Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Mass media Moral and ethical aspects Australia'

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: According to recent research done in the field of media ethics, it seems that there is a need to complement studies on systematic normative ethics with more flexible theories such as those proposed by the field of Philosophy and Sociology. This assignment would like to prove that a more holistic model of moral reasoning should be considered based on the point of departure that the media and media practitioners find themselves in a postmodern world. The aim of this assignment is to examine the possibility of a postmodern ethics as a more authentic attempt by which the concept media ethics can be understood and applied. This assignment is a contribution towards the re-examination of media ethics in terms of a postmodern understanding of reality, truth and meaning, as well as an exploration of their practical implications in the context of a postmodern society such as South Africa and its media. According to the postmodern understanding of the concepts truth and meaning in relation to the postmodern understanding of reality, the postulated principles will define responsible journalism (media ethics) as journalistic action that takes into account how people (news consumers and sources of news) form their understanding of reality in a postmodern context. What purports to be reality in the news is inevitably a reconstruction of reality that fits the needs and requirements of journalistic practice. In this light, responsible journalism can be understood as journalistic action that creates a more holistic, authentic understanding of "reality" and how people understand themselves and others in the world they live in. Most people are informed by the media about themes such as the cloning of human beings, the war in Iraq, the attack on the World Trade Centre and genocide in Rwanda and not because of having been there themselves (direct experience). The way in which the media reports about events does influence the way in which media users make sense of the world in which they live.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na aanleiding van onlangse navorsing gedoen in die gebied van media-etiek, blyk daar 'n behoefte te wees om sistematiese normatiewe etiek met meer omvattende teorieë aan te vul, soos voorgestel in die studie rigtings van Filosofie en Sosiologie. Hierdie werkopdrag wil bewys dat, indien in ag geneem word dat die perswese homself in 'n postmoderne wêreld bevind, 'n meer holistiese modeloorweeg kan word vir diskoerse in media-etiek. Die doel van die werkopdrag is om die moontlikheid van 'n postmoderne etiek te ondersoek as 'n meer outentieke benadering waarvolgens die konsep media-etiek verstaan en aangewend kan word. Die werkopdrag lewer 'n bydrae ten op sigte van 'n herevaluasie van media-etiek in terme van 'n postmodernistiese lees van realiteit, waarheid en betekenis. Die praktiese implikasies van 'n postmoderne media-etiek in die konteks van 'n postmoderne samelewing, soos dié van Suid-Afrika en die Suid-Afrikaanse media, salondersoek word. Na aanleiding van 'n postmoderne interpretasie van die konsepte waarheid, betekenis en realiteit, stel die werkopdrag 'n raamwerk voor waarbinne verantwoordelike joernalistiek op etiese wyse beoefen word en rekening hou met die postmoderne interpretasie van die samelewing. Dit is onvermydelik dat dit wat as werklikheid in die nuus daargestel word, 'n rekonstruksie van die werklikheid is om aan die behoeftes van joernalistieke praktyke te voldoen. In die lig van bogenoemde, kan verantwoordelike joernalistiek gedefinieer word as joernalistieke optrede wat 'n meer holistiese, outentieke interpretasie van die werklikheid en begrip van die leefwêreld oordra.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, began doubting that HfV was the cause of AIDS in the late nineties, the debate he introduced in his country was not new; it had raged in the United States as far back as a decade ago. But, even prior to that, there had been numerous controversies pertaining to the discovery of the Ill-virus. This thesis argues that those contentions created such a heated atmosphere that the causal debates that were to follow, however incredible they were, were largely unavoidable. In its coverage of the epidemic, the media were immersed in its own politics. During the early eighties, the gay newspapers in the US felt a personal responsibility to find the cause of a disease that was rapidly killing many of its readers. But, in the process, the often promoted unscientific and dangerous approaches. By the time the AIDS dissident debate had unraveled in the US, the gay media was so suspicious of the anti-gay