Probing the degree of accuracy, bias and fairness in certain daily newspapers in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Principles and standards in journalism warrant attention and this assignmentattempted to offer some ethical concepts as a framework from which to evaluatejournalistic conduct. The proposal was to investigate the level of moral integrity injournalism as practiced in daily newspapers using concepts proposed by specialists inthe journalistic field such as accuracy, bias, and fairness. The newspapers examined inthe research process were the Cape Argus, the Cape Times, Die Burger and Beeld.As a means of probing the dailies, case studies were made of reports on de AllanBoesak, the former anti-apartheid cleric accused and later convicted of theft andfraud, and Hansie Cronje, the former cricket captain of South Africa, who foundhimself in a similar position regarding money and the trust placed in him.The research comprised a comparative analysis of articles related to dr. Boesak in theperiod from 4 March 1997 to 27 March 1997, and Hansie Cronje from 8 April 2000 to24 April 2000. These personalities were used as case studies to establish whether thefour dailies differed in their portrayal of these figures as events unfolded in the publicarena. The intention was to find out if there were differences in the approach to thetopics covered, and if so, if it amounted to bias, inaccuracy and unfairnessThe results of the study showed that in the final analysis, dr. Boesak primarilyenjoyed favourable coverage in the Cape Argus and Cape Times, while Hansie Cronjeprimarily enjoyed the same in Die Burger and Beeld. While these predispositionswere rather obvious, the quality of reportage was not impaired to the extent that onecould regard its news as distorted, inferior or of doubtful quality. The papers were stillable to perform a high standard of professionalism in giving equal and just coverageto the topics covered, and were adept at providing a successful forum for theexchange of ideas while keeping the public informed.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University