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A Note on Studying Race and the Limitations of the Research
Some of the limitations of the research have been mentioned already in terms of sampling and the fact that I concede to applying a particular lens to the data in order to focus the research. However, perhaps one of the most important limitations of this research thesis that needs highlighting early on, in my view, is the fact that I have not attempted to undertake an analysis of the role of race or racial identity in constructing or impacting on gender, nor have I done much analysis on issues closely related to the impacts of race relations and identities on gender, or gender identities on race relations. The racialised history of South Africa, of brutal and oppressive colonial and apartheid forces stretching over many years, has left an indelible and sustaining mark on both class and gender relations. These impacts continue to be significant, even as current-day South Africa continues to face significant social and political changes.
For example, in relation to race and masculinities, Ratele (1998) observes that the meanings of black manhood in post-apartheid South Africa are imbedded in history, shifting and inescapably contextualised and constructed through historical processes (economic, social, political). He also argues that analyses of blackness and black manhood tend to object black men, to the extent that he questions whether most theories on black masculinity are in fact “a spawn of white racism” (Ratele, 1998: 64) (a point to which I will return). Salo (2003) has also indicated in her research on youth and gender in Manenburg (a Cape Town township) that gender identities and values shift and change in accordance with various historical processes (both local and global), and in particular that local social and economic histories in South Africa have had a significant bearing on the construction of masculinities and femininities in South Africa. Issues of African and black “culture(s)”, and the need to reclaim them after centuries of colonial domination, for example, continue to be heavily debated in terms of their gender implications. Some have accused certain African Renaissance discourses as being the guises of patriarchy and paternalism, and many have questioned whether any one “authentic” African “culture” can be seen to exist. These debates raise points of contention in terms of “culture” and gender that are fuelled and shaped by historical processes of racial oppression (discussed more in Chapter 2), and therefore highlight the need to consider gender and gender transformation in South Africa in relation to racialised history.
Constructions of gender among white South Africans, as Epstein (1998) has pointed out, have also been historically forged and are still strongly linked to various social, political and economic processes of apartheid. Violent nationalisms, the use of violence by the white patriarchal state and the shape of current day white masculinities have, for example, been linked (ibid). Focusing on white masculinities in South Africa (and emphasising their heterogeneity), Epstein (1998: 49) argues that “South African masculinities have been forged in the heat of apartheid and the struggle against the apartheid state, particularly (but not only) the obviously coercive arms of the state”. Epstein’s (ibid) emphasis is both on the historical roots of gender constructs and on their ongoing propensity for discontinuity, for change with changing contexts. Others such as Morrell (1998) have also looked extensively into these kinds of issues, especially in relation to masculinities in South Africa, exploring the construction of gender identities and “profiles” as complexly intersected by a multiplicity of contextual factors including (constructions of) race. In this way, both past and present race and class relations and identities (to name a few) are key constituting forces in the construction of masculinities and femininities in South Africa.
Sunday Sun
The SS was launched in 2002 and is owned by Media24. As communicated during the interviews, the SS was launched in part in response to the emerging popularity of a new South African tabloid newspaper, Sunday World, owned by another media group. According to the interviews, Sunday World was having a negative impact on the readership numbers of the Media24 publication City Press. The SS was therefore created to tap into the market gap the Sunday World had brought to the industry’s attention, and to compete within this market segment. Following the success of Sunday World and SS, a number of other tabloids were created in South Africa. The identity of SS as a “tabloid” newspaper is one that interview participants claimed as well. The editor at the time of research was Phalane Motale, the founding editor of the newspaper. During the latter part of the research period, however, the deputy-editor, Linda Rulashe, had stepped in as acting editor.
SS’s readership figures have risen steeply in its time on the market, and at the time of the research it was the fastest growing newspaper in the country. Even during the empirical research period, circulation rose rapidly. Between July and September 2007, circulation was at an average of 195,592 per month, and by the period of October to December 2007, this number had jumped to 401,132, a 105.1% increase. In the latest readership29 figures received at the time of the research (for February to November 2007), SS’s average monthly readership was just shy of 3 million, standing at 2 846 000. This readership figure should also be seen in the context of the immense growth in circulation for the SS in the latter part of 2007; the readership figure only shows a yearly average, but in the context of the very steep rise in circulation at the end of 2007, the readership at the end of that year would also most likely be significantly higher. Suffice it to say, however, these figures indicate that circulation is increasing swiftly and there is also a relatively high ratio of readers per newspaper bought.