Reagan government that they frequently advanced dissident arguments. The mainstream and scientific media, on the other hand, were perceived as rigidly supporting government institutions, excluding critical voices. When the dissident debate reached South Africa ten years later, the South African media was completely unprepared. Most journalists had never heard of AIDS dissidents; some had not even heard of HfV or the anti-AIDS drug AZT, that the President had labeled toxic. Begin a new democracy, with a history of white oppression, the black and white media differed immensely on how to cover 'the President's debate'. Criticism of the newly elected ANC government's arguments were often branded racist and unpatriotic, with journalists suffering regular intimidation at the hands of state officials and governmentaligned editors. This thesis examines the development of the politics surrounding the science of AIDS, from the discovery of'HfV up until Thabo Mbeki's controversial contentions. To an equal extent, it looks at the news media's coverage of the process, focusing on the approaches to the debate of various media outlets and individual journalists. It also raises ethical issues, particularly in South Africa, that emerged during one of the most widely reported debates in the country's history. It in no way attempts to provide a quantitative analysis of media coverage and, in the case of the US media, draws heavily on analytical studies conducted at the time. NOTE: In the analysis of the South African media's coverage of the AIDS dissident debate in Part Three: B, issues pertaining to the country's public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), were not discussed The reason was that the author was the Corporation's Health Correspondent at the time, and therefore too closely involved in the institution in order to provide an objective perspective.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toe Suid-Afrika se president, Thabo Mbeki, in die laat jare negentig begin het om die oorsaak van VIGS in twyfel te trek, was die debat wat hy in sy land ingelei het, nie nuut nie; dit reeds 'n dekade tevore in die VSA gewoed. Maar, selfs voor daardie debat, was daar 'n hewige omstredenheid wat met die ontdekking van die MI-virus verband gehou het. Hierdie tesis argumenteer dat daardie omstredenheid so 'n driftige atmosfeer geskep het, dat die debat oor die oorsaak van VIGS wat sou volg, hoe ongeloofwaardig ook al, grootliks onvermydelik was. Met die dekking van die epidemie was die media in hul eie politiek gedompel. Tydens die vroeë jare tagtig het gay-koerante in die VSA 'n persoonlike verantwoordelikheid gevoel om die oorsaak te vind van 'n siekte wat baie van hulle lesers vinnig laat sterfhet. Maar, in die proses het hulle dikwels onwetenskaplike en gevaarlike benaderings bevorder. Teen die tyd dat die 'oorsaak-debat' in die VSA begin posvat het, was gay-koerante so agterdogtig oor die anti-gay Reagan-regering dat hulle dikwels 'afvallige' argumente aangemoedig het. Die hoofstroommedia en wetenskaplike joernale is aan die ander kant weer gesien as rigiede ondersteuners van regeringsorganisasies, wat kritiese stemme wou stilmaak. Toe die 'oorsaak-debat' Suid-Afrika tien jaar later bereik het, het dit die plaaslike media geheel en alonkant betrap. Die meeste joernaliste het toe nog nooit van 'VIGS-afvalliges' gehoor nie; party nie eens van MIV of die teenvigsmiddel AZT, wat die president as giftig geëtiketteer het nie. Daarby was die land 'n jong demokrasie met 'n geskiedenis van wit onderdrukking, wat meegebring het dat wit en swart media-instansies grotendeels verskil het oor hoe die 'president se debat' gedek moes word. Kritiek teen die nuut verkose ANC-regering se argumente is dikwels as rassisties of onpatrioties afgemaak, en regeringsamptenare of regeringsgesinde redakteurs het gereeld probeer om joernaliste te intimideer. Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek die ontwikkeling van die politiek rondom die wetenskap van VIGS, van die ontdekking van MIV tot en met Thabo Mbeki se omstrede argumente. Dit kyk ook na die nuusdekking van die proses, deur op die benaderings van verskeie media-instansies asook individuele joernalistse te fokus. Dit bespreek ook etiese kwessies wat tydens nuusdekking na vore gekom het, veral in Suid-Afrika, waar hierdie debat van die wydste nuusdekking óóit in die geskiedenis van die land geniet het. Dit poog geensins om 'n kwantitatiewe analise van mediadekking te verskaf nie, en waar die Amerikaanse media beskou word, word daar sterk gesteun op analitiese studies wat tydens die duur van die debat uitgevoer is. NOTA: In die analise van die Suid-Afrikaanse media se dekking van die 'oorsaak-debat' in Deel 3:B word kwessies wat met die nuusdekking van die land se openbare uitsaaier, die Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SA UK), verband hou, nie bespreek nie. Die rede is dat die outeur die korporasie se gesondheidskorrespondent was, en was daarom te nou verbind aan die korporasie om 'n objektiewe perspektiefte verseker.