Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.2021965
O. Onyenankeya, K. Onyenankeya, O. Osunkunle
Abstract The representation of indigenous African cultures in hegemonic soap operas remains a contentious issue. Critics and cultural activists have challenged the portrayal of African cultures from the prism of prescribed images and frames of reference. This article reports on a study that sought to ascertain how a contemporary South African soap opera, Generations: The Legacy, portrays indigenous African cultures. The study used a combination of quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis within the framework of Stuart Hall's audience reception theory. The results showed that Generations: The Legacy uses everyday discourse to highlight issues of patriarchy, gender relations, social inequities, power asymmetries, and contestations, as well as matters of domination and exploitation. While the show gives effusive expression to indigenous African cultures, it reuses existing sociocultural stereotypes prevalent in a divided society. It does not call attention to them so much as it re-enacts them. This representation can create tension and implicate intercultural relations and the survival of subaltern cultures, especially in a racially polarised and culture-sensitive society like South Africa. Soap operas can foster a more progressive and dynamic society by promoting a more nuanced depiction of indigenous values, practices and beliefs, and de-emphasising sociocultural stereotypes.
{"title":"Stereotyping and Essentialism: The Representation of Indigenous African Cultures in the Soap Opera Generations: The Legacy","authors":"O. Onyenankeya, K. Onyenankeya, O. Osunkunle","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.2021965","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.2021965","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The representation of indigenous African cultures in hegemonic soap operas remains a contentious issue. Critics and cultural activists have challenged the portrayal of African cultures from the prism of prescribed images and frames of reference. This article reports on a study that sought to ascertain how a contemporary South African soap opera, Generations: The Legacy, portrays indigenous African cultures. The study used a combination of quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis within the framework of Stuart Hall's audience reception theory. The results showed that Generations: The Legacy uses everyday discourse to highlight issues of patriarchy, gender relations, social inequities, power asymmetries, and contestations, as well as matters of domination and exploitation. While the show gives effusive expression to indigenous African cultures, it reuses existing sociocultural stereotypes prevalent in a divided society. It does not call attention to them so much as it re-enacts them. This representation can create tension and implicate intercultural relations and the survival of subaltern cultures, especially in a racially polarised and culture-sensitive society like South Africa. Soap operas can foster a more progressive and dynamic society by promoting a more nuanced depiction of indigenous values, practices and beliefs, and de-emphasising sociocultural stereotypes.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"48 - 71"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42167332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2022.2034907
A. A. Yeboah-Banin
Abstract Covid-19 (an acronym for the coronavirus disease of 2019) has revised how businesses the world over act, including how they engage their targets. As audiences battle the barrage of Covid-19 information already fighting for their attention, the boundaries of the already complex task of catching and retaining their attention is being re-defined. A cursory observation would show that, during the pandemic, brand advertising has evolved. Promotional messages deployed during the pandemic, particularly at its onset and during peak times, often include references to the pandemic either by way of providing education or solidarising with consumers. How well is this strategy in advertising messaging fitted to audience desires and to what extent does it dis/encourage audience engagement? This article reports on a study that was informed by approach–avoidance theory and explored audience expectations of and responses to advertising messages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Survey data from a sample of advertising audiences in Ghana served as the basis of the exploration. It found that the audience deemed it appropriate for brands to include pandemic information in their advertising and were unreceptive to advertisements (hereafter ads) that have a self-serving (i.e. focused only on the brand) ethos. There were, however, nuances to preference levels towards different themes of pandemic message infusions. These, along with their theoretical implications are discussed in the article.
{"title":"Audience Expectations of Advertising during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from an Approach–Avoidance Theory Study in Ghana","authors":"A. A. Yeboah-Banin","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2022.2034907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2022.2034907","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Covid-19 (an acronym for the coronavirus disease of 2019) has revised how businesses the world over act, including how they engage their targets. As audiences battle the barrage of Covid-19 information already fighting for their attention, the boundaries of the already complex task of catching and retaining their attention is being re-defined. A cursory observation would show that, during the pandemic, brand advertising has evolved. Promotional messages deployed during the pandemic, particularly at its onset and during peak times, often include references to the pandemic either by way of providing education or solidarising with consumers. How well is this strategy in advertising messaging fitted to audience desires and to what extent does it dis/encourage audience engagement? This article reports on a study that was informed by approach–avoidance theory and explored audience expectations of and responses to advertising messages during the Covid-19 pandemic. Survey data from a sample of advertising audiences in Ghana served as the basis of the exploration. It found that the audience deemed it appropriate for brands to include pandemic information in their advertising and were unreceptive to advertisements (hereafter ads) that have a self-serving (i.e. focused only on the brand) ethos. There were, however, nuances to preference levels towards different themes of pandemic message infusions. These, along with their theoretical implications are discussed in the article.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"99 - 118"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44468569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.1990096
Zakiyyah Varachia, Naledi Nkhi
Abstract The use of social media provides management with a tool that can be used to manipulate users’ perceptions of a company. This article reports on a study that aimed to assess if performance and market capitalisation influence the impression management strategies employed by South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) when tweeting earnings-related information. This relationship was analysed through assertive and defensive impression management strategies that were present in the earnings-related tweets posted. The study followed a quantitative research method. Content analysis was used to assess if there was a difference between the impression management strategies used depending on the performance and market capitalisation of companies. The findings indicated that there is a low adoption rate by South African companies regarding the use of Twitter. It was found that performance does not impact the self-presentational or dissemination patterns used by companies. Further, market capitalisation does appear to impact the self-presentational and dissemination patterns used. This was significant at the 10% level. The research is relevant for stakeholders who use information distributed by companies for decision-making. The JSE Listing Requirements do not include specific requirements regarding companies’ use of social media. Regulators may choose to enforce regulations regarding a company's social media communication.
{"title":"Impression Management Strategies Used When Tweeting: An Analysis of Performance and Market Capitalisation","authors":"Zakiyyah Varachia, Naledi Nkhi","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.1990096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.1990096","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The use of social media provides management with a tool that can be used to manipulate users’ perceptions of a company. This article reports on a study that aimed to assess if performance and market capitalisation influence the impression management strategies employed by South African companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) when tweeting earnings-related information. This relationship was analysed through assertive and defensive impression management strategies that were present in the earnings-related tweets posted. The study followed a quantitative research method. Content analysis was used to assess if there was a difference between the impression management strategies used depending on the performance and market capitalisation of companies. The findings indicated that there is a low adoption rate by South African companies regarding the use of Twitter. It was found that performance does not impact the self-presentational or dissemination patterns used by companies. Further, market capitalisation does appear to impact the self-presentational and dissemination patterns used. This was significant at the 10% level. The research is relevant for stakeholders who use information distributed by companies for decision-making. The JSE Listing Requirements do not include specific requirements regarding companies’ use of social media. Regulators may choose to enforce regulations regarding a company's social media communication.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"104 - 132"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45914082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.1976238
T. Sakota, F. Faller
Abstract Filmmakers begin their work with an empty screen in the same way that artists approach a blank canvas. The implied intention is to create a work that will evoke emotion, thought and reflection. As both film and art have developed, so have the ways in which the screen or canvas is populated. As technology has developed so have methods of transferring the intention. Likewise, there have been adaptations in the way viewers, absorbed in moving images on the screen, interpret the images from moment to moment, ultimately, as a composite work, and from their particular point of view. This article examines certain ethical aspects of watching film with regard to three relevant film innovations, namely: classical Hollywood narrative, modern auteur film, and a comparison between the experience of contemporary viewing, with its access to new technological platforms on the one hand, and viewers’ experience of the very earliest film on the other. The discussion incorporates some thoughts on the Greek philosopher Plato's Allegory of The Cave, which is presented in his work The Republic, where he interrogates how reality and knowledge are mediated according to the point of view from which the images projected onto the wall of the cave are viewed and interpreted. With reference to watching images in film, the article proposes three points of viewer interpretation that affect their experience of reality and knowledge which include the ethics of familiarity (routine viewer), the ethics of expectation (customised viewer), and the ethics of the medium (novel viewer).
