Exploring the social responsibility of tabloid journalism in South Africa: Views from the Daily Sun and Sunday Sun

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South African tabloids have been met with criticism and praise in equal measure since entering the newspaper market in the early 2000s. Allegations of failure to uphold the high ethical standards expected of the media in general have been levelled against these tabloids. Those defending tabloids contend that tabloids have brought new media audiences into the newspaper reading world. With this background in mind, this researcher set out to explore what journalists at two tabloid newspapers in South Africa, namely the Daily Sun and the Sunday Sun, think their social responsibility towards society is.This study used the theoretical concepts of the media's social responsibility and Jürgen Habermas' public sphere to explore the role tabloid newspapers play in society. Working from the premise that the media have certain responsibilities to adhere to in society, this researcher explored how journalists at these two tabloids view as their responsibilities towards their readers. Furthermore, assuming that the public sphere consists of many publics, this researcher explored how the Daily Sun and Sunday Sun journalists view their responsibility towards readers who have been neglected by the so-called serious news media.This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to gather data from 10 journalists and one photographer at the Daily Sun and Sunday Sun. The findings show that the Daily Sun and the Sunday Sun journalists view their social responsibility as catering for the working class by empowering these readers with information that is relevant to them. Journalists view and describe the so-called 'man in the blue overall as their typical reader. According to the journalists, the news they write help to support democratic processes. Journalists at these two newspapers are fully aware that South Africa is an unequal society and see their roles as giving a voice to marginalised sections of society.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University