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COM 3702 MEDIA STUDIES Policy management and media representation

Semester 1,2014

Student number : 3356-7514

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I, the undersigned, hereby declare that this is my own and personal work, except where the works or publications of others have been acknowledged by mean of reference techniques.

I have read and understood Tutorial Letter CMNALLE/301, regarding technical and presentation requirements, referencing techniques and plagiarism.

Name: Bonita Europa

Student Number: 33567514

Date: 2014/05/06

Assignment Number: PORTFOLIO EXAM 892092

Witness: Clint Newkirk

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 MEDIA POLICY AND REGULATION 1.1 History of communication policy 1.1.1 Emerging communications industry policy 1.1.2 Public service media policy 1.1.3 New communications policy 1.2 Freedom of the media 1.2.1 The need for freedom of speech 1.2.2 Threats to it 1.2.3 If, how and why such threats can or cannot be motivate 2 MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND MEDIA MARKETS 2.1 Media concentration 2.1.1 The relationship of competition to concentration 2.1.2 The dual nature of the media industry 2.1.3 The four forms of concentration 2.1.4 The dangers of concentration 2.1.5 Positive externalities of the media 3 REPRESENTATION AND THE MEDIA 3.1 Media representation of race 3.1.1 Discussion 3.1.2 Brief explanation of the meaning whiteness 3.2 Media representation of violence 3.2.1 An introductory thesis (argument) 3.2.2 Define and explain representation, violence and moral panics 3.2.3 an overview of different theories 3.2.4 Discussion of the processes 3.2.5 A concluding argument 3.3 Media representation of HIV and Aids 3.3.1 Introduction to discussion 3.3.2 Illustration of discussion 3.3.3 Impact of the article 3.3.4 Media attention 3.3.5 Placing and timing of article 4 ADDENDUM A: SELF ASSESSMENT AND SELF REFLECTION SOURCES CONSULTED ILLUSTRATIONS

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1 1.1

MEDIA POLICY AND REGULATION History of communications policy

1.1.1 Emerging communications industry policy In earlier times the first telecommunications were smoke signs and drums. From the first telegraph that was sent to when government decided that the rental of the telephone services should be from government and not private organisations. Government was in control of telecommunication in South Africa and they made decisions with regards to communication. The Post Office was government owned and our old government thought it would be best for the South Africans if it was government owned and not owned by corporate. The communications policy was aimed at telegraph, telephones and later radio. It was said that communications should rather stay in the hand of the state and not the public. Telecommunications was controlled by the government. The formation policy was formed to enhance over services and improve the competition between the economy and the business. The history of broadcasting in South Africa took place in 1923. In 1927 the first Afrikaans broadcast took place, which was only one daily news bulletin. There was insufficient funding which hindered the advancement of broadcasting and an investigation took place by the Prime Minister. Telkom has played in South Africa’s ICT industry. The communication policy of South Africa could be an example of colonialism. This was all part of apartheid when the government was in control and newspapers were limited to print anything about the government, this means the government was in control of what could be printed. The government has a major control and power over the media during apartheid. This is now being questioned because of the threat to freedom of expression which has now been opened up by our new government with regards to regulating the press. 1.1.2 Public Service media policy Broadcasting was increasing during the Public service media policy. Public service policy changed as apartheid and propaganda intensified in South Africa. It moved from being a government controlled to public controlled. The public broadcasting involved a public service where one could speak to the citizen via radio and television. In South Africa there were limited public policy because of the state and apartheid. English and Afrikaans were dominant in South Africa broadcasting. The radio stations grew over time and more of the African languages were recognized. This was still in control of the National Party who was in power at the time, controlling public interest. Afrikaans dominated the airtime of show, but within time after 1994, it started to be reduced. The communications policy was influenced by socio-economic rather than economic or national. Fourie (2008:22). ICASA (independent communications Authority of South Africa) which is a state body but is limited, and allows for broadcast on different frequencies.

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1.1.3 New communications policy South Africa s telecommunications structure changed in October 1991 when posts and telecommunications were separated from each other and set free from direct ministerial control (Republic of South Africa 1991c). A combination of forces, including those t hat have affected other African telecommunications administrations as well as those specific to South African politics, led to the regime change (see Horwitz 1992). New media policy came into effect in 1994, when the bill of rights guaranteed every citizen the right to freedom of expression which included the freedom of media and press. There is some sort of criticism around the freedom of media and press based on that the major newspapers are owned by corporate, and this could lead to prejudice. The New Media policy includes social media, and there is a code of conduct to be followed with regards to the globalisation of technology. ICASA (The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa) .The was established in the year 2000. They were founded to be responsible for the regulation of telecommunications, broadcasting and postal industries, with the thought of public interest. There are rules and regulations that need to be followed, and they deal with disputes and complaint. The constitution has the aim to provide and promote ethical practice in journalism. The press is supported in the Bill of Rights, section 16 where it states “everyone has the right to freedom of expression which includes a) Freedom of the press and the media. Although ICASA and the press council are government owned, it is better regulated and the government cannot mis-use telecommunications like it could in the past, during apartheid. The future of telecommunications is drastically changing, as there are increasing and moving forward of technology. Technology is now linked to data and fast moving. Private companies will be taking over media, like DSTV, Neotel, Virgin active. These are all private owned telecommunication companies. May it be in broadcasting or telephony (data), private companies are evident in South Africa?

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1.2 Freedom of the media 1.2.1 Freedom of expression is needed because it is a give a citizen the right to voice his/her opinion or views. This can be done publicly without punishment. The expression granted in South Africa might criticize because of the hatred of apartheid. Freedom of expression is important for journalist and people working in media. They are able to express themselves, or free to criticise the state without having the fear of prosecution. It is needed because people have the freedom to express what is happening in our country this could be positive or negative to South Africa. There was a major shift of freedom of expression in the 1990’s in South Africa. Even if there is freedom of expression there are still rules and regulations, it cannot be absolute free. The state previously controlled the media, and we do not want to go back to these times. The Press Council is in charge of the controlling regulation of the media. Freedom of expression allows us to provide self – fulfilment of our thoughts and feelings, and it makes us understand the diversity of perceptions. In my opinion during apartheid, government limited what needed to be printed, and they were in control. The question is what could be controlled and what was seen as racially offensive or not offensive. Freedom of expression is the right to individuality, and it is essential to create democracy. It gives the public the right to information and allows for expressing our views freely. There are principles relating to Freedom of expression, firstly everyone has a right to hold opinions without interference, secondly genuine injuries should be proved in order to sue someone for defamation of character, and these laws have to be justified, especially if the information is to protect someone against harm. Thirdly defamation against a public body should also be proven. 1.2.2 New threats are emerging , for example with global media monopolies and pressures on independent media outlets Media has to bear in the mind that people have the right to respect for their private life. Although you have the freedom to express your views and opinions, it has to be regulated. The threat to the freedom of speech is the secrecy bill. The secrecy bill is such a threat that it will prosecute anybody who exposed corruption in government, if it is deemed classified by the government. The secrecy bill goes against what we were promised in the New South Africa. It seems like we are going back and not moving forward. Journalist will have to report to a Media tribunal of what they are writing about and if this information to the public will cause a threat to state security. Threats of violence against another person can also be seen as a threat in my opinion.