{"title":"Projection and Reception of Film: A Reciprocal Ethics","authors":"T. Sakota, F. Faller","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.1976238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.1976238","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Filmmakers begin their work with an empty screen in the same way that artists approach a blank canvas. The implied intention is to create a work that will evoke emotion, thought and reflection. As both film and art have developed, so have the ways in which the screen or canvas is populated. As technology has developed so have methods of transferring the intention. Likewise, there have been adaptations in the way viewers, absorbed in moving images on the screen, interpret the images from moment to moment, ultimately, as a composite work, and from their particular point of view. This article examines certain ethical aspects of watching film with regard to three relevant film innovations, namely: classical Hollywood narrative, modern auteur film, and a comparison between the experience of contemporary viewing, with its access to new technological platforms on the one hand, and viewers’ experience of the very earliest film on the other. The discussion incorporates some thoughts on the Greek philosopher Plato's Allegory of The Cave, which is presented in his work The Republic, where he interrogates how reality and knowledge are mediated according to the point of view from which the images projected onto the wall of the cave are viewed and interpreted. With reference to watching images in film, the article proposes three points of viewer interpretation that affect their experience of reality and knowledge which include the ethics of familiarity (routine viewer), the ethics of expectation (customised viewer), and the ethics of the medium (novel viewer).","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"70 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44571314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.2001553
Motsamai Molefe, M. Ngcongo
Abstract The democratisation and proliferation of social media has seen the emergence of a distinct virtual community of Twitter users known as Black Twitter. This burgeoning community is characterised by discourses on cultural issues that are critical to the black community, such as race relations and identity politics in general. Black Twitter has often been criticised for its unashamed bashing of those who are perceived as displaying inauthenticity in their performance of identity and their positions on the critical issues debated on Twitter. This article reports on a study that employed a small-scale online ethnographic approach to collect a sample of tweets from a Twitter engagement with a South African public figure and media personality, the actress Nandi Madida. The article argues that through an African normative perspective known as ubuntu, the perceived harshness of South African Black Twitter users can be more usefully read as part of African cultural value of critical humanism. Ultimately, the traditional notion of ubuntu as simply friendliness towards a fellow human is challenged by broadening the concept to apply to notions that include seemingly violent forms of communication. This more robust view of ubuntu, whose application is demonstrated from the context of Black Twitter, ultimately seeks to make another person a better human even if it means public criticism.
{"title":"“You Don't Mess With Black Twitter!”: An Ubuntu Approach to Understanding “Militant” Twitter Discourse","authors":"Motsamai Molefe, M. Ngcongo","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.2001553","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.2001553","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The democratisation and proliferation of social media has seen the emergence of a distinct virtual community of Twitter users known as Black Twitter. This burgeoning community is characterised by discourses on cultural issues that are critical to the black community, such as race relations and identity politics in general. Black Twitter has often been criticised for its unashamed bashing of those who are perceived as displaying inauthenticity in their performance of identity and their positions on the critical issues debated on Twitter. This article reports on a study that employed a small-scale online ethnographic approach to collect a sample of tweets from a Twitter engagement with a South African public figure and media personality, the actress Nandi Madida. The article argues that through an African normative perspective known as ubuntu, the perceived harshness of South African Black Twitter users can be more usefully read as part of African cultural value of critical humanism. Ultimately, the traditional notion of ubuntu as simply friendliness towards a fellow human is challenged by broadening the concept to apply to notions that include seemingly violent forms of communication. This more robust view of ubuntu, whose application is demonstrated from the context of Black Twitter, ultimately seeks to make another person a better human even if it means public criticism.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"26 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43515199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.1987284
P. Boshoff
Abstract Post-apartheid, patriarchal gender relations and the violence they generate continue to contradict the promise of the Bill of Rights contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which guarantees women a range of rights. How these contradictions are represented within popular media has implications for the achievement of gender justice, for they offer ways of imagining the forms that such justice might take. One popular local publication is the Daily Sun, a tabloid newspaper. Rather than simply aligning itself with the gender status quo, as tabloids in other spaces are sometimes accused of doing, the Daily Sun attempts both to critique and to form its readers’ social and gender identities as members of “SunLand”, the tabloid's imagined community. Using Connell's constructive model of the gender order, and interpretive methods in line with critical discourse analysis, including lexicalisation and narrative analysis, the author analyses the tabloid's 2011 coverage of women whose non-conforming and resistant femininities challenge patriarchal gender relations in township spaces. The findings suggest that while certain forms of non-compliant femininities are condemned, others are validated and the violent masculinities they resist censored. That non-compliant femininities can be also violent is a troubling feature of SunLand's gender order.