Readership for the SS is very much concentrated on the black South African market, and many readers of the SS are first-time newspaper readers30. 92.59% of the readers of SS are black, with 4.64% coloured, 0.74% Indian and 2% white. 90.23% of readers are first language speakers in black African languages. While newspapers are generally a media form associated with higher LSM groups (in contrast to, for example, radio), the SS has a concentration of readers in the lower LSM groups 1-6 (66.9%), which includes households with very little disposable income and very little access to modern amenities and services.
Only 8.82% of readers fall into the highest LSM category 9-10 compared to, for example, ST (29.87%) and the MG (40.04%). Similar trends can be observed related to figures reflecting monthly household expenditure. While SS’s readership includes higher income groups, it is largely concentrated on lower-income groups, especially when compared to the other newspapers in the study.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 THE ORIGINS, IMPETUS AND INSPIRATION FOR THE RESEARCH
1.2 APPROACH AND AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
2 FEMINISM: A THEORETICAL AND POLITICAL POINT OF DEPARTURE
2.1 INTRODUCING FEMINISM
2.2 GENDER AS A TOOL OF ANALYSIS
2.3 DIVERSE FEMINIST TOPOGRAPHIES: LOCATING AND CONCEPTUALISING COMPARATIVE FEMINIST FRAMEWORKS FOR THE RESEARCH
2.4 “MIND THE GAP PLEASE”: A NOTE ON ANTI-FEMINIST BACKLASH
2.5 CONCLUSIONS
3 THE NEWSROOM AND BEYOND: THEORISING THE MEDIA
3.1 THE MEDIA AS SOCIAL AGENT: DEBATING THE MEDIA’S IMPACT ON SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION
3.2 INTO THE NEWSROOM: JOURNALISTS, JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA PRODUCTION CONTEXT
3.3 POWER, VOICE AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION: A FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGICAL CONCEPTION OF PRINT MEDIA
3.4 CONCLUSIONS
4 THE STATE OF THE PRESS: LOCAL AND GLOBAL CONTEXT AND CRITIQUES
4.1 THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRESS: POLITICS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
4.2 THE CHANGING FACE OF LOCAL AND GLOBAL JOURNALISM: TABLOIDISATION IN PERSPECTIVE
4.3 CHALLENGING REPRESENTATIONS: FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF MEDIA PRODUCTS
4.4 INSTITUTIONALISING CHANGE: SOUTH AFRICA’S GENDER AND MEDIA POLICY ENVIRONMENT
4.5 CONTEMPORARY TURNING POINTS: POLITICS, PRESS FREEDOM AND FEMINISM IN SOUTH AFRICA AT THE TIME OF RESEARCH
4.6 CONCLUSIONS
5 METHODOLOGY
5.1 INTRODUCTION
5.2 FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY AND ETHICS
5.3 SELECTION OF MEDIA INSTITUTIONS FOR THE STUDY
5.4 RESEARCH COMPONENT ONE: ANALYSING NEWSPAPER CONTENT
5.5 RESEARCH COMPONENT TWO: PRINCIPLE RESEARCH WITH PRINT NEWS JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS
5.6 DATA ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK: CRITICAL THEMATIC DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
5.7 A NOTE ON STUDYING RACE AND THE LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
5.8 CONCLUSIONS
6 GENDERED DISCOURSES IN DISCONTINUITY: ANALYSING NEWSPAPER CONTENT159
6.1 INTRODUCTION
6.2 PARTICIPATING NEWSPAPERS: A PROFILE
6.3 GENDERED DISCOURSES: ANALYSIS OF NEWSPAPER CONTENT
7 NEGOTIATING DISCOURSES OF VALUE: INTERVIEWS WITH JOURNALISTS AND EDITORS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
7.2 INTERVIEW PARTICIPANTS’ PROFILE
7.3 PARTICIPATION AND POSITIONALITY: INTERACTIONS BETWEEN RESEARCHER AND RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
7.4 MAKING NEWS FOR THE PEOPLE: JOURNALISTIC DISCOURSES FROM THE SUNDAY SUN
7.5 STRADDLING TRADITIONAL AND POPULAR NEWS POLARITIES: JOURNALISTIC DISCOURSES FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES
7.6 BALANCING CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES: JOURNALISTIC DISCOURSES FROM THE MAIL & GUARDIAN
7.7 CONCLUSIONS
8 FINAL REFLECTIONS
8.1 INTRODUCTION
8.2 GLANCING BACK: A SYNOPSIS OF THE RESEARCH APPROACH AND FINDINGS
8.3 LOOKING FORWARD: CONTRIBUTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH
8.4 CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES