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis focuses on the representation of women in media aimed at women. A critical examination of visual communication (magazines, advertising and visual story-telling1) will demonstrate that the media may be regarded as highly influential in the way women perceive their bodies, reproduction and sexuality. I begin by examining the presentation of the ‘ideal’ woman as an instance of the Pygmalion complex. This reading of the media’s formulation of the female ideal aims to demonstrate the psychological effects of the Pygmalion complex on women, and illustrates how the resultant striving for perfection drives production and consumption. I shall demonstrate how the image of the ‘ideal’ woman is increasingly more sophisticated and convincingly portrayed through the use of digital manipulation, plastic surgery, excessive dieting and exercise regimes. I propose that the average woman is left feeling inadequate and is undermined by the voice of her own cultural representation. This thesis also investigates the persistence of the virgin / whore binary in the media’s depiction of female sexuality. I propose that this is an essentialist and dualistic presentation of female sexuality as either ‘good’ (surrendered, submissive and conforming – i.e. the virgin); or ‘bad’ (transgressive, explicit, dangerous and destructive – i.e. the whore). I further suggest that this polarised appropriation of women’s sexuality deprives women of ownership of their own sexuality. I also propose that the media’s treatment of female sexuality presents women as being in competition within one another for male attention and approval and that this representation damages female solidarity. Finally I demonstrate that pornography has infiltrated all aspects of popular culture, from magazines to music videos. My hypothesis is that this use of pornographic conventions depicts the rape and abuse of women as normative, commonplace and even entertaining, and that this has a detrimental effect on both women’s and men’s sexual and social wellbeing.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is gerig op hoe vroue in die media wat op vroue gerig is, verbeeld word. 'n Kritiese ondersoek van visuele kommunikasie (in tydskrifte, reklame en visuele verhaling2) sal toon hoe die media as uiters invloedryk beskou kan word ten opsigte van hoe vroue hul eie liggame, voortplanting en seksualiteit beskou. Ek begin deur die voorstelling van die 'ideale' vrou as 'n voorbeeld van die Pygmalionkompleks te ondersoek. Hierdie beskouing van die media se formulering van die ideaal van vrouwees is daarop gerig om die sielkundige effek van die Pygmalion-kompleks op vroue te demonstreer en illustreer hoe produksie en verbruik deur die strewe na perfeksie wat as gevolg van hierdie formulering ontstaan, aangedryf word. Ek sal toon hoe die beeld van die 'ideale' vrou, as meer en meer gesofistikeerd, oortuigend weergegee word deur middel van digitale manipulasie, plastiese snykunde, oormatige volg van diëte en oefenprogramme. Ek voer aan dat die gemiddelde vrou hierdeur met die gevoel gelaat word dat sy tekortskiet en ondermyn word deur die boodskap van die publikasies wat haar eie kulturele beeld verwoord. Hierdie tesis ondersoek ook die volhardendheid van die tweeledige voorstelling van vroulike seksualiteit in die beelding van maagd en hoer wat in die media aangebied word. Ek voer aan dat dit 'n wesenlike en dualistiese voorstelling van vroulike seksualiteit as óf 'goed' (uitgelewer, gedwee en konformerend – d.w.s. die maagd), óf 'sleg' (oortredend/sondig, eksplisiet, gevaarlik en vernietigend – d.w.s. die hoer) is. Ek stel verder voor dat hierdie gepolariseerde toe-eiening van die vrou se seksualiteit vrouens van eienaarskap van hul eie seksualiteit ontneem. Ek stel ook voor dat die voorstelling van die vrou se seksualiteit soos dit in die media aangebied word, suggereer dat vrouens ter wille van die aandag van 'n man en om goedkeuring te wen met mekaar kompeteer en dat hierdie voorstelling skade doen aan die gevoel van solidariteit tussen vroue. Ten slotte demonstreer ek hoe pornografie reeds alle aspekte van die populêre kultuur vanaf tydskrifte tot musiekvideos binnegedring het. My hipotese is dat hierdie gebruik van pornografiese konvensies die verkragting en mishandeling van vroue as normatief, alledaags en selfs vermaaklik uitbeeld en dat dit 'n nadelige effek het op die seksuele en die sosiale welsyn van mans sowel as vroue.

