The lack of listening
News sources in South Africa’s five general elections, 1994–2014
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7478955 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernadine Jones (0000-0002-7323-4794, Coventry University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1014-1034 |
| Publication date | 2019-05-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1464884919845455 |
| OpenAlex | W2937063283 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 30 |
With most political journalism research focusing on Western elections, one tends to forget that mediatization exists in non-Western reportage too. Television news is still a powerful political tool, especially in developing democracies and particularly in South Africa – the case of this research. This article investigates the sources used on television news during five democratic South African elections, 1994–2014, and aims to shed light on the type of mediatized political reporting in and about a non-Western country. The main finding of this research is that news sources during the South African elections were made up increasingly of pundits and decreasingly of political leaders and citizens. The importance of ‘listening’ directly cannot be overstated, especially in developing democracies like South Africa. A solid link between journalist and politician as well as journalist and citizen is crucial to implement substantive information necessary to enable the media’s democratic duty. When journalists ignore citizen voices in favor of interpretive and evaluative sources, this link is steadily degraded. This article suggests reasons for the drop-off of political and citizen sources in South African election reporting, and, on the eve of the sixth general election in May 2019, argues a case for more ‘straight from source’ voices in political journalism
Active listening · Democracy · Duty · General election · Journalism · Media studies · News media · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Media Studies and Communication · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Media and Politics · Law
Media, Identity and the Public Sphere in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa
Experts in the News
Four Phases of Mediatization
Where in the World Is Africa
Using public opinion to serve journalistic narratives
Mediated political cleavages
US Media Coverage of the 1994 Elections in South Africa
Freedom’s just another word? Perspectives on media freedom and responsibility in South Africa and Namibia
Television news and the digital environment
Binary opposites – can South African journalists be both watchdogs and developmental journalists
The Handbook of Journalism Studies
Towards an African Journalism Model
Media Bias in Presidential Elections
News From and in the “Dark Continent
The Neglect of Africa and the Power of Aid
Citizen sources in the news
Authority signaling
Democratization and Parliamentary Opposition in Contemporary South Africa
Media matters
Election '99 South Africa
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |