely due to inadequate living conditions, whereby some participants did not have the same facilities or basic amenities,such asrunning water. The study discovered that vast contrasts in the living conditions of some of the local 4 participants had impacted the effectiveness of the WHO #Safehands Handwashing campaign for these participants. The impact of this research highlights the need for global health authorities to work closely with local health authorities to ensure that unique regional circumstances and cultural differences are considered when designing campaigns. For global health campaigns to be more impactful and relatable, they may need to be adapted within different regions. By taking this into consideration, global campaigns may be more successful and ultimately save lives.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The challenges and benefits of documenting Bakoni tangible heritage and perceptions thereof using Photovoice.
    (2024) Mbili, Qiniso.; Dyll, Lauren Eva.; Lange, Mary Elizabeth.
    This thesis explores the existing official and scholarly interpretations of the Bakoni heritage stonewall settlement sites in Mpumalanga, Mashishing. It also studies the contemporary narratives that exist within the Mashishing local and Indigenous communities concerning Bakoni heritage. This study simultaneously explores the benefits and challenges of using Photovoice as a method of documenting heritage and in particular intangible heritage. This research is conducted using Participatory Action Research, which produces knowledge in a democratic manner while pursuing development objectives. It highlights the knowledge produced by local and Indigenous community members with the aim of valorising their narratives and opinions regarding the Bakoni heritage and Photovoice methodology. The participants’ narratives are explored and studied in relation to already existing scholarly and official interpretations of the Bakoni heritage. Their opinions of the Photovoice methodology are explored with the intention to contribute towards the understanding of Photovoice as a data collection tool. This thesis produces visual depictions of the Bakoni stonewalls as photographed by the participants to document and store the Bakoni heritage. This approach is mobilised to include Bakoni knowledge produced by local and Indigenous communities in the public domain.