1.2.3 The article I have chosen (Figure 1) is: http://www.misa.org/our-work/item/319-renewedthreat-to-freedom-of-expression-in-south-africa How does one motivate secrecy bill, How is the freedom of speech a motive for the secrecy bill? How does one motivate corruption being classified as a threat to the government? There are so

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many questions. Instead of the secrecy bill why not introduce gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are people or groups of people in the media who controls access to information. Gatekeepers are usually in the organisation. An example is a news editor who selects stories for publication based on his or her organization's specific criteria. The information is passed through a series of gates before it is selected to be printed or broadcasted. The selection of news comes from the fact that sometimes there is so much news to be told, but there might not be enough space to print all the articles selected as newsworthy. Regulators are usually from outside the organisation, like an outsource organisation who regulates what would be printed or broadcasted. Governments are an example of a regulator. They are the people that regulate and influence the material that appears on Television or in the press. External regulation refers to how the laws and statutory organisations related to and involved in how the media should function. Examples are the imprint Act and The Electronic Communications Act 36 of 2005. These refers to the laws of the how the media should function. The government has a major influence on media policy. An internal regulation refers to how the medium itself (a specific newspaper or television channel) and nonstatutory media organisation organise the functioning and the performance of the media. Fourie (2008:51)

There are various internal regulations in the media: 1. Directorates and boards of media organisation- they usually have a say in their products but nowadays they leave it to their editors or producers to 2. Editors and producers- An editor is the person that gives life to the policy of the newspaper, and usually holds the responsibility of the successes and failures. 3. Administrative – hierarchical gate keeping - These are people who are only interested in protecting their jobs and their own personal needs 4. Temporal and spatial factors- News should be fresh, as it has a better chance of appearing in a newspaper. There are morning, afternoon and evening news. The front page is usually kept for fresh news. 5. Location- Location of newsworthy events occurs is important. Journalist will go into these locations as it is newsworthy, so it can be readily reported. 6. Sources – someone with status whether in leadership or an academic is usually the gatekeeper of news. Media prefer to quote certain people than other sources of news 7. Norms – Is the news suitable for the audience needs. The media can choose what to publish or not publish. In the article (Figure1) I have provided, it is about the threat towards the Freedom of expression which is the secrecy bill. According to the Bill of Right, section 16 everyone has the right to freedom of expression. The secrecy bill goes against not only the right to freedom but the right to access information. The public has the right to make up their own mind, not allow government to

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make up their mind for them. The protection of state information bill will be giving journalist no freedom as the minister who will be seen as a gatekeeper or the Media Tribunal with be the regulator, who will be in control of information. This is a threat because it allows for corruption and they will be protected. The government wants to be in control of message; we seem to be going back to apartheid. In a free democracy there should be restrictions which are in line with ethical and responsible. In this article it states that the Press Freedom commission has come to a compromise to have an “independent co-regulation’ between the public and the press. The secrecy bill is such a threat that it threatens prison sentences for those who go against the bill. In my opinion it definitely is to hide the corruption, freedom of expression is a way to allow us to think for ourselves. The editor of this article is the act as a link between the directorate and the staff. This article was given he go ahead from the editor to print. This article could be fresh news depending on when it was published, so it could fall under the temporal or spatial factors of internal regulation. Location can be seen in the person writing the article, she is from New York, so through media and globalisation she is witting the article. This could be newsworthy for her because it could be a self fulfilling tendency. The source depends on where she got her information. A person of status, which is Desmond Tutu, who stated “makes the state answerable only to the state.” The question is Desmond a source or was a press conference statement that was made. A norm is the question of the article being newsworthy. Who is this article newsworthy for? There might be differences in opinion, dependant on the reader. An ANC member will agrees to the secrecy bill will have a different opinion to a COSATU member who is opposing the Bill.

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2

MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND MEDIA MARKETS

2.1.1 The relationship of competition to concentration Competition and concentration does not need each other to work. The higher the concentration if suppliers or sellers the less competition there is. Competition and concentration is inversely dependant on each other. Fourie (2008:150) Mergers allows corporate to increase the size of the company which makes it stronger in the market. Merging of publish companies are a worry to government because if a company cannot handle the expansion. Competition can be discussed in the article where Media 24 was accused of unfair tactics on a rival Free State newspaper. They accused Media 24 of cutting their cost forcing the rival company to close their doors. This does go against the competition act which allows all South Africans to have equal opportunity in the economy. The concentration of a small number of players in the industry causes dangers to the freedom of expression as well. If the concentration is bigger in market power then the competition is less. There is less competition in South Africa because there are plenty of small, independent media houses, which publish magazines as well as in-house and business-to-business journals. The newspaper industry is dominated by four main players: Media24, Independent Newspapers, the Times Media Group, and CaxtonCTP. SA info Reported (2013) Radio stations have a bigger amount of competition as it has various radio stations across South Africa. During apartheid there were only two radio stations, and today there are more 10 radio stations. 2.1.2 The dual nature of the media industry The dual nature is that media communicate entertainment and information by means of semiotics. Children learn from the media, which includes language, roles models and values. Once parents become aware of this, they will know what programs are good to watch, according to what they think has morals, values and good beliefs. Communication markets are dual product markets. Media products are sold to media consumers and simultaneously access to audiences is sold to advertisers. There are more than two parties operating at the same time, the medium, the public and the advertisers. Picard (1989:17)

2.1.3 The four forms of concentration There are four forms of concentration, namely horizontal media concentration, second form is vertical media concentration, cross media concentration and the fourth which occurs is conglomerate concentration. A horizontal media concentration is when mergers take place between publishers. It is within the same media market. Examples of horizontal media concentration are a merger of newspaper

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publishers, a merger of television channels. Horizontal concentration is referred to as monomedia concentration. Fourie (2008:151) an example is if cosmopolitan and Glamour magazine decides to merge. An example is the talk of Cell C merging with Telkom Mobile. The vertical media concentration is when broadcasting organisations produce their own content instead of buying them from independent producers, or when they own their own broadcasting stations. This is different parts in the production process. Fourie (2008:151) this is an example of broadcasting companies like SABC producing their own content locally. The third media concentration is the diagonal media concentration also known as the cross media concentration. This is media that concentration across different types of media types. Fourie (2008:151). This is when publishers either take over a radio station or a television company. It brings together mergers between print, broadcaster and media. This is where a telecommunications company expands to a newspaper publisher. An example is if Media 24 purchases KFM or Good Hope FM. A fourth form of concentration occurs when an outside enterprise from outside the media sector invest in the media industry which is called the conglomerate concentration. An example is the merge of Absa Bank and Edcon Private Label Store Card Portfolio. 2.1.4 The dangers of concentration The question is at which stage media become dangerous. The danger becomes when enterprises decide to merge, if more than 3 media corporate decide to merge, it becomes an issue, and government intervention should take place because the concentration will be a matter of concern. If the percentage is higher than 33, 3 percent in Netherlands it becomes a concern. In 2002 a review was done in America on how many single companies can own a certain amount of radio stations. This could result in the danger of diversity. In Germany when a media enterprise with television channels reaches thirty percent of the market share the Germany government regards this danger to freedom of opinion in society. Fourie (2008:153) Market Failure could contribute to the danger of concentration, the product sales figures are low or there is a demand of the product and the demand to too high. 2.1.5 A positive externality is when a third party benefits from which they had no direct involvement. A positive effect is when the entire society benefits from the commodity including the consumer and indirectly other consumers. Fourie (2008:147) Street performers in a street dancing for tips, the positive external effect is the audience enjoying the performance.