{"title":"The Women of SunLand: Narratives of Non-Compliant Women in the Daily Sun Tabloid Newspaper, South Africa","authors":"P. Boshoff","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.1987284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.1987284","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Post-apartheid, patriarchal gender relations and the violence they generate continue to contradict the promise of the Bill of Rights contained in Chapter 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which guarantees women a range of rights. How these contradictions are represented within popular media has implications for the achievement of gender justice, for they offer ways of imagining the forms that such justice might take. One popular local publication is the Daily Sun, a tabloid newspaper. Rather than simply aligning itself with the gender status quo, as tabloids in other spaces are sometimes accused of doing, the Daily Sun attempts both to critique and to form its readers’ social and gender identities as members of “SunLand”, the tabloid's imagined community. Using Connell's constructive model of the gender order, and interpretive methods in line with critical discourse analysis, including lexicalisation and narrative analysis, the author analyses the tabloid's 2011 coverage of women whose non-conforming and resistant femininities challenge patriarchal gender relations in township spaces. The findings suggest that while certain forms of non-compliant femininities are condemned, others are validated and the violent masculinities they resist censored. That non-compliant femininities can be also violent is a troubling feature of SunLand's gender order.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"50 - 69"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42343229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.2001554
W. Mano
Abstract China is part of a group of countries rapidly projecting their geopolitical power in an expanded engagement with Africa. The extent to which this is imperialism is debatable among Africans, with some arguing that China is actually Africa's best ally when it comes to trade and development. Using Zimbabwe as a case study of local responses to China's expansionist geopolitics, the article contributes to debates on international development based new forms of imperialism and dependency perpetrated by rising economic powers in the Global South. The article innovatively analyses China's rapidly rising media and soft power in Africa as evidence of a new scramble for the continent and South-South imperialism. This is done in terms of what the Cameroonian anthropologist Francis Nyamnjoh regards as “eating and being eaten”, a form of dog-eat-dog “cannibalism” at the heart of global capitalism that has been evident in past enslavement, extractive colonialism and in today's exploitative neoliberal economic arrangements. The findings from the current Zimbabwean study build on the author's previous research on the media coverage of China in Zimbabwe that showed how for smaller and less powerful states, when dealing with China, there are mixed and complex responses within the emerging Sino-African relations. Using research from 2011–2020, including interviews and findings from the media, the Sino-Zimbabwean relations illustrate acceptance, resistance and negotiation as pragmatic strategies, in an attempt to “eat” whilst trying not be “eaten”. The current study contributes to work on media and geopolitical relations from the theoretical lens of new imperialism and dependency.
{"title":"Geopolitics of China's Rising Media and Soft Power in Africa: Eating and Being Eaten","authors":"W. Mano","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.2001554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.2001554","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract China is part of a group of countries rapidly projecting their geopolitical power in an expanded engagement with Africa. The extent to which this is imperialism is debatable among Africans, with some arguing that China is actually Africa's best ally when it comes to trade and development. Using Zimbabwe as a case study of local responses to China's expansionist geopolitics, the article contributes to debates on international development based new forms of imperialism and dependency perpetrated by rising economic powers in the Global South. The article innovatively analyses China's rapidly rising media and soft power in Africa as evidence of a new scramble for the continent and South-South imperialism. This is done in terms of what the Cameroonian anthropologist Francis Nyamnjoh regards as “eating and being eaten”, a form of dog-eat-dog “cannibalism” at the heart of global capitalism that has been evident in past enslavement, extractive colonialism and in today's exploitative neoliberal economic arrangements. The findings from the current Zimbabwean study build on the author's previous research on the media coverage of China in Zimbabwe that showed how for smaller and less powerful states, when dealing with China, there are mixed and complex responses within the emerging Sino-African relations. Using research from 2011–2020, including interviews and findings from the media, the Sino-Zimbabwean relations illustrate acceptance, resistance and negotiation as pragmatic strategies, in an attempt to “eat” whilst trying not be “eaten”. The current study contributes to work on media and geopolitical relations from the theoretical lens of new imperialism and dependency.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"1 - 25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41762431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.2011347
Nomzamo Dube, Janina Wozniak
Abstract Kalanga is the third most spoken language in Zimbabwe, a country with 18 spoken languages. The language was previously marginalised but it was officially recognised in the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013. This article reports on an interdisciplinary study that juxtaposed language and media studies, particularly exploring the representation of Kalanga in Zimbabwean broadcast media. One of the major functions of media is to teach languages and transmit cultural heritage. Notably, the manner in which broadcast media prioritises languages, influences the audience's perceptions, cultural identities and language use. A content analysis of archived one month television and radio content and an integrative literature review were used, while the data was analysed using the grounded theory. The study concluded that there is an uneven airtime distribution of languages on broadcast media, and as a result Kalanga has very little airtime. The study also revealed that presenters are bilingual and multilingual and they code-switch between languages even on shows that are strictly spoken in Kalanga, thus affecting the quality of their broadcast language. Also notable was the prevalence of Kalanga music in broadcast media. However, most of the new radio stations licensed to redress past language marginalisation are not located where the language speakers in question reside and their airwaves reach a very small radius.