This research is premised on the understanding that media texts are discourses and that all discourses are functional, that is, they refer to things, issues and events, in meaningful and goal oriented ways. Nine articles are analysed to explicate the sorts of discourses that were promoted by The Chronicle during the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe between 1982 and 1986. It is argued that discourses in the news media are shaped by the role(s), the type(s) of journalism assumed by such media, and by the political environment in which the news media operate. The interplay between the roles, types of journalism practised, and the effect the political environment has on news discourses is assessed within the context of conflictual situations. This is done using insights from the theoretical position of peace journalism and its critique of professional or mainstream journalism as promoting war/violence journalism. Using the case of The Chronicle's reportage of the Gukurahundi conflict in Zimbabwe, it is concluded that, in performing the collaborative role, state owned/controlled media assume characteristics of war/violence journalism. On the other hand, it is concluded that The Chronicle developed practices consistent with peace journalism when it both espoused the facilitative role and journalistic objectivity. These findings undermine the conventional view among proponents of peace journalism that in times of conflict, the news media should be interventionist in favour of peace and that they should abandon the journalistic norm of objectivity which they argue, promotes war/violence journalism.

Thesis (MPhil) -- University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The advancement of news technology in the last few decades has lead to an information explosion of an unprecedented scope. Twenty-four hour a day news channels, electronic publications, the Internet, and a proliferation of print publications feed this media explosion. Coupled with this has been the growth of a celebrity culture, where the lives of the rich and famous have been placed under intense scrutiny. Commercial interests also have to be taken into account. It is conventional wisdom that sensational news sells newspapers. This news is not limited to celebrity news, but encompasses crime reporting as well as high profile scandals affecting ordinary people. As the news becomes more ubiquitous, the competition becomes tougher and the pressure to print what sells grows. The other commercial pressure is that of the marketers of the entertainment industry who have a vested interest in having the stars of their movies, music and television shows enjoy a high media profile. This study aims to determine whether the South Africa media has shown a trend towards reporting a more sensational and celebrity based form of news. It seeks to discover whether the South African news has become tabloidised. This will be done by analysing the content and presentation of the front page of The Cape Times, a Cape Town based broadsheet, over the period of several years. This will be used as a measure to determine whether or not the content and form of the South African media is following a trend to tabloidisation.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die vooruitgang in mediategnologie aan die einde van die twintigste eeu het tot 'n oorvloed van inligting gelei. Nuuskanale wat vier-en-twintig uur per dag uitsaai, elektroniese publikasies, asook die Internet en die groei van die drukmedia het hierdie verskynselondersteun. Tegelykertyd het die media in die jongste dekades meer begin fokus op die lewens van beroemdes. Kommersiële faktore moet ook in ag geneem word. Met die groei van die media is meer druk geplaas op individuele nuusorganisasies om winste te maak. Dit is alombekend dat sensasionele nuus verkoop. Hierdie soort nuus is nie net gefokus op beroemdes nie, maar ook op misdaad en skandale deur gewone mense. Bemarkingsamptenare van die vermaaklikheidsbedryf moedig nuus oor beroemdes aan, want dit help om hul produkte te verkoop as hul sterre dekking kry. Hierdie studie wil vasstelof die media in Suid Afrika wel meer fokus op sensasionele nuus, ten koste van meer ernstige nuus. Dit wil vasstelof die Suid- Afrikaanse media die kenmerke van poniekoerante begin toon. The Cape Times, 'n Kaapse koerant, se voorblad is ontleed oor 'n tydperk van enkele jare. Die nuusinhoud asook voorkoms van die koerant is bestudeer om vas te stelof die koerant in 'n poniekoerant ontwikkel. Hierdie koerant is gebruik as 'n voorbeeld van die Suid-Afrikaanse media.

The thesis “When birthing makes the news: the depiction of women as a newsworthy item in Die Burger (Oos-Kaap)” analyses a common, yet complex news topic in the South African print media due to the sensitive, often sensationalised, nature of the topic. The private experience of birthing is featured more and more in the public domain of newspapers because of widespread service delivery problems within the South African health department. Focussing on the Eastern Cape, I examine the representation of birthing in Die Burger (Oos-Kaap) in texts printed between 2005 and 2007, and scrutinise the media’s monitorial role of a self-appointed public hero acting on behalf of the women, to expose the poor conditions at government hospitals, specifically in the Nelson Mandela Bay region. How the women and their bodies are reported on, creates a discursive tension between the negative portrayals of the birthing women and the monitorial role of the media. The news values of sensationalism and profit are achieved with visceral representations of the reproductive functions of the birthing women. A poststructuralist feminist theoretical framework reveals discourses that perpetuate race, class and gender inequalities in the apparently socially-concerned sample of texts. A Critical discourse analysis (CDA) provides an approach and method to inform a close textual analysis of both the lexical and visual elements of the texts. The discourses in the sample differed from text to text. Despite these differences, the monitorial role of the media is still achieved. My research argues that acting in the public interest with sensationalist copy is still acting in the public interest. I conclude that it is not easy for newspapers to separate sensationalism from accountability. Media practitioners should be aware of their role in constructing women’s identities and be particularly thoughtful when reporting on birthing. In doing so, this research aims to improve the manner in which women and their bodies are reported on within the news industry.

The media, through development communication and edutainment, plays a critical role in the transformation of societies. In line with this, this thesis discusses the extent to which commercially driven prosocial soap operas can provide a platform for public health messaging, in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa, for antiretroviral treatment (ART) and for encouraging ART adherence to foster national development. Furthermore, this thesis examined the potential of celebrities as HIV/AIDS ambassadors and the potential of both fictional characters and ‘real-life’ celebrities to disseminate these health messages. Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa is stabilising, this is not the time to relax the communication around the disease, particularly regarding adherence to ARVs, considering that South Africa has the largest ARV rollout in the world. The qualitative methodological approach taken for this thesis is a three-step approach examining the intended message, the text and the appropriated message by viewers. Firstly, a thematic content analysis of an episode of Isidingo, that illustrated Nandipha as HIV-positive and the side-effects that came with her ART adherence, and the 3Talk interview with Lesego Motsepe, where she announced that she was weaning herself off ART, was done in order to understand the intended health messaging in the soap opera and the health message disseminated by an HIV-positive actress with regards to ART. Thereafter interview responses by the production team as well as by HIV-positive viewers, using ARVs, were thematised. In addition media texts which provided commentary on the use of a celebrity as a HIV-positive role model were examined. In doing this, this thesis has offered up the meanings of how HIV-positive women taking ARVs and living in Makana experience and understand the media, particularly health messaging relating to ARVs. The findings of this study suggest that commercial soap operas are the perfect platform to address HIV/AIDS and that prosocial health messaging regarding ARV adherence is still necessary in this country. Soap operas have the potential to have an educational angle. Although, HIV-positive individuals serve as better role models as they are authentic; given human nature, fictional characters, such as Nandipha Matabane in Isidingo, may be more sustainable role models as their message can be scientifically-based and well-researched. Realistic characters serve as role models whose behaviour is to be emulated. Soap operas appeal to a wide audience and so storylines can be tailor-made according to the times and the needs in terms of health issues and messaging. Thus, soap operas are not a single platform but rather one which can be exploited to maximum advantage for public health messaging.

This study was conducted to identify and analyse Mail and Guardian Online moderation outputs which contradicted the platform‟s own stated policy on hate speech and other forms of problematic speech. The moderation outputs considered were a battery of readers‟ comments that were posted in response to Thought Leader blogs on xenophobia published between May and June, 2008. This was the same period a series of xenophobic attacks was taking place in some parts of South Africa, leaving an estimated 62 people dead, more than 30,000 displaced, and countless victims injured and robbed of their property. The attacks were a catalytic moment that enabled a whole range of discursive positions to be articulated, defended, contested and given form in the media. They also made visible the potential tensions between free speech on the one hand, and hate and other problematic speech on the other. Using qualitative methods of thematic content analysis, document review, individual interviews, and an eclectic approach of framing analysis and rhetorical argumentation, this study found instances of divergence between the M&G policy and practice on User Generated Content. It found that some moderator-approved content advocated hate, hatred, hostility, incitement to violence and/or harm, and unfair discrimination against foreign residents, contrary to the M&G policy which is informed by the constitutional provisions in both section 16 of the Bill of Rights and section 10 of the Equality Act. Based on examples in the readers‟ comments of how „the foreigner‟ was made to signify unemployment, poverty, disease, unfair competition, and all manner of deprivation, and bearing in mind how such individuals have also become a site for the violent convergence of different unresolved tensions in the country, the study‟s findings argue that the M&G – a progressive paper dealing with a potentially xenophobic readership (at least a portion of it) – should have implemented its policy on acceptable speech more effectively. The study also argues that the unjustifiable reference to foreigners as makwerekwere, illegals, illegal aliens, parasites, invaders and border jumpers, among other terms, assigned them a diminished place – that of unwanted foreigner – thereby reproducing the order of discourse that utilises nationality as a space for the expurgation of the „other‟. The study argues that the use of bogus (inflated) immigration statistics and repeated reference to the foreigners‟ supposedly parasitic relationship to the country‟s resources also unfairly constructed them as the „threatening other‟ and potentially justified action against them.