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3 3.1

REPRESENTATION AND THE MEDIA Media representation of race

3.1.1 Racism involves the belief in racial differences, which acts as a justification for non-equal treatment. An ideology is a set of opinions or beliefs of a group or an individual. Very often ideology refers to a set of political beliefs or a set of ideas that characterize a particular culture. Racism as an ideology, is a set of beliefs expressed that a particular group is inferior. The ideology of racism is not a person but it is an idea which is passed from one generation to the next generation. There are different types of racism ideologies. The first is Racism as an ideology, the scientific racism. This is to prove what race was inferior and superior. A scientific act of trying to justify different races when it comes to moral, social and cultural values. Racism is not biological and in my opinion is a social myth. The second racism as ideology is the new racism or cultural racism. New racism, minorities were not biologically inferior but different. In 1945 the growth in the emigrant population from the Indian and Caribbean sub-continent into Britain, the conservative party took a new discourse and stipulated that human beings has the natural desire to live amongst their own kind. Fourie (2008:285) it is with this statement that Barker identifies with new racism (1981). The third is multiplicity of racism. There are multiplicity racisms, which was firstly used to describe different social phenomena, the changes that took effect and the historical circumumstance which produced scientific racism. The two theorists who tried to analyze racism as an ideology was John Thompson (1990) and Michael Biilig (1998; 1991). John defines ideology as a discursive system of representation. He believes that ideology is routed in language. We are born into language systems that are socially constructed and thus in some ways the ideology is embedded in our language unconsciously speaking through us. Ideology can also be linked to power and how we conceive the ideology. Especially living in South Africa, we are from a generation that unconsciously link racial thought because of the apartheid era. We are linked because of the language being moved from one generation to the next. Thompson has five modes of operation which is the analysis of racist ideology through the use of language. Thompson (1190:60) Fourie (2008:294) Legitimating - Rationalisation Dissimulation- Displacement or Euphemism Unification- Standardisation or Symbolisation Fragmentation- Differentiation or Expurgation Reification – Naturalisation or Externalisation Michael Billig claims that ideology works consciously and unconsciously through language and it’s the way the reader or audience connection that makes sense of the texts. Fourie (2008:296) His theory stipulates that when we read a passage in the newspaper, we have a fight with ourselves

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to understand what we are reading. We are trying to make sense of the text or article. This is a similarity between Thompson and Billig. They both believed we try to make sense through language. The newspapers involved are Sowetanlive and I believe this is black press. Most of the articles are on racism or about black politicians, xenophobia and black politics. Most of the articles are examples on ANC, Zuma, Robert Mugabe, about the black entertainment industry. There is a dominant race group connected to the magazine. It deals with the interest of black people and not white people. In my opinion the ideology is racism against the white race although I believe in a race which is a human being. Neither black nor white. Die Beeld focuses on white press. Firstly it is written in Afrikaans, there are a few articles related to black press. Here again we see a dominant race. This is ideology of IOL News is very diverse. There is no connection to white press or black press; I see a variety of news not associated to a particular colour, so this online news system is diverse.

3.1.2 White press and Black press are associated by race to online newspapers Sowetanlive and Die Beeld. The reason for the similarity is the owners of these large media corporate and when their journalist of also of the same race and there are no differences. People identified as white in South Africa, and the social reconstruction of whiteness as an ideology which is tied to social status. Racism is based on the concept of whiteness--a powerful fiction enforced by power and violence. Whiteness is a constantly shifting boundary separating those who are entitled to have certain privileges from those whose exploitation and vulnerability to violence is justified by their not being white Kivel( 1996:19). Whiteness is social construct that are put on us in the past, and how it has become a power in social, cultural and political systems. This becomes a standard that is measured and individuals with different colour become inferior. To my understanding the whiteness superior does not have to explain about whiteness because that has just become a norm in society, and this is what we were taught. Whiteness has been taught to so it becomes a learned behavior. It is based on ideology based on beliefs and behaviors which is the result of unequal distribution of power. White is not attached to the colour of our skin but what we attach to being superior. There are two major theorist of whiteness namely Ruth Frankenberg (1993, 200) and Richard Dyer (1988; 2000). Ruth Frankenberg wrote “a dominant cultural space with enormous political significance, with the purpose to keep others on the margin....white people are not required to explain to others how ‘white' culture works, because ‘white' culture is the dominant culture that sets the norms. Everybody else is then compared to that norm....In times of perceived threat; the normative group may well attempt to reassert it’s normatively by asserting elements of its cultural practice more explicitly and exclusively. Frankenberg (1993:21). In his book he explained he interviewed a diverse group of women in California in which he attempted to put their experiences in a framework of race, racial dominance and whiteness. The dimensions of whiteness are as follows according to Frankenberg. A location of structural advantage of race privilege, it is a standpoint at how white people look at others, it refers to a set of cultural practices that are usually unmarked and unnamed. Frankenberg (2000:447). Dyer on the other hand explains whiteness as ‘is a speaking position that does not acknowledge itself as ‘raced’ where as the other is often raced. Where the person of ethnic race is called is an Indian shopkeeper. Dyer remind us that whiteness is “ if the invisibility of whiteness colonies the

