From Paratus to SA Soldier : a reflection on the primary magazine of the SA military 1990-2010

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: The nature of media has changed and evolved over the years with rapidly increasingchanges observed after the Cold War period. The nature of media, both civilian andmilitary in South Africa, was no exception. Within the military environment, fourdistinctive periods can be identified between 1912 and 2010.During the World Wars, the Nonkay magazine existed for security forces. During themiddle 1950's the Kommando magazine came into existence. During the time of theCold War Paratus was the magazine for the South African military. Salut magazinecame into existence during 1994 after the end of the Cold War and, in South Africa,the transition from apartheid state to a democratic state. In order to reflect the agendaof the new incumbent government and the changed interests of stakeholders, themagazine changed in 2001 from Salut to the SA Soldier. The changes includedcontent, layout and the messages conveyed. These changes were undertaken in orderto adapt to the changed economic, political and military environments or settings inwhich South Africa found itself.The study that I undertook entailed qualitative descriptive research; an exploration intothe evolving world of the military media between 1990 and 2010 and a slice of life fromthe military media over two decades. A content analysis of the Paratus, Salut and theSA Soldier magazine was undertaken, followed by a literature review that exploredthis field and confirmed that little or no prior studies existed relating to South Africanmilitary magazines. An in-depth study of the content of the magazines revealedseveral dominant themes. This study examines those themes and provides reasonshow these themes were identified, selected and analysed. Reasons for their inclusionis elaborated upon and discussed in each chapter.The last chapter provides an overall view of the chapters, mentioning the overallfindings of the study and effectively brings the study to an end by suggesting a numberof research gaps in need of future exploration.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University