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Doctoral Degrees (Centre for Communication, Media and Society)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/7770

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

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    A discursive analysis of the construction of Afrophobia in TimesLive, News24 and Independent Online in South Africa, 2019 - 2022.
    (2024) Jani, Clifford.; Dyll, Lauren Eva.
    Immigration has become a global phenomenon where nearly half of the world‘s populations are refugees, migrants or asylum seekers. However, the representation of black African migrants has not been fair and balanced leading to studies outlining the negative representation of migrants in the media. Previous scholarship has explored how such reporting could be deemed xenophobic. This study is specifically interested in the phenomenon of Afrophobia, defined as fear of black people or systematic discrimination against people with African ancestry (Dube, 2019). This study explores the representation of black African migrants in Timeslive, News24 and IOL news sites and how the reporting language may be used in the construction of Afrophobic sentiments. The study utilises content analysis to gather data. A total of 66 news articles were purposively selected from the three news sites. The data is grouped according to emerging themes: illegality, undocumented migrants, job takers, criminals and drug dealers. Critical discourse analysis is used to analyse the discursive portrayal of black African migrants. The focus of the analysis is on how Afrophobia is problematised and transformed into a discursive crisis through the construction of anti-immigrant themes. Representation theory and post-colonial theory conceptually guide this study. Although the findings of this study generally support earlier studies which argue that the media representation of black Africans is negative, the critical discourse analysis also revealed sympathetic representations available in the news. The study‘s unique contributions are that it explores the Afrophobic sentiments manifested as prejudices and stereotypes, and systemic discrimination faced by foreign nationals in South Africa, through the online news as they are depicted as criminals, drug dealers and illegal or undocumented people, blamed for social ills in South Africa. It also reveals positive reporting where black African migrants are portrayed as entrepreneurs, employing the local population and adding value to the economy. However, the negative homogenous reporting of black African migrants is still prevalent.
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    Changes and continuities? Investigating the representations and readings of female characters in South African soap operas Uzalo and Scandal!
    (2024) Onuh, Janet Atinuke.; Dyll, Lauren Eva.
    This study explores the construction and readings of female characters concerning their gender roles within localised South African soap operas Uzalo and Scandal! Concerning the issue of female representation, it is not just crucial to have a significant presence of women in television, it is equally important that these characters represent women fairly. This is particularly important within a country like South Africa, where gender inequality is a problem and gender-based violence is declared a second pandemic as femicide remains is prevalent. Since characterisation is one of the most important elements in any soap opera, this study investigates how female characters are represented. It explores the changes and continuities in how female characters are intentionally constructed in South African soap operas and if these representations support or subvert previous representations and dominant discourses in society. It is theoretically framed within feminist media theory, with a particular emphasis on intersectionality and the active audience theory guided by the circuit of culture model. Located within the interpretive paradigm, its qualitative methodology ascertains the perceptions of individual viewers (University of KwaZulu-Natal students) and Uzalo and Scandal! production staff. The data, gathered via interviews and focus group discussions, were organised through reflexive thematic analysis. The study found that the representation of mistress, mother, and matriarch are some of the roles still prominent in soap opera depictions. However, a shift exists in that conventional characters such as the villainess and matriarch are still central but are represented differently, based on the South African context, particularly that of the township locale. Female characters are also included in the storylines, such as CEOs, businesswomen, and other prominent roles often associated with male characters and public domains. Contemporary and traditional-styled characters are aspirational depending on the preference of lifestyle values held by the viewer of the soap operas. Soap opera has the potential to educate audience members about socio-economic, socio-political, and other developmental issues that will enhance social change. The study contributed new knowledge to understanding the construction of female representations and the possible subversions these texts offer to normative societal representations. It is unique in that it considers both a production and viewer perspective, which is a gap within South African scholarship that typically includes one of these perspectives. Through this study, an analytical matrix combining the circuit of culture and intersectionality has been developed that could be used for further research.
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    Mugabeism and factionalisation of journalism: interrogating the state of print media journalism in Zimbabwe (2014-2017).
    (2023) Maodza, Takunda.; McCracken, Donal Patrick.
    This qualitative study investigated how ZANU-PF factionalism cascaded into The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay newsrooms and “factionalised” the newspapers’ reportage of Robert Mugabe’s succession in the period between 2014 and 2017. The period marks the height of ZANU-PF factionalism after independence. In the context of this study, “factionalisation” of journalism infers adoption of either of the ZANU-PF factions contending to succeed Robert Mugabe by journalists in their reportage of the intraparty schisms promoting the ideological aspirations of one group over the other. There were two factions at any given moment in ZANU-PF angling to succeed Mugabe owing to his old age. ZANU-PF has experienced episodes of factionalism since its formation as a break away party in 1963 from Joshua Nkomo’s ZAPU. The study is guided by Mugabeism as its main theoretical lens supported by the Critical Political Economy of the media model. It sought to establish how The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay reported ZANU-PF factionalism between 2014 and 2017. Further, the study examined how ZANU-PF factionalism permeated newsrooms and corrupted newspapers’ narratives on Mugabe’s succession. The study also highlights the implications of Mugabeism on The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay’s reportage of ZANU-PF factionalism during the period under review. Whereas this study adds to the growing body of knowledge on the media and politics, research into implications of ZANU-PF factionalism on political journalism are still nascent. Further, this study’s uniqueness is in its deployment of Mugabeism – a theory domiciled in political science and history – in media studies to account for journalistic process that informed or were influenced by Mugabe’s succession matrix. Use of the Mugabeism model is also a response to growing calls to decolonise, decentre and dewesternise media studies through deployment of indigenous theories to account for developments in the global south. Data was gathered through in-depth face-to-face interviews with purposively selected journalists at The Herald, Daily News and NewsDay and via Qualitative Content Analysis. The study established that ZANU-PF factionalism permeated into daily newspaper newsrooms in Zimbabwe leading to the “factionalisation” of journalism. Journalists adopted either of the factions angling to succeed Mugabe and aligned their reportage to the respective interests in an editorial disposition devoid of impartiality and factuality. In some instances, journalists were motivated by material inducements to adopt and promote factional positions. It is also this study’s finding that through rhetoric Mugabe provided cues to journalists at both state-controlled and privately owned newspapers on how to report on his own succession. As a result, ZANU-PF factionalism compartmentalised journalism by allowing or denying ruling party politicians a platform for expression depending on which faction they belonged. Newsrooms were turned into war zones as journalists became enemies in a battle to protect interests of factions they editorially adopted.