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definition of other norms- class , gender , heterosexuality, nationality and so on- it also masks whiteness as itself a category . White domination is hard to grasp in terms of characteristics and practices of white people. No one would deny that, at the very least, there are advantages to being white in Western societies, but it is only avowed racists who have a theory of attributes this to inherent qualities of white people. Otherwise, whiteness is presented more as a case of historical accident, rather than a characteristic of cultural historical construction, achieved through white domination (Dyer 1988:46, see also 2000:541) after the 1994 nobody acknowledged themselves as racist. In my understanding and opinion, racial judgments are made on how people look. White does not have colour and when speaking about race there is absence of imagery white as a race. White is not racially names compared to when we call black doctor or a coloured actress. People of ethnic colour are always explained with imagery but this is a social reconstruction of what were taught in apartheid. In my opinion in the understanding of the theory of Dyer, whites are not a race; they are just a human race. Figure 2, we can see the whiteness as an ideological position. The article I have chosen is claims made by Steve Hofmeyr. Steven Hofmeyr is a singer /songwriter in South Africa. He is famous for his Afrikaans songs and has a major support in the Afrikaans speaking community. His supporters are not of a racial colour because his whiteness is based on language. In this article in my opinion I can relate to the theories of Ruth Frankenberg and Richard Dyer. He makes a statement about the quality of life of a white person, it is everyone’s right to have quality of life not only white people. This is where we relate the theory of Ruth Frankenberg. Everyone of colour is compared to the norm of being white. Within this article we see Richard Dyer theory as he speaks only of white farmers of being killed, but what about the persons of different colour who were killed during apartheid. He claims that it was black on black murder and very little had to do with government murders. He was born in an era where white supremacy was dominant, and this could be where the social construction of whiteness took place. He was learned that whiteness was dominant. His claims can be seen as whiteness as a race. He is speaking on behalf of his race, he has embodied that this is normal and not that he making whiteness as being superior. Racism in this article only shows that black people are a race and not white people. His racism ideology is working through his words and language he is using in this passage. There is a sense of blackness in this article because the journalist is standing up against Steve Hofmeyer wit facts to make his claim not true. The journalist uses South African and not race when speaking about the facts about the killings in South Africa. There is a term in the passage “Since 1990, race has not been listed as a category in official death records’. Another statement of whiteness is "Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts," Lizette Lancaster. She makes it sound as if white is the normal race and ethnic races are inferior in my opinion. In this article the journalist also makes use of the word ‘individual’, and this is because we are seen as human race and not race in colour. In my opinion she is making a statement that it has nothing to do with color of the skin, we live in a country that has the highest crime rates, and it does not conform to a particular race. We are all South African individuals and crime affects all of us no matter what race.

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3.2 Media representation of violence If you switch on the Television and you watch the news, you see reports of rapes, murders and violence overall. It is not only the news where we see violence; we see it on Television programmes, video games, and even kids programmes. Violent and aggressive behaviour can be seen on the streets, in schools and be encountered any time or any place. We live in a country where crime is at its peak and should we blame the media for these crimes. Do the media contribute to these crimes and how can we avert the negative effects of violence that affects us on a daily basis. We grow up in a society that is learned and we follow the moral, values and beliefs to what we are taught in our adolescent stages. The question is does violence in the media affect us to create real violence. Crime is a violent behaviour because of our different perceptions on what we relate to as violent. Representation has many complexities and a slight difference to the dictionary meaning in Communication Science. Representation is what understanding we have of the act or the representation and how we define the act. We will act a representors of what we define what we see or read. Representation can either stay the same over decades or change over time, depending on what we define as change. If we look at a photograph or read a passage in a newspaper, it is seen as structured representation. Fourie (2008:198) there are various issues relating to theoretical study of representation. The first is resemblance or imitation, this is could be related to fake. This is when a central idea is looked at and stands for or points to something else. (Barnouw 1989:453). Authenticity is keeping the idea of representation and reality and truth is the questions asked when looking at the representation, is it real or unreal. Mental representation refers to the imitation or fake version of the representation. Did the imitation version alter the process of representation? Violence is the intentional act of force on someone or on oneself. Violence is a force of aggression; it is defined as physical force which is exterted for the purpose of violating another person. Violence occurs on different levels and is not attributed to one single factor. The question is what causes violence? Could violence in our life cause the tendencies of violence against others? Can stress, anxiety, frustrations lead to violence. In my opinion violence is brought upon the repression of feelings and emotions. If a person is a victim of violence it could lead to violence which relate to the unexpressed emotions. The question is does Media violence contribute to violence? According to certain theorists they believe media violence contributes to people to behave more aggressively Moral Panic is caused by the media to society. It is the intense feeling expressed by society that appears to threaten social order. Moral Panic is a panic amongst parents who feel the violence of the programme will affect children and make them more aggressive. Moral Panic can occur when listening to the radio, watching television or at the cinemas. It depends on the influence the programme will have of the person making sense of. Watson and Hills (1984:109) description of moral panic remain relevant. It is when individuals or groups perceive certain activities as seriously sub-serving the morals and interest of the dominant

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culture. Fourie (2007:234) Moral Panic is associated with anomie. It is a state of breakdown of morals, values and standards. The question is what do people use the media for? There are different theories of media violence. The first theory I am going to discuss is the stimulus response theory. An example is radio as it had a great influence over its listeners. The stimulus response theory. Can be defined a stimulus that requires a response to the body. This theory was a basic assumption that the media injected ideas into people’s minds and they will react in a particular way. Fourie (2008 417) Television has an enormous contribution to people’s lives and there is constant research being done to see if the effects of television effects younger viewers. The younger viewers are seen as passive and helpless. This was a period when people were reliant on radio, and there was not competition in media like today. The hypodermic needle is not applicable to television, the press and film. The hypodermic needle still has an effect when a parent claims that a certain programme is negatively affecting the child, there is a relation to the hypodermic needle. There are various other short term theory like two-step flow theory and uses and gratifications theories. Two step flow theory concludes that media communication has no cause of a behavioural change J T Klapper(1960) Mass Media users are not passive but members of a structured society. They are aware of the various interpretations they attach to media messages. The uses and gratifications is the theory for the needs of the media and the gratifications one get from the media. Firstly is it for distraction for the escape from daily routine. It is a media that gratifies the needs of personal relations, like a relationship with a star in a soap opera. People relate to personal identity when watching certain programmes and surveillance where users need to get information. There were long term theories where media did not have an immediate effect, but over a period of time .De Fleur and Dennis (1995:553-606) With the decline in Hypodermic needle a new perspective began, the Cultivation theory was developed by Professor George Gerbner. This was the study of television influencing the viewer’s ideas on a daily basis. He argued that television had a long term effect which was small and gradual. It is the conceptions of the viewer’s social reality. Gerbner included cartoon violence in his theory. Other theorist like de Guise and Paquette did not include cartoons as they claimed it was comical portrayals. Malan (1984) distinguishes between physical violence and verbal violence of the cartoon. Gerbner’s focus was on ‘heavy viewers’. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by television programs than are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer has little first-hand experience. Hawkins and Pingree (1983) The active audience perspective is where media users are actively and creatively involved in selecting and interpreting messages. Von Feilitzen (1998) research defines the following: We are attracted to the emotional state to combat boredom. When watching a horror movie our need for emotion will increase (Lawrence & Palmgreen 1996). Watching Horror movies at the age of 15 and 16 years old it is seen as a test of maniless amongst males. Playing video games as well, give the male a form of masculinity. This could give feeling that you belong to a group and watching

