Here is my working list. Radio stations are in blue; newspapers are in red.
View Larger Map
South African media: What happens when the rules change
The media of South Africa offer an ideal place to explore whether culture or rules have a larger impact on the orientation of journalists. We have a sense of the culture of journalism before apartheid and a sense of the rules that were put in place. (Who was it that said rules and institutions were cultures frozen in time? Was it the person from the Rochester School?)
texts I need
Jankowski, N. Community media in the information age: Perspectives and prospects. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2002.
O'Connor, Alan. "The miners' radio stations in Bolivia: A culture of resistance." Journal of Communication 40.1 (1990): 102-110.
O'Connor, Alan. "The miners' radio stations in Bolivia: A culture of resistance." Journal of Communication 40.1 (1990): 102-110.
Bosch and Bush radio
Tanja Bosch's study of Bush media likens a community radio station to a rhizome, a type of underground plant that grows outward -- similar to grass -- as it builds relationships in a horizontal fashion. This horizontal growth is important as it builds a community that is not hierarchical. "At Bush Radio titles have no real meaning and responsibilities are shared," Bosch notes.
She traces the history of community radio in South Africa, noting that radio in South Africa under apartheid was used as a propaganda tool, and says that the earliest forms of community radio can be traced back to Central America.
Bosch describes two kinds of community in a rhizomatic fashion. One is the people who work at the radio station and who all contribute to its operation without regard for formal authority. The other is the audience, which was traditionally seen at the oppressed black community of the Cape Flats region of Cape Town, but that has grown and now includes more white listeners.
One interesting thing she notes is that while the goal may be communication "with" and not "to" or "at" an audience, the people who actually have time to work at the station are more affluent people.
Bosch also offers some interesting perspective on what the term "community" means in South Africa:
But, since apartheid, there has been resistance to categorization, and this is manifest in the diversity of music and, the suppose, listeners on this station. In South Africa, categories have been used to oppress, so definitions of community evolve out of this and the resistance to be categorized. This is something that needs more thinking. Community, Bosch concludes, defines "the dispossessed."
In some ways, the desire seems to be one that many strive for in community: One that joins or unifies a diverse group of people.
She traces the history of community radio in South Africa, noting that radio in South Africa under apartheid was used as a propaganda tool, and says that the earliest forms of community radio can be traced back to Central America.
Bosch describes two kinds of community in a rhizomatic fashion. One is the people who work at the radio station and who all contribute to its operation without regard for formal authority. The other is the audience, which was traditionally seen at the oppressed black community of the Cape Flats region of Cape Town, but that has grown and now includes more white listeners.
One interesting thing she notes is that while the goal may be communication "with" and not "to" or "at" an audience, the people who actually have time to work at the station are more affluent people.
Bosch also offers some interesting perspective on what the term "community" means in South Africa:
Those who mobilized against the apartheid regime also used the term community prolifically. The popularization of community as an oppositional term came out of the Black Consciousness (BC) Movement of the 1970s (Thornton and Ramphele).
But, since apartheid, there has been resistance to categorization, and this is manifest in the diversity of music and, the suppose, listeners on this station. In South Africa, categories have been used to oppress, so definitions of community evolve out of this and the resistance to be categorized. This is something that needs more thinking. Community, Bosch concludes, defines "the dispossessed."
In some ways, the desire seems to be one that many strive for in community: One that joins or unifies a diverse group of people.
'Mind of S.A.': Influence of culture on media
"The black people of South Africa have undergone a transition more dramatic in its compression of human experience into a short space of time than any other community in history... This has changed them dramatically. Yet, as with all the other players in our unfolding drama, the imprint of their past is still upon them" (p. 21).
"The The tradition of communal loyalty and social obligation survives, mutated but still recognizable, in the pullulating townships and squatter camps around the industrial cities. There has been a terrible rending of the whole fabric of African society by a political system that separates even nuclear families, as well as extended ones; yet one still finds a spirit of community, of shred grief and shared joy, in these otherwise soulless surroundings. There is still a collectivist style of decision making in the political movements and trade unions and the hundreds of civic associations that exist in the township" (p. 21).
From "The Mind of South Africa," (Sparks, date tktk)
Sparks concludes this paragraph by saying that Africans do not have a "built-in" attraction to individualist democracy and free-enterprise capitalism.
This exploration of the origins and development of African culture offer some important things to consider when seeking to explore the role of the community journalist.
First of all, there is some suggestion that the black African journalist may be a relatively new concept and not one that is truly part of the origins of the culture. Second, it would suggest that if these communal ties still exist and are still important, it would have a profound impact on how the black African journalist might view their role. Their concept of news, their view of audience and the way they framed "news" would all come from the vision of the journalist as a member of the audience and the group to which he or she was writing.
There is also very likely to be a difference based on this individualistic versus collectivist view (Schwartz and Hofstede would both have something to say here). What's interesting is that in South Africa it would be worthless to try to make any conclusions about journalists at the country level. Africa is at least two different cultures and likely many more than that. Sparks tries to make some conclusions about black Africa in opposition to white South Africans, saying that while there are many differences based on black African ethnic groups, they share some strong common ideals about community and family and how those things are defined.
So, based on this a few things are important to think about:
- comparing black S.A. journalists between ethnic groups
- comparing black and white S.A. journlaists (perhaps)
- exploring whether historical/cultural influences and meanings of community and collectivism survive in a society forcing individualistic definitions
- whether this leads to new definitions of journalism or a pressure to abandon those views of journalism
- whether news is defined within the group or at the country (or international/BBC) level
"The The tradition of communal loyalty and social obligation survives, mutated but still recognizable, in the pullulating townships and squatter camps around the industrial cities. There has been a terrible rending of the whole fabric of African society by a political system that separates even nuclear families, as well as extended ones; yet one still finds a spirit of community, of shred grief and shared joy, in these otherwise soulless surroundings. There is still a collectivist style of decision making in the political movements and trade unions and the hundreds of civic associations that exist in the township" (p. 21).
From "The Mind of South Africa," (Sparks, date tktk)
Sparks concludes this paragraph by saying that Africans do not have a "built-in" attraction to individualist democracy and free-enterprise capitalism.
This exploration of the origins and development of African culture offer some important things to consider when seeking to explore the role of the community journalist.
First of all, there is some suggestion that the black African journalist may be a relatively new concept and not one that is truly part of the origins of the culture. Second, it would suggest that if these communal ties still exist and are still important, it would have a profound impact on how the black African journalist might view their role. Their concept of news, their view of audience and the way they framed "news" would all come from the vision of the journalist as a member of the audience and the group to which he or she was writing.
There is also very likely to be a difference based on this individualistic versus collectivist view (Schwartz and Hofstede would both have something to say here). What's interesting is that in South Africa it would be worthless to try to make any conclusions about journalists at the country level. Africa is at least two different cultures and likely many more than that. Sparks tries to make some conclusions about black Africa in opposition to white South Africans, saying that while there are many differences based on black African ethnic groups, they share some strong common ideals about community and family and how those things are defined.
So, based on this a few things are important to think about:
- comparing black S.A. journalists between ethnic groups
- comparing black and white S.A. journlaists (perhaps)
- exploring whether historical/cultural influences and meanings of community and collectivism survive in a society forcing individualistic definitions
- whether this leads to new definitions of journalism or a pressure to abandon those views of journalism
- whether news is defined within the group or at the country (or international/BBC) level
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