The “tabloid TV” news genre is a relatively new phenomenon in Uganda and Africa. The genre has been criticised for depoliticising the public by causing cynicism, and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Despite the criticisms, the genre has been recognised for bringing ‘the private’ into a public space and one of the major ‘private’ issues on the public agenda is women and gender equality. Given these critiques, this study set out to interrogate the meanings that young working class women in Kampala make of the tabloid television news programme Agataliiko Nfuufu and to ask how these meanings relate to the contested notions of femininity in this urban space. In undertaking this audience reception study I interviewed young women between the ages of 18-35 years by means of individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study establishes that Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed in a complex environment where contesting notions of traditionalism and modernity are at play. The study also establishes that while mediating the problems, discomforts and contestations of these young women’s lives, Bukedde TV1 operates within a specific social context and gendered environment where Agataliiko Nfuufu is consumed. The study concludes that the bulletin mediates the young women’s negotiations and contestations, but it provides them with a window into other people’s lives and affords them opportunities to compare, judge and appreciate their own. Furthermore, the gendered roles and expectations in this context have become naturalised and have achieved a taken-for-grantedness. Therefore, patriarchy has been legitimised and naturalised to the extent that the respondents define themselves largely in relation to male relatives, and marriage. While the women lament the changes that have taken place in their social contexts which disrupt the natural gender order, they construct themselves as subjects of the prevailing discourses of gender relations that see men as powerful and women as weak and in need of protection.

Given the increased interdependency caused by ongoing task differentiation and precarious formal employment, this thesis asks why the stigmatisation of unemployed citizens and the retraction of unemployment benefits have received such widespread support in Australia. I contend that the concepts of dependency and independence, as reflexive but mutually exclusive dual values, are increasingly used as a framework for welfare discourse. I argue that this framework has ethical ramifications for collective well-being in Australia since it discourages citizens from acknowledging their own social and economic vulnerability. Using a combination of critical theory and discursive analysis, this thesis analyses discourses relating to poverty, unemployment and social welfare. It tracks the contradictions of this value dualism through selected forms of policy and media discourse literature and will challenge the negative moral valence associated with dependency, offering possible alternatives in the areas of moral anthropology, welfare discourse and social provision in order to reverse the stigmatisation of unemployed citizens.

While the growing literature on South Africa’s healthcare and epidemics has often mentioned cholera in passing, there is as yet little academic work dedicated to it. This thesis addresses that deficit by examining the causes, spread and extent of cholera in South Africa between 1980 and 2003. Furthermore, it examines cholerarelated coverage in two newspapers, the Daily Dispatch and the Eastern Province Herald to determine how cholera and people with cholera were represented, and show how changes in the coverage of two major epidemics between 1980 and 2003 exemplify the political transition in South Africa, reflect changing political ideologies and reveal the shifting role of media within this period. The thesis argues three main points. Firstly, that representations of cholera and those who were sick with cholera were based on long-standing tropes connecting disease, class and ‘race’. Secondly, that policy-making based on these tropes influenced the unfair distribution and quality of health resources along racial lines, resulting in cholera outbreaks during the apartheid era. Failure to address these inequities post-apartheid, and the replacement of racial bias with discrimination on the grounds of socioeconomic development, resulted in further cholera outbreaks. Thirdly, using Alan Bell’s newspaper-discourse analysis framework to examine cholera-related articles the thesis compares and contrasts apartheid and postapartheid coverage in the two newspapers. This analysis reveals that during the 1980s the coverage was uncritical of the government’s handling of the epidemic or of its racially-discriminatory healthcare system. The newspapers uncritically accepted government-employed medical professionals as the final authorities on the epidemic, excluding alternative viewpoints. The coverage also “blamed the victim”, constructing affected “black” groups as potential threats to healthy “white” communities. Conversely, post–1994 coverage was criticised the government’s handling of the epidemic and the state of the public healthcare system. Government-employed medical professionals or spokespeople were not accepted as incontestable authorities and a range of sources were included. The coverage also shifted blame for the outbreaks to the government and its failure to address public health service delivery and rural development problems. The thesis shows the historical threat to the health of communities posed by uncaring governments.

The role of food writers has changed - no longer are they concerned only with recipes and lifestyle issues. Today's food writers are faced with writing on a broad scope of topics that stretch from recipes and restaurant through to health, nutrition, and social and ethical eating issues. This study first outlines the professional role and responsibilities of food writers, and then examines the idea that, in a professional capacity, food writers are journalists. As such, food writers are faced with the responsibility of acting in the best interest of the public when they report information on food and food related issues. Yet, unlike their international colleagues, Australian food writers do not have their own code of ethics, although they do have an active professional association, the Food Media Club of Australia. This study identifies the ethical dilemmas faced by the Australian food media, and looks at how they are currently dealing with issues such as accepting junkets, and the idea of food being a subjective topic. It then considers the potential consequences of unethical professional practices by food writers before recommending the development of a professional code of ethics for Australia’s food media. Academic literature on the media and media ethics is considered, although there is little written specifically on the food media itself. Therefore, in order to ascertain specific insight and knowledge as well as some understanding of the current operations of Australia’s food media, interviews with industry professionals and an ethics expert were conducted. Additionally, information was gathered from members of international food media associations. The various interviews revealed a common concern over the lack of information published by the food media on social and ethical food issues such as genetic modification, and sustainable agriculture. Consequently, after examining approaches used by food writers in the United Kingdom to publish such information, recommendations also include a more strident and proactive approach by the Australian food media in order to reach the general public with information that they, the food media, deem important to the future of Australian food.
Thesis (LCB M.A.(Gast.)) -- School of History and Politics, 2005

On the 14th March 2013 the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) held a hearing to consider an application by Top TV and their parent company ODM to broadcast three adult-content channels. This application and hearing have again brought the debate surrounding pornography to the fore in South Africa. While research in the field of pornography studies has historically been centred around whether pornography is harmful to women specifically and society in general, the current research aims to move away from this framework and examine issues of subjectivity, discourse, and power within the debate. This will be achieved through the use of moral panic theory, and Foucauldian critical discourse analysis (FCDA) to analyse the transcript of the hearing held at ICASA as well as newspaper reports regarding the hearing and its outcome

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Applied Ethics for Professionals, Johannesburg 2018
In this research report I address the question: Do journalists have a moral duty towards those they report on beyond the objectivity requirement of their job? I use the famous example of freelance photojournalist Kevin Carter and his iconic photograph of a starving Sudanese child, seemingly on death’s door and being stalked by a vulture. He was roundly condemned for shooting the image but doing nothing to save the child’s life. I examine this classic example of the observance of the journalistic standard of objectivity and non-intervention, against the Kantian imperative to respect human life. I contrast this with two examples in which, in my view, journalists acted correctly in terms of Kantian ethics by putting human life above their own, narrow professional roles and interests.
XL2019

This dissertation examines the cultural constructions of information and communication media by Indigenous peoples in Chile. It includes a critical investigation into the emergence, current practices and future prospects of Mapuche media within situated and culturally mediated social space. The research is informed by current anthropological interests in indigenous media and locates indigenous media theory and practice within three different, though overlapping fields of cultural production: applied visual anthropology, alternative media activism and new media theory. The theoretical, historical and pragmatic concerns of the thesis lie primarily in the media processes that are contextualized by several instances of ethnic resurgence. Indigenous narratives are located at the centre of various forms of cultural activism and are being conceived as tactics in the construction of divergent imaginaries and oppositional public spheres. By concentrating the study on the Mapuche context, the author clarifies the process by which these practices transform social structures in the struggle for political self-determination, cultural autonomy and social recognition.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Since the end of the military dictatorship in 1989, Chile’s prolonged and arduous transition to democracy has continued. It has been more than a decade of political and social processes, full of uncertainties, doubts and compromises. It has been a transition marred by the political and economic remnants of the military dictatorship, by a highly restrictive and authoritarian legal and constitutional system, and by a political class, and, for a long period unable to introduce truly democratic changes. The dynamic of the Chilean transition has had a deep effect on many sections of the Chilean society, especially the media, traditionally one of the key spheres of public debate. The underlying argument of this work is that the Chilean transition to democracy, a political and economic phase achieved by negotiation and compromise, was not accompanied by the establishment of a more democratic, pluralistic media system. This thesis examines, from a multidisciplinary perspective, the context, the process and the development of the media during the first decade of the transition to democracy (1990-2000). Its fundamental objective is to understand the relationship between journalism, the media and the democratic political processes in a post-dictatorship society.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Dissertation in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Journalism, Durban University of Technology, 2013.
Ethical behaviour by investigators is the cornerstone of scientific research. Recognizing, declaring and avoiding a conflict of interest are key responsibilities for biomedical researchers, particularly since commercial enterprises, such as pharmaceutical companies, have become major funding sources of research. Proactive disclosure of researchers' financial relationships is now a requirement for publication in most scientific journals. The question that arises is whether this same increased scrutiny of financial disclosure and potential for conflict of interest has extended to the mainstream press in Canada. A content analysis of biomedical research articles that appeared in Canadian daily newspapers from 2001 to 2008 showed that 82 per cent of the articles failed to identify the financial connection that existed between the researcher(s) and the commercial funder, and nearly half of the articles did not even identify the commercial funding source of the research. A text analysis showed that 94 per cent of the articles were positive about the drug/device cited by the research, and positive, optimistic words such as “breakthrough”, “significant”, “hope” and “promising” were often used in the news articles. Reporters frequently frame biomedical research articles using a battle-like template that describes a fight between good and evil. Another common approach was to frame the article as a message of hope for the future. A genre analysis showed that the genre of medical research news articles published in newspapers is highly dissimilar to the genre of medical research articles published in scientific journals. It is likely these two genres have been constructed to appeal to very different target audiences. The study results show overwhelmingly that readers are not provided with key information about potential financial conflicts of interest involving the researchers and the commercial sources of funding for the research. Such lack of transparency thwarts the reader’s ability to reach informed conclusions about whether or not the research has been either explicitly or implicitly influenced by the researcher’s potential conflict.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies, April 2016
Since 2007, Marie Claire South Africa (SA) — which is a glossy women’s magazine covering fashion and beauty trends, sex, relationships, body image, and celebrity news — has been running a special issue of the print magazine called the “Naked issue”. Each year celebrities pose naked in the special issue to raise awareness for a cause, and in doing so funds in aid of a particular organisation linked to the cause are raised. Marie Claire SA calls this awareness-raising initiative the “Naked Campaign”. For the 2015 Naked Campaign, the magazine had 35 celebrities pose in the nude to raise awareness about sexual violence, in aid of Blow the Whistle (BTW), an anti-rape initiative which supports women and children who are victims of abuse and rape. This research is a case study of Marie Claire SA’s March 2015 Naked Campaign edition, and focuses on the Twitter reactions to this edition. It asks: to what extent did the Twitter reactions to Marie Claire SA’s 2015 Naked Campaign show engagement on the issue of sexual violence and can the use of nudity to attract attention to a social issue result in the kind of engagement that can be said to drive the cause forward? Using content analysis, it examines the tweets generated by the hashtag #MCNaked in the first week of the naked issue going on sale. It categorises the tweets according to gender, comments on nudity, celebrities and sexual violence, as well as the tone of the tweets and the understanding therein of the campaign and cause. The research found that the majority (close to 70%) of the Twitter reactions were supportive of the campaign and the cause. Although over half of the comments focused on the celebrities, over 50% of tweets commented or focused on the issue of sexual violence, a positive outcome for the campaign. Despite the magazine catering mostly for female readers, there was an almost equal number of tweets by males and females, which meant men were also drawn to the discussion started by a media product followed mostly by women, another positive finding for the campaign. However, only a few of the tweets displayed more substantial engagement with the issue of sexual violence, through either sharing statistics or further information, or including anti-sexual violence statements in their tweets. The research suggests that, taken as a whole, the campaign can be considered as an example of social marketing, while also fulfilling the news values in terms of elements of surprise, personalities, power and marketability.
GR2017