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violent programs is predominating in males. Therefore there is a reinforcement of stereotype related to gender. Research has shown that there are possible causal effects in the form of violent and aggressive behaviour amongst children and adolescence. The main concern is the time that children spend in front of the television. The processes that need to be taken into account are the process of behaviour of kids and adults when watching a television programme. Experiments were done and proved that violent behaviour in films especially the youth, they behaviour changes and become an aggressive. Video games became the new interest of researchers in media. Video games can be seen as changing behaviours because of the violence are some of the games. An example is the game Grand theft auto . This is where the ‘hero’ kills people in the street to get points. He beats women and smashes cars. There has been empirical studies using Meta –analytic techniques indication increased behaviour. High levels of violent video games were related to school fights and violent criminal behaviour. There are no reasons to expect that some people will be more susceptible to violent video games. Experts are not sure if video games lead to violence. Nobody is accountable for Cyberspace or the internet. Technology has moved so fast and it is difficult to explain if the internet leads to change of behaviour. People tend to get ideas from the internet. The internet contains positive and negative thoughts. The internet plays a positive role when connecting people and as a source of information. The internet has negative thoughts like pornography, access to negative hate group sites. The internet can be used to post one’s own negative thoughts and feeling through blogging. There are chatroom where paedophiles lurk looking for young prey. Internet games can also be of violent nature. There is an engagement of cyber bullying. There are different variables to explain long term television violence. (Botha 1997). The first is social environment. If a child is exposed to an unloving environment they will show aggressive behaviour. IF the parent is aggressive the child will have aggressive tendencies. This could relate to when the child is an adult and how violent television can affect behaviour of a child turning into an adult with aggressive behaviours. The second is the intellectual capacities. Children with low intellectual capacities learn to be heavy Television viewers and they believe that the violence of Television is true. This child with these behaviours will be the same when the person is an adult. Huesmann (1988) and Eron (1982) thirdly the social environment: Violence in South African schools and homes. Schools are becoming war zones and articles of violence are appearing in newspapers more frequently. The Western Cape increase of violence amongst scholars and now the teachers are being targeted. Poor children have feelings of despair and think there is no hope for the future. In their communities the rich are related to the gangsters, or drug dealers. Drugs play a role in violent behaviour. My brother in law is a drug addict, addicted to the drug tik. His behaviour has changed over time and his aggressive behaviour leads to violence. The cognitive and moral development Heavy television viewers relate to a character on Television and the violence in their minds seems acceptable.

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Nearly everyone is exposed to media and most people are not really violent. The media reflects what is going on in society, or provides entertainment, but it does not cause violence. There has been violence and wars since the beginning of time. There has been extreme violence at time before television, radio, and mass distribution of reading materials. People know how to control their actions in person. It is their choice on how they act when it comes to playing games and being in the real world. Just because there is violence on games does not mean you have to do it in person. Violence can happen with or without media involvement. In my opinion it is the will of the person watching the program and I believe as a parent we are in control of what our children should watch and what games they should play. If you teach your children the values, morals and beliefs of a peace, love and happiness including communication, the media will not control our behaviour.

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3.3 Media Representation of HIV and AIDS

3.1.1 The article is about the New HIV infection and the Aids Death Fall. This is a report on HIV and AIDS. It is a positive report on the fall of the numbers in HIV and AIDS patients. The report shows the drastic fall of number since 2004 to 2012. The report is on the statistics of HIV and AIDS in South Africa .It was reported on 18 January 2014, and the issue to address if for us to keep the statistics positive as it is shown in the new report. This report is what they are targeting for 2016.The drastic changes from 2004 to 2012, example school children less than 15 years old have dropped from 90000 in 2004 to 10000 in 2012. This article shows that the media plays a major role in combating HIV and AIDS. The metaphor used in this article is “war rooms” where various come to discuss the way forward, and these are different sectors of communities.

3.2.2 Modern Communication media is divided into roles .Kar, Alcalay and Alex (2001:351). There are three complimentary objectives. Media support on ongoing health campaigns, media advocacy to influence public policy and information and education about health matters. The objectives in the article are the ongoing campaigns which in this article is the national roll out of the campaign into different areas. This article is a media advocacy because it is giving us the statistics of the HIV AND AIDS crisis in South Africa. It is showing the positive effects of media and information has decreased in numbers. This means the third objective has been reached because of the numbers that have decreased. The ideological belief in this article is that the campaign against HIV is working; the objectives are being reached through awareness, media assistance and information. The UNAIDS report gives the correct figures that are in the article as this is a global report. http:// www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/globalreport2013/globalreport/. In my opinion this is a strong background of research. There are two government officials mentioned in this article but there is not interference, just information given. They contribute positively to the article. The first statement “ Durban - New HIV infections in South Africa have fallen by a third since 2004, according to a report handed to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday” and “The general message is that it's good news," said UNAids country co-ordinator for South Africa Dr Catherine Sozi”. This article is from the South African Press Association, because at the end of the article it shows SAPA, and there is not name at the beginning of the article. This also give a more positive insight on the article because the information comes from SAPA.

3.3.3 Media has the power to make audiences aware of issues The more the media continues to speak about HIV and AIDS the more the public becomes aware of the importance of the issue. The repetition of matters by a specific media and the possible overflow of similar messages to the other media (Mathes &Pfetsch 1991:36-36). Lang and Lang (1981) the result of an agenda – building process was influenced by the agenda –setting theory on public opinion. This is the

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techniques used to increase the effects. Fourie (2008:385). HIV and AIDS is an issue in South Africa and in my opinion it is necessary as event to become an issue. In this article the public must be made aware of the statistics and it is good to know there is a fall in numbers of persons with HIV and AIDS. There is a continuity of the theme because in this article the campaign is going to have a national roll out. If the person does not have the information it is good to be made aware of the issue. In this article the issue is not far removed from the recipient if you know of someone living with the aids virus. The issue in this article is placed in perspective because it is giving statistics about the HIV and AIDS virus across South Africa. There are prominent people used in this article, an example is Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe.

3.3.4 In my opinion it is something the public needs to know about. HIV and AIDS have been a big issue for South Africa, but these statistics show a positive outcome of the awareness of the disease. The articles does not include awareness about the disease it only includes statistics. This article could have included a section where they could have put in some awareness, it does not need to be information but just maybe section giving numbers to call or make contact with various organisations.

3.3.5 Placing and time/or slot of the issue is always the front page of the article or the first story on radio. It always includes important information. My article was found on the internet. I went to www.news24.com, and did a search for HIV and AID articles. I found this one interesting because in my opinion statistics are important. The vocabulary used is important and the reason for my interest was the heading of the article.’ New HIV infection, Aids deaths fall’. This article was not the first article was the fifteenth article. I chose this article because I was interested in the statistics. There is not hate speech in this article, this article is a positive article. The only ethics that need to be followed in the article is giving the correct statistics, which is ethical because HIV and AIDS is such a sensitive topic to some audiences. To give incorrect information would seem unethical in a relation to the topic.

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Self Assessment and Self –Reflection 1. I have learnt about South African paradigms and the policies of media. In have learnt about freedom of expression, why it is needed and what the threats are. I have learnt about gatekeeper, regulators and the different internal regulators. I have read different articles to improve my understanding of topics. I have learnt about different theorist and their arguments and experiments on how to test theories. 2. I have learnt about how media policies have changed over time, the state was in control of the media. The history of media in South Africa. I have learnt about media and representations, and freedom of speech and threats to it. I have learnt about concentration of media the relationship between competition and concentration, and the forms of concentration with its positive externalities. 3. My strengths are to read more, the more articles you read the better the understanding becomes. The strength I have gained over these 6 months is about how media is represented and have read so many articles relating to the study of Policy management and media representation. I will be reading more articles to improve my knowledge.

