White and Black Press: Racial Parallelism in South African Journalism

Abstract

This chapter discusses the nature of the media environment in South Africa. It starts by looking at the nature of the media environment during apartheid where there was clear official support for racism in the way the news media operates. The categorisation of the press into white and black press is examined, with the white press dominated by Afrikaans and the black press dominated by liberal English news media and some black-owned newspapers managed by mining interests. The chapter then discusses the issue of media diversity and the effort by the South African government to establish the Media Diversity and Development Agency (MDDA). The MDDA plays a crucial role in ensuring that ethnic and other minority groups have access to information without any barrier caused by language or lack of access to information outside urban areas. There is then a discussion on the emergence of Tabloid Journalism, which brought a new wave of change in the media landscape of South Africa. New audiences, particularly black working class, were targeted by tabloids like the Daily Sun. Interviews with journalists were used to buttress some of the points discussed in this chapter. Finally, the chapter analyses the South African media landscape within the context of the media systems theory proposed by Hallin and Mancini. The analysis shows that the media system in South Africa has elements of the Liberal Model, the Polarised Pluralist Model and the Democratic Corporatist model, but with its distinct feature that is unique to South Africa.