A Master’s Thesis submitted to the School of Journalism Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Master’s Degree by Coursework and Research Report in Journalism and Media Studies, 2016
This study explores the way in which xenophobic violence was framed during March and April 2015. This is undertaken through qualitative content analysis of the editorial, news, opinion and feature articles in order to identify themes and news values selected for the coverage of the violence. The study draws on some of the news values enshrined two newspapers, Sunday Times (South African newspaper) and Sunday Mail (Zimbabwean newspaper), coverage of the xenophobic violence and framing of the violence that occurred during 2015. News values are used to determine how much prominence an event or issue is. Hence, this insight is used to analyse the news articles to determine what the newspapers considered newsworthy during the xenophobic violence. In addition, framing theory asserts that the media put more focus on certain events than others and place them within a field of meaning. As such, overall, the findings of the study show that both newspapers framed xenophobic violence in a manner that was not derogatory to the foreigners i.e. the use of words such as makwerekwere or aliens but however different considering the different contexts from which the newspapers reported from. The Sunday Mail had little coverage on the violence and mostly reported on the violence if there was a Zimbabwean national involved. On the contrary, Sunday Times, reported on all the events that took place during the spate of the violence.
XL2018

This study aims to draw on some of the ethical guidelines enshrined in the South African Press Code (SAPC 2007:10). This SAPC states that “the press shall be obliged to report news truthfully, accurately, fairly and in a balanced manner, without any intentional or negligent departure from the facts”. This insight is used in order to analyse the way in which the 2008 xenophobic attacks were reported in South Africa by the Sowetan and Daily Sun newspapers. Overall, the findings show that the two newspapers adhered to the South African Press Code (2007), and were ethical in their 2008 news reports. This specifically contradicts the dominant perception of most mainstream newspaper readers, who thought that, the Daily Sun is just a tabloid newspaper which “represents the lowest standard of journalism” (Wasserman 2012:1), because of its sensational crime and sex stories.
Communication Science
M.A. (Communication)