4. My shortcomings did not know enough about media before really doing this assignment which is quite sad being a South African. I need to read more articles, start paying attention to media when watching television, reading newspapers and the internet. 5. My learning outcomes is that I am able to reference articles about the topics, I am able to explain what concentration and competition is, I am able to explain the dates of the south African media policies and how it has changed. I am more knowledgeable about the Secrecy Bill. I have more thoughts on whiteness in media, I have gained thought on the violence of media and the theorists involved. I have read different thoughts on what other people think of media representation.

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SOURCES CONSULTED

Barnouw, E (ed) 1989 International encyclopaedia of communication. New York Oxford University Press. Cerf, Vinton, “'Father of the internet': Why we must fight for its freedom”, CNN, 30 November 2012, (O) Available http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/29/business/opinion-cerf-google-internetfreedom Dyer, R 2000. The matter of whiteness in: Theories of race and racism. A reader, edited by L.Back and J.Solomons. London:Routledge Fourie, PJ. 2007 Media Studies, media history and media and society. Lansdowne: Juta Frankenberg, R 1993. White woman, race matters: The social construction of whiteness, London Routledge Frankenberg, R 2000. White woman, race matters: Theories of race and racism, London Routledge Mathes, R&Pfetsch, B.1991. The role of the alternative press in the agenda-building process: Spill over effects and media opinion leadership. European Journal of Communication 6(1):33-62 Media concentration in South Africa. (O). Available http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/213.1 Robert B Horwitz, South African Telecommunications: History and Prospects (O) Available http://www.vii.org/papers/horwitz2.htm http://www.misa.org/our-work/item/319-renewed-threat-to-freedom-of-expression-in-southafrica. (O). Available The causes of violence. (O). Available http://www.grlphilosophy.co.nz/Thecausesofviolence.htm G Little 2005
The press of South Africa. (O). Available http://www.southafrica.info/about/media/news.htm, SA info reporter 2013 Tribunal conditionally approves merger between Absa Bank and Edcon’s Private Label Store Card Portfolio (O) Available, Commercial Law 2013 Whiteness studies, (O). Available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteness_studies August 2007

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FIGURE 1

Renewed Threat to Freedom of Expression in South Africa
In the forthcoming issue of the New York Review of Books, Nadine Gordimer writes about two disturbing pieces of legislation under consideration by the South African parliament: the Media Tribunal and the Protection of State Information Bill (or socalled “Secrecy Bill”). Both would significantly curtail freedom of expression and access to information. Nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid, the acts are eerily reminiscent of the legal architecture that upheld the apartheid system itself—laws banning political parties, newspapers and books, and advocacy of political, economic, and social change.
If the Media Tribunal is established, journalists will be required to inform it about topics that they plan to investigate or write about; the Tribunal will then have the power to determine whether these subjects pose a threat to state security. However, under a new plan recently proposed by the Press Freedom Commission, a compromise seems more likely. The Commission has recommended a system of “independent co-regulation” between the public and press, without involvement of political parties or state officials, which may mitigate some concerns raised by critics of the Tribunal. The Secrecy Bill may be the greater threat. It has received heavy criticism from South African civil society and media, and would impose significant prison sentences on those who expose corruption in government and industry. It lacks a public interest defense, meaning that journalists or whistleblowers could be imprisoned for up to 25 years for sharing information deemed classified by the government, even in the face of a compelling public interest such as exposing corruption or malfeasance. In addition, the Bill will insulate various intelligence agencies from public scrutiny, ensuring that ordinary constitutional checks and balances will not apply to the intelligence services. The powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), a traditional ANC ally, is strongly opposed to the Bill, as is Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has said that it “makes the state answerable only to the state.” The final hearing on the Bill is set for May 17th. If passed into law, expect to see a Constitutional Court case challenging the Bill in the near future. In many ways, this legislation contradicts the founding ideals that the ANC promised to a new South Africa. Should the Secrecy Bill be enacted into law, former Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs’ warning may prove disturbingly prescient: “There is no guarantee that somebody who is a freedom fighter, who is willing to sacrifice his life for freedom, will not violate the rights of others when he takes over power.”

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FIGURE 2

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Are whites really being killed 'like flies'?
10 Oct 2013 10:15 Nechama Brodie

why.

Musician Steve Hofmeyr. (Gallo)

This piece was previously published by Africa Check. South African musician Steve Hofmeyr has claimed that the number of white South Africans killed by blacks would fill a soccer stadium, that white Afrikaners are being killed "like flies" and that a white farmer is murdered every five days. But the claims are incorrect and grossly exaggerated. In fact, whites are less likely to be murdered than any other race group. Are white Afrikaners really being killed "like flies"? Is a white South African farmer being "slaughtered every five days"? Would the number of whites "killed in SA in black on white violence" fill one of the country's largest football stadiums?

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These are some of the claims made recently by Steve Hofmeyr, one of South Africa's most popular, and controversial, Afrikaans singers and performers. In a post on his blog and Facebook page titled "My tribe is dying", Hofmeyr made several sweeping statements about South Africa's murder rate and the quality of life of white Afrikaans-speaking South Africans. Within a day of it being posted, Hofmeyr's blog entry and a pie chart that he used to support some of his claims were "liked" by more than 2 000 Facebook users. A similar number also shared the post on their Facebook pages. The Facebook entry was subsequently removed but later reposted without the pie chart. By way of explanation Hofmeyr stated: "The facts are good but they shouldn't be in a pie chart. Im removing the pic. It will be replaced with the real PIE." On his Facebook page Hofmeyr explained the issue with the pie chart was not with the statistics, rather: "It should be separate charts (pre&post Apartheid)." At the same time, Hofmeyr posted an image of the interior of a "World Cup soccer stadium" – which appears to be Johannesburg's Soccer City – together with a statement that the "amount of whites killed in SA in black on white violence" would produce a body count capable of filling the stadium's seats. 'A lot of bodies to lose in stats' Hofmeyr then went on to make the following statements on Twitter:
  

"Old SA averaged 7 039 murders/year from 1 950. New SA averaged 2 4206 (SAP) [South African Police Service] or 47 882 (Interpol). Sorry Columbia [sic]. We still champs." "When SAP claimed 26 000 murders in 96, Interpol counted 54 000. A lot of bodies to lose in stats." "There is a discrepancy of 10 000 murders per year between government and MRC figures!"

Several readers asked Africa Check to investigate the accuracy of Hofmeyr's various claims, among them that:
   

 

Whites are being murdered at a rate faster than any previous period in South Africa's history; A white farmer is murdered every five days; During apartheid, black-on-black violence was responsible for the majority of black homicides, with only a fractional percentage of black murders due to government forces; "Whites killed by blacks since apartheid 77.3%". This is unclear as Hofmeyr has not indicated what factor the percentage is of, however Africa Check assumes Hofmeyr is stating 77.3% of all white homicides (since 1994) have been perpetrated by blacks; The number of whites killed by blacks in South Africa is equivalent to, or more than, the number of seats at Soccer City stadium, which has a maximum seating capacity of 94 736; and There are significant discrepancies between murders reported by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other agencies and that these discrepancies have been used to hide or obscure the "truth" about murder in South Africa.

Where does Hofmeyr get his information? Hofmeyr declined to reveal his sources to Africa Check but later stated on Twitter: "Our unpopular pie-chart is from a book by Vusi Tshabalala and merely highlites [sic] the lie of white on black genocide during Apartheid". Africa Check has not been able to establish whether Vusi Tshabalala really exists or which publication Hofmeyr was referring to.

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On various white right-wing sites, reference is made to a "Vusile Tshabalala" who supposedly wrote an article in 2001 about the "killing fields" of post-apartheid South Africa. Invariably the sites describe Tshabalala as a "journalist" and then, for emphasis, as a "black journalist". No indication is given of where Tshabalala worked, nor does he appear to have written any other articles. Hofmeyr's other claims appear to stem from a 2003 paper titled, "Murder in South Africa: a comparison of past and present". It was written by Rob McCafferty, then a communications director for the conservative Cape Town-based lobby group, United Christian Action. McCafferty's paper, published at the peak of crime levels in South Africa, appeared to offer a comprehensive survey of crime literature and subsequent analysis of crime data and trends over a period of more than five decades. There are, however, several significant flaws in the presentation and interpretation of data, some of which McCafferty acknowledged himself. There are no 'average' murders McCafferty's paper presented a graph based on figures sourced directly from "annual police reports and CSS: Statistics of Offence annual reports" showing the total number of murders reported to the police between 1950 and 2000. McCafferty conceded in his paper that "factors such as population growth and differentials in time periods …would make it unfair to compare this data" and pointed out that it was "not logically sound to do such comparisons". But McCafferty proceeded to do just that and aggregated 44 years of murder numbers (309 583 recorded murders from 1950 to 1993) to reach an "average" of 7 036 murders a year under apartheid. He then contrasted that figure with his own aggregation of post-1994 Interpol statistics, from which he determined an annual average of 47 882 murders. This appears to make a case for a shocking increase in homicides in the post-apartheid era. But, as we explain below, the Interpol murder statistics McCafferty used are widely regarded as inaccurate. And McCafferty's "average" murder numbers show a very different picture when plotted against South Africa's population figures. Murder and other crime statistics are commonly expressed by statisticians, crime analysts and researchers as a ratio per 100 000 of the population rather than in raw numbers. McCafferty's failure to have done so indicates exactly why this is preferred practise. According to McCafferty's graph, less than 2 500 murders were reported to the police in 1951. The census results of that year indicate that the total population of South Africa at the time was 12 671 452. The "murder ratio" therefore works out at 19.73 murders for every 100 000 people. By 1970, the total number of reported murders appeared to be approaching 7 000. With a population of about 21.7-million, this would equate to a murder ratio of 32.12 per 100 000. Murder rate continued to decline McCafferty's graph showed that the number of homicides increased steadily from 1950. What

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McCafferty had not taken into account was that South Africa's population had also steadily increased. By 1994, South Africa's murder numbers, according to McCafferty, reached 25 000 a year. With a population of just under 40-million, this translated to a murder ratio of a 62.5. South Africa's murder rate for all races peaked in the period during and following the transition to democracy. However, in a paper published by the Medical Research Council crime analyst and author Antony Altbeker found that by 2003/4 the rate had fallen to less than 43 murders per 100 000. The murder rate has continued to decline since then, dropping to 30.9 for 2011/12 according to the South African Police Service Crime Statistics Overview. Significantly, given Hofmeyr's claims, it is lower than the murder rate documented in 1970 under apartheid. All the independent security and research experts we consulted for this report agreed that current murder figures provided by the SAPS should be considered accurate. The trouble with apartheid-era data Both Altbeker and Mark Shaw, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies who has worked extensively with apartheid-era crime data, told Africa Check that official police figures during apartheid were not an accurate representation of national homicide rates. Crime reports from the Bantustans – the nominally independent black "homelands" established under the auspices of the apartheid state – were not included in South Africa's national figures. In addition, according to Shaw, "a proportion of homicide cases among Africans were not reported or recorded" owing to the absence or lower levels of policing in the townships and rural areas. Therefore it is probable that while white homicides during apartheid were accurately documented by the state, the number of black homicides was understated in official reports. For this reason, the "blacks killed" portions of Hofmeyr's chart must be discounted; the data is simply not reliable enough to make any accurate findings – and the role of apartheid in creating or contributing to violence and murder in black communities is difficult to isolate. Since 1990, race has not been listed as a category in official death records. This deliberate omission may have been intended to avoid exactly the kind of issue raised by Hofmeyr's claims; the interpretation of raw data by non-experts to support some form of race-based conspiracy theory. In reality, however, the absence of such information has effectively perpetuated a race-crime mythology in South Africa. It is, however, possible to gauge trends in white homicide based on older data. A 2004 report published in the South African Crime Quarterly compares homicide rates across all races from 1937 to 2003. Based on this, it is clear that homicide rates for all races increased over this period (although they fell somewhat from 2003 onward). However, the increase in the white homicide rate began in the late 1970s and has remained markedly less than the increase in murder rates for all other race groups. Murder by numbers A central thread of Hofmeyr's claims relates to apparent discrepancies in South African murder statistics. Hofmeyr cites figures that appeared in McCafferty's report which stated that while "police crime statistics show there were 21 683 murders in 2000, the [Medical Research Council] puts the

