ʼn Ondersoek na die rolbelewenis van Afrikaanse joernaliste wat oor politiek verslag doen by Netwerk24, Maroela Media, eNuus en KykNET Verslag

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is the media's responsibility to inform citizens about issues that affect them. Thanks topolitical journalists assuming a classic 'watchdog role incidents of corruption, abuse ofpower and state capture in South Africa are increasingly being exposed. However, therelationship between the media and government, a relationship that has led to ongoingdebate, can impact this kind of reporting – especially in the case of the Afrikaansmainstream news media. This study investigates the current state of political reporting inAfrikaans by identifying how Afrikaans journalists describe their role in society and howthey regard their relationship with the government, as well as their responsibilities towardstheir audiences. In order to investigate the role perceptions of Afrikaans journalists, theresearcher relied on the combination of three normative ethical theories of the press: Socialresponsibility theory, libertarian theory and the developmental theory. A qualitative researchdesign was applied in order to determine to what extent Afrikaans journalists apply each ofthese ethical frameworks in their reporting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted withjournalists from four Afrikaans mainstream media institutions – Netwerk24, Maroela Media,eNuus and KykNET Verslag. The data was analysed by means of thematic analysis. Thefindings show that Afrikaans political journalists assume that they have a socialresponsibility but give preference to the so-called watchdog role by monitoring governmentand exposing corruption, especially among politicians. However, the participants do notexperience the role as exclusive, as they also regard the well-being of society in theirreporting, and thus, to a lesser extent, also regard themselves as developmental journalists.By investigating journalists' personal impressions and experiences, the study emphasises theimportance of journalists' own role perception, and sheds light on the Afrikaans medialandscape.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University