Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?

Against the backdrop of the many social ills affecting the country, South Africa continues to make strides in the creation of a non-racist, non-sexist and non-violent society. The media’s role in this endeavour is important. Hence, this research examined whether the media in South Africa offered al...

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Main Authors: Wellington Radu, Kgalalelo Morwe, William Bird
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2022-10-01
Series:Communicare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1650
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author Wellington Radu
Kgalalelo Morwe
William Bird
author_facet Wellington Radu
Kgalalelo Morwe
William Bird
author_sort Wellington Radu
collection DOAJ
description Against the backdrop of the many social ills affecting the country, South Africa continues to make strides in the creation of a non-racist, non-sexist and non-violent society. The media’s role in this endeavour is important. Hence, this research examined whether the media in South Africa offered alternatives to violence in their coverage of the municipal protests recorded between 2009 and 2011. The research revealed that the media’s coverage of these protests was narrow and partial. In order for the coverage to be holistic, it is critical that the media go beyond reporting the violence, its causes and its effects to offering alternatives to violence. However, offering alternatives to violence is not the magic tool to prevent or even stop violence – it is a professional activity that highlights the key issues the media could focus on in order fully to inform the audience in the public interest. It is also about socially responsible media.
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publisher University of Johannesburg
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spelling doaj-art-7c5ffb32ea204d72bf09b4dd64c081242025-01-20T08:54:22ZengUniversity of JohannesburgCommunicare0259-00692957-79502022-10-0131sed-110.36615/jcsa.v31ised-1.1650Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?Wellington Radu0Kgalalelo Morwe1William Bird2Media Monitoring Africa (MMA)Media Monitoring Africa (MMA)Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) Against the backdrop of the many social ills affecting the country, South Africa continues to make strides in the creation of a non-racist, non-sexist and non-violent society. The media’s role in this endeavour is important. Hence, this research examined whether the media in South Africa offered alternatives to violence in their coverage of the municipal protests recorded between 2009 and 2011. The research revealed that the media’s coverage of these protests was narrow and partial. In order for the coverage to be holistic, it is critical that the media go beyond reporting the violence, its causes and its effects to offering alternatives to violence. However, offering alternatives to violence is not the magic tool to prevent or even stop violence – it is a professional activity that highlights the key issues the media could focus on in order fully to inform the audience in the public interest. It is also about socially responsible media. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1650media in South Africaalternatives to violenceprotestsnarrow and partialbeyond reporting the violenceprofessional activity
spellingShingle Wellington Radu
Kgalalelo Morwe
William Bird
Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
Communicare
media in South Africa
alternatives to violence
protests
narrow and partial
beyond reporting the violence
professional activity
title Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
title_full Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
title_fullStr Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
title_full_unstemmed Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
title_short Do the media in South Africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests?
title_sort do the media in south africa offer alternatives to violence in their coverage of protests
topic media in South Africa
alternatives to violence
protests
narrow and partial
beyond reporting the violence
professional activity
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1650
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AT williambird dothemediainsouthafricaofferalternativestoviolenceintheircoverageofprotests