{"title":"Exploring Kalanga Language Representation in Zimbabwean Broadcast Media","authors":"Nomzamo Dube, Janina Wozniak","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.2011347","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.2011347","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Kalanga is the third most spoken language in Zimbabwe, a country with 18 spoken languages. The language was previously marginalised but it was officially recognised in the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 20) Act, 2013. This article reports on an interdisciplinary study that juxtaposed language and media studies, particularly exploring the representation of Kalanga in Zimbabwean broadcast media. One of the major functions of media is to teach languages and transmit cultural heritage. Notably, the manner in which broadcast media prioritises languages, influences the audience's perceptions, cultural identities and language use. A content analysis of archived one month television and radio content and an integrative literature review were used, while the data was analysed using the grounded theory. The study concluded that there is an uneven airtime distribution of languages on broadcast media, and as a result Kalanga has very little airtime. The study also revealed that presenters are bilingual and multilingual and they code-switch between languages even on shows that are strictly spoken in Kalanga, thus affecting the quality of their broadcast language. Also notable was the prevalence of Kalanga music in broadcast media. However, most of the new radio stations licensed to redress past language marginalisation are not located where the language speakers in question reside and their airwaves reach a very small radius.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"88 - 103"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49375888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.1959363
J. Rousseau
Abstract The communication of scientific hypotheses, and more broadly of the provisional and non-absolutist nature of science in general, to a lay audience is being increasingly compromised by the public's distrust of experts. This distrust frequently takes the form of hyperskepticism, expressed in unfounded fears and moral panics, and is amplified by a clickbait driven media. Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to entice users to follow the link, where the linked piece of content is often simplistic, salacious or misleading. The sensational headlines and summaries are then widely shared on social media by users with pre-existing political and psychological biases. This “attention economy” can result in the “wisdom of the crowd” – as expressed on social media and clickbait driven websites – drowning out the views of subject experts, and allowing for fearmongering and skepticism or distrust of science to take precedence. This article discusses ways in which scientists and communicators of scientific and other complex topics can help laypersons to understand the ways in which they might be prone to being misled. It also introduces concepts that will contribute to their better understanding and communication of scientific claims in a polarised and politicised digital age.
{"title":"Challenges to Science Communication in a Post-Truth World","authors":"J. Rousseau","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2021.1959363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2021.1959363","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The communication of scientific hypotheses, and more broadly of the provisional and non-absolutist nature of science in general, to a lay audience is being increasingly compromised by the public's distrust of experts. This distrust frequently takes the form of hyperskepticism, expressed in unfounded fears and moral panics, and is amplified by a clickbait driven media. Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to entice users to follow the link, where the linked piece of content is often simplistic, salacious or misleading. The sensational headlines and summaries are then widely shared on social media by users with pre-existing political and psychological biases. This “attention economy” can result in the “wisdom of the crowd” – as expressed on social media and clickbait driven websites – drowning out the views of subject experts, and allowing for fearmongering and skepticism or distrust of science to take precedence. This article discusses ways in which scientists and communicators of scientific and other complex topics can help laypersons to understand the ways in which they might be prone to being misled. It also introduces concepts that will contribute to their better understanding and communication of scientific claims in a polarised and politicised digital age.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"47 1","pages":"122 - 140"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48152168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2021.1976239
Benjamin Muindi, Caroline Kiarie
Abstract While disruption of learning has become a common, almost a permanent feature, of universities in Africa, crisis response strategies in these organisations remain understudied. This article reports on a case study which focused on Daystar University (DU) in Kenya that was plunged into a crisis leading to its closure when students boycotted lectures to protest poor infrastructure and fee increment. The study used Coombs Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) to analyse crisis response strategies utilised at DU. The study found that the reputational threat was severe and that the university identified with the victim cluster in its crisis response strategies to protect its positive reputational history. Specifically, the SCCT deny response strategies were applied in DU's initial communication utilising the corresponding scapegoat tactic. But later, deal response strategies were applied although ineffectively. Thus, the research recommends that in future, DU should broaden its crisis response strategies in order to effectively reach all constituencies and protect its reputational capital.
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