Research Articles (Communication Science)
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Browsing Research Articles (Communication Science) by Author "Marais, Willemien"
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Item Open Access All politics is local: suggestions for an editorial policy on political news for community media(Department of Communication, University of Free State, 2011) Marais, Willemien; Linström, MargaretIn South Africa, the three spheres of government perform distinct functions in terms of the Constitution. By spreading the responsibilities of government across national, provincial and local structures, the Constitution ensures that government does not become too far removed from citizens. If local government is the closest level of interaction for citizens, then media at community level provide the link for that interaction. It is against this backdrop that this article views the quote widely attributed to American congressman Tip O'Neil: All politics is local. Political news has social importance for virtually everyone (Gelman 2011). On the flip side of the coin, people are what matter in terms of community media (Lauterer 1995: 9). This implies that even at grassroots level, media should have an editorial policy on political reporting if they want their editorial content to be relevant to the community they are serving. This loyalty to the needs of the community is the essence of media at grassroots level (Milne, Rau, Du Toit & Mdlongwa 2006: 3-4). This article reports on a qualitative content analysis of the existing editorial policies of community radio stations and newspapers in the Mangaung area in the Free State. Based on these findings, suggestions are made for a framework to draw up an editorial policy on political news for community media.Item Open Access Aspekte van narratiewe kommunikasie as retoriese strategie binne prediking(Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2013) Van der Walt, Marésa; Marais, Willemien; De Wet, Johann C.Human beings are susceptible to the rhetorical power of narrative communication. Narrative communication is an organisational element that helps people to make sense of the world they live in. Rhetoric is the application of reason to imagination to bring the human will into movement. In the world of communication within the Christian philosophy, narrative communication can be used as a rhetorical strategy. This article discusses the different aspects of the use of narrative communication as rhetorical strategy within preaching. Both narrative techniques and narrative style elements can be used to contribute to the rhetorical effectiveness of a sermon. The use of “story elements” and “style elements” qualify a text (sermon) as “narrative”. The rhetorical success of narrative communication when used in sermons was tested in traditional Afrikaans-speaking Apostolic Faith Mission congregations in Bloemfontein. Churchgoers completed questionnaires to convey their experience and opinion of the use of narrative communication in preaching during 12 sermons. The results were overwhelmingly positive.Item Open Access Fantasy themes and frames in The Star on Oscar Pistorius in the aftermath of the 2013 shooting(Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2014) Marais, Willemien; Grobler, André; Terblanche, Lydie; Litabe, BoitumeloThis article reports on research conducted as part of two studies focusing on media reportage in the immediate aftermath and bail application of athlete Oscar Pistorius after fatally shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on 14 February 2013. The first study examined how print media portrayed Pistorius after he shot Steenkamp, but before his bail application. It was informed by Bormann’s fantasy theme analysis (1972), based on his symbolic convergence theory, to identify fantasy themes. The second study was a deductive frame analysis of the primary news frames in articles published in print media during Pistorius’ bail application. The news frames identified were a combination of the common frames identified by Neuman et al. (1992: 74) and Semetko and Valkenburg (in De Vreese 2005: 56) and include conflict, human impact, human interest, attribution of responsibility and violence. Both studies focused on a number of South African newspapers, but this article reports specifically on the results as they pertain to The Star, a leading South African newspaper. The period under investigation is 15-23 February 2013. The fantasy themes identified have indicated that, in Pistorius’ case, he was mostly depicted in a negative light, while there were very few instances where he was portrayed positively. Conflict was the most common primary news frame found in the frame analysis.Item Open Access Qualitative news frame analysis: a methodology(Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2012) Linström, Margaret; Marais, WillemienFraming theory has become increasingly popular in media analysis. The idea of framing is based largely upon the book by sociologist Erving Goffman (1974) titled Frame Analysis: An essay on the organization of experience. Goffman used the idea of frames to label “schemata of interpretation” that allow people “to locate, perceive, identify, and label” occurrences or events. With Robert Entman’s 1993 paper, frame analysis evolved into an important methodology. Since Goffman introduced the concept of frame analysis and Entman applied framing to the analysis of mass media, researchers have utilised it to understand how print and other media present information. Consequently for the last almost four decades, leading media scholars have applied the concept of framing to explain how the media structure their delivery of news, promoting certain interpretations of events by selecting certain facts. Frame analysis serves four main purposes within the context of media research – to define problems, to diagnose a course, to make value judgments, and to suggest remedies (Entman 1993: 52). In this article, the authors review the meaning of the concept of frame analysis, approaches to studying news framing, and qualitative news frame analysis. After defining news frames, we articulate a method for identifying news frames in print media.