A comparative analysis of the coverage of science news in Cape Town newspapers

[摘要] The 21st century is less than a decade old, but it is already evident that South Africans will need toimprove their scientific literacy (that is, their knowledge about science, the environment and health) if theyare to become active citizens in a world which is dominated more and more by complicated scientific andtechnological advances. It is a world in which average people are increasingly required to understand andmake appropriate local decisions regarding numerous scientific debates, including alternative energysources, climate change and new medical techniques.For most South Africans, the press is their main source of science news. Thus, a huge responsibility restson the shoulders of newspaper journalists to empower their readers with scientific knowledge and toshare the excitement that comes from discovering more about how the universe works. It is within thiscontext that the question arises as to how Cape Town's newspapers cover science news.Having determined from a review of the literature that a large knowledge gap existed in this field, it wasdecided to conduct research about science coverage in three daily newspapers (the Cape Argus, theCape Times and Die Burger) and three weekend newspapers (the Saturday Argus, the Sunday Argusand the Saturday edition of Die Burger) in Cape Town.The quantitative research method of content analysis was employed in order to provide statisticalevidence for the study's problem statement, namely that science news is covered very differently in thesix newspapers. This exploratory comparative analysis formed the bulk of the research.The qualitative research methods of surveys and in-depth interviews with the newspapers' specialistscience writers were then used to address the thesis of the study, namely that the science writers are'gatekeepers (as predicted by the theoretical model of gatekeeping) and that their education, knowledge,interests, beliefs about science, attitudes towards their reporting, and interactions with editors within thenewspaper structures determine the science coverage in their newspapers.Thus, this study asks (primarily) what science is covered, and (secondarily) why. The content analysisyielded a wealth of information which confirmed that the six newspapers cover science news verydifferently, while the surveys and interviews with the science writers validated the prediction that they arethe dominant (but not the only) influence on the coverage of science in their newspapers.This study's goal is to provide a comprehensive comparative overview of the coverage of science news inCape Town's newspapers, which will not only create a foundation for future research, but will also provideuseful information for the six newspapers, their science writers and editors.Key words: Cape Argus, Cape Times, Cape Town, Die Burger, environment, gatekeeping, health,journalism, media, newspaper, reporter, Saturday Argus, science, South Africa, Sunday Argus, technology.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University