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figure at 32 482?" McCaffrey also stated that "while the SAPS claims there were 26 883 murders in 1995/96, Interpol claims there were 54 298". In its report at the time, the MRC said it "notes discrepancies in the statistics concerning road traffic accident deaths and homicides which needs further investigation". A revision of the 2000 data was published in 2006, in which the total number of deaths was revised downwards, from 550 000 to 520 000, and the "number of injury deaths" [which include homicide and traffic accidents] was "revised down by about 10 000". Based on this updated information, it was stated that of "the estimated 59 935 injury deaths in 2000, 46% (27 563) were homicides". That still leaves a discrepancy of nearly 6 000 deaths. Altbeker dealt with this specific issue in great detail in his report on murder and robbery in South Africa, in which he argued that "the MRC's figures cannot be reliably used to refute the numbers presented by SAPS". In short, he found that the data used to compile the MRC's estimates had been incomplete or flawed and had yielded an inaccurate and overstated picture. The "murder gap" between Interpol and SAPS numbers is easier to explain. Altbeker told Africa Check that Interpol combined both murder and attempted murder figures for South Africa, resulting in inflated numbers. This is confirmed by the 1999 Global Report on Crime and Justice published by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. Altbeker wrote extensively about the challenges with international crime data collection and comparison in a separate paper. Both McCafferty and Hofmeyr's claims about murder number discrepancies must therefore be dismissed. White death in a time of democracy "Whites are far less likely to be murdered than their black or coloured counterparts," Lizette Lancaster, who manages the Institute for Security Studies crime and justice hub, told Africa Check. This is supported by an analysis of a national sample of 1 378 murder dockets conducted by police in 2009. In 86.9% of the cases, the victims were Africans. Whites accounted for 1.8% of the cases (although whites make up 8.85% of the population). According to Lancaster official police statistics show that between April 1994 and March 2012 a total of 361 015 people were murdered in South Africa. Applying the 1.8% figure, it would mean that roughly 6 498 whites have been murdered since April 1994. Even if there were some variation on the 1.8% figure, the number of white murder victims would still fail to come anywhere close to filling a soccer stadium. The fact is that whites are less likely to be murdered than any other race in South Africa. The current murder rate of white South Africans is also equivalent to, or lower than, murder rates for whites recorded between 1979 and 1991. According to the latest SAPS annual report, Lancaster said,"only about 16% of murders occurred during the commission of another crime, mainly aggravated robbery. About 65% of murders started off as assaults due to interpersonal arguments and fuelled by alcohol and/or drugs, result[ing] in a murder". The vast majority of murders are, she said,"social fabric crimes often perpetrated by friends or loved ones". The 2012 Victims of Crime Survey confirmed this assertion, stating that 16.1% of victims were "murdered by unknown people from outside their residential area" with an additional 10.9% of

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"murders … committed by known perpetrators outside [the victims'] residential area", and the balance of homicides committed by community members, spouses and friends or acquaintances. Even if the proportion of "outsider" crime was doubled for white homicide victims, this would still fall drastically short of the "77.3%" of white murders that Hofmeyr appears to claim are at the hands of black perpetrators. Farm attacks The interpretation of data on "farm attacks" is problematic as it relies on old police data and current, self-reported data collected and submitted by the Transvaal Agricultural Union of South Africa (Tausa). Tausa figures for the 22 years between 1990 and 2012 state that 1 544 people were killed in farm attacks, an average of about 70 a year or one every 5.2 days. A report by trade union Solidarity, issued in 2012, found that 88 farmers were murdered in the 2006 to 2007 financial year. So was Hofmeyr correct in claiming that "a white farmer is slaughtered every five days"? According to a 2003 police committee of inquiry into farm attacks, cited by Solidarity, 38.4% of farm attack victims were described as being black, coloured or Asian. Tausa's figures suggest that 208 (or 13.5%) of those murdered in farm attacks between 1990 and 2012 were black. Hofmeyr's statement that a white farmer is murdered every five days is therefore also incorrect. The claim would only be true if he included all farm attack victims of all races. Conclusion Hofmeyr's claims are incorrect and grossly exaggerated the level of killings. South Africa certainly has one of the highest crime rates in the world and one that is characterised by a particularly high rate of violent crime. This is not an area where degrees of comparison offer any form of comfort. South Africans are affected daily by crime. South Africa remains gripped by its fear of crime. In the 2012 Victims of Crime Survey, about 35% of households believed that crime had increased since the previous period. Public figures like Hofmeyr, who disseminate grossly misleading information about crime patterns, only serve to contribute to this underlying fear. In addition, such misinformation creates or entrenches existing racial divisions and perpetuates an unfounded fear and hatred of other races. On 1 July Steve Hofmeyr issued a written response to both this report and an article confirming Africa Check's findings, which was published by Rapport in June. The numerous claims Hofmeyr made and the "statistics" he presented do not add up. Since it was published, his post has had to be updated several times, removing, among other things, data that he claimed related to South Africa which actually came from another continent (and was also misconstrued). Hofmeyr's strongest argument boiled down to this: "Far more than facts, it is people's emotions and experiences that matter … So 'our people die like flies' is still applicable, emotionally – and does not need to be supported by facts."

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Africa Check understands that perceptions do of course matter. As stated in our report, South Africa has one of the highest crime rates in the world and all murders are to be abhorred. Crime data, like all data everywhere, could and should be improved. This is something Africa Check is campaigning for. However, this is not a reason to dismiss inconvenient facts as Mr Hofmeyr does. The sooner we all understand the reality of crime as it affects all individuals, the better that those living in South Africa will be able to engage with, participate in or lobby for initiatives aimed at addressing the very real problems that do exist, and that affect individuals from every community. Crime touches all of us, irrespective of race. – Africa Check

FIGURE 3

New HIV infection, Aids deaths fall
2014-01-18 07:00

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(Shutterstock)

Durban - New HIV infections in South Africa have fallen by a third since 2004, according to a report handed to Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Friday. Between 2004 and 2012, the number of new HIV infections fell from an estimated 540 000 to 370 000, shows the report by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/Aids, commonly known as UNAids. "The general message is that it's good news," said UNAids country co-ordinator for South Africa Dr Catherine Sozi. Speaking at an event in Durban, where the report was handed to Motlanthe, she said the figures were compiled from a variety of sources, including the 2011 census and surveys. The number of Aids deaths fell by 30% from 330 000 in 2004 to 240 000 in 2012, and were projected to fall to below 150 000 in 2016. Sozi said government's increased roll-out of the antiretroviral (ARV) therapy programme had averted an estimated 780 000 deaths between 2004 and 2012.

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Most of these, about 250 000, were estimated to have been in KwaZulu-Natal, the epicentre of the pandemic. An estimated 2.7 million people receive ARV drugs in South Africa, making it the largest programme of its kind in the world, according to Sozi. Most of those receiving treatment are women. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the department hoped to have 4.6 million people taking ARVs by 2016. He said it was important that every South African be tested for the disease at least once a year. In KwaZulu-Natal, the mother-to-child transmission rate had fallen from 20.5% in 2005 to 2.1% in 2011. The national average stood at 2.7%. According to the report, the number of new infections among children under the age of 15 had fallen from 90 000 in 2004 to under 10 000 in 2013. Children under 15 accounted for only 6% of new infections compared to 15% in 2004. In 2012, the number of children who had lost one or both parents to the disease was estimated to be 2.5 million. National roll-out Motsoaledi announced that the KwaZulu-Natal government's Sukuma Sakhe campaign would be rolled out nationally. The campaign has seen the establishment of "war rooms" in many of the wards of the province. They are places where various sectors of the community, including church and civil society groups, government officials, and individuals come together in a bid to resolve problems affecting that community. "Sukuma Sakhe must be taken from KwaZulu-Natal to each province. It must be a national programme," he said. UNAids executive director Michel Sidibe praised the country's efforts to eliminate the disease, saying the country had moved from being in denial to achievement. "You are not just waiting for people to come and help you. You are sharing responsibility," he said. Motlanthe said: "It is encouraging to see the success that has emanated from the concerted effort to implement a comprehensive programme through the Sukuma Sakhe model." He said information from the UNAids report would inform the government on how to refine or implement new programmes to tackle the disease. He warned that while progress was being made, more needed to be done. - SAPA

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