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The Public Interest and Commercial Imperatives in Journalism Practice

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The Public Interest and Commercial Imperatives in Journalism Practice Saving the Sowetan: The public interest and commercial imperatives in journalism practice A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY of RHODES UNIVERSITY by Lesley Cowling February 2014 Abstract This thesis examines the complex ways in which notions of the public interest and commercial imperatives intertwine in journalism practice. It does this through a study of the 2004 takeover and relaunch of the Sowetan newspaper, the highest circulation daily in South Africa throughout the 1990s and an institution of black public life. The ‘public interest’ and ‘the commercial’ are recurring ideas in journalism scholarship and practice, and the relaunch appeared to be a challenge to reconcile the Sowetan’s commercial challenges with its historical responsibility to a ‘nation-building’ public. However, the research shows that the public/commercial aspects of journalism were inextricably entangled with Sowetan’s organisational culture, which was the matrix through which its journalism practice was expressed. Conflict in the organisation over the changes was not simply a contest between commercial realities and the public interest, with journalists defending a responsibility to the public and managers pushing commercial solutions, but a conflict between the culture of Sowetan “insiders”, steeped in the legacy of the newspaper, and “outsiders”, employed by the new owners to effect change. Another conclusion of the research is that commercial “realities” – often conceptualised as counter to the public interest – are highly mutable. Basic conditions, such as a dependence on advertising, exist. However, media managers must choose from a range of strategies to be commercially viable, which requires risk-taking, innovation and, often, guesswork. In such situations, the ‘wall’ between media managers and senior editors is porous, as all executives must manage the relationship between business and editorial imperatives. Executives tend to overlook culture as a factor in changing organisations, but I argue that journalism could benefit from engaging with management theory and organisational psychology, which offer ways to understand the specific dynamics of the organisation. Finally, I argue that the case of the Sowetan throws into question the idea that there may be a broadly universal journalism culture. The attachment of Sowetan journalists to their particular values and practice suggests that forms of journalism evolve in certain contexts to diverge from the ‘professional’ Anglo-American modes. These ‘journalisms’ use similar terms – such as the ‘public interest’ – but operationalise them quite differently. The responsibility to the public is imagined in very different ways, but remains a significant attachment for journalists. ii Preface The writing of a PhD is lonely process. There are so many times you skip social jollifications to revise a chapter, or try to explain to puzzled friends why it really is not possible for you to play a game of Scrabble (“just one?”) on a Sunday night; there are weekends spent entirely in pyjamas, subsisting on coffee and toast; there are comments when you appear at a rare event: “I hear you’ve become a recluse!” The retreat from social life, and wrestling with a project that seems to expand beyond your capacity to contain it, can lead to an overwhelming sense of isolation. However, looking back now on the years, I can see the many, many people who supported me in this project – a crowd of helpful faces. It is a testament to the generosity of the communities around me that, in writing the acknowledgements, I became aware that I couldn’t name everyone who had helped along the way without this section running into many pages. There are some individuals and institutions that I would like to mention, however. First, I would like to acknowledge Wits University, where as an undergraduate student I first discovered the pleasures of critical engagement. I was rescued from an inept undergraduate career when I stumbled into the department of Comparative Literature, headed by Professor Reingard Nethersole, who guided me into better writing and scholarship. There I also had the pleasure of studying with Tim Couzens, teaching in African Literature, and Peter John Delport, with whom I spent many hours in coffee shops with his small cohort of students (“the three witches”), debating the relative merits of Freud, Marx and Foucault. Twenty years later, I was back at Wits, this time as a teacher in Journalism, and was fortunate enough to find myself in another invigorating group, the Constitution of Public Intellectual Life project. Led by Carolyn Hamilton and funded by Atlantic Philanthropies and the Ford Foundation, PIL (as it was dubbed) brought together a group of scholars from a variety of disciplines to work on questions of publicness in South Africa. I managed to talk my way into the project, and it became a home for me. Thanks to Carolyn Hamilton, Anthea Garman, Litheko Modisane, Rory Bester, Pascal Mwale, Alan Finlay and Windsor Leroke for creating this stimulating space, and for allowing me in. I have been inspired by your work over the years. I would like to particularly acknowledge Carolyn, who persuaded me to come back to Wits and begin a research life, and who has always made time for me when I have iii needed advice. You are a consummate mentor, a generous colleague and a highly prized friend. The wider Wits community, particularly the Faculty of Humanities, has offered support in tangible ways. The Faculty Research Committee has funded time off for writing and travel to conferences, where I could test my ideas. The faculty itself has sponsored a number of retreats for PhD writing. Many individuals helped along the way: Leon de Kock was instrumental in securing a Carnegie time-off grant for me and motivating me to get writing, Isabel Hofmeyr was an exemplary mentor, Susan van Zyl an adept editor, and Shireen Hassim an endlessly patient and encouraging breakfast companion. My doctoral work was supported by the Carnegie Foundation, and Hugo Canham was always available to facilitate the fellowship. I am aware that members of my department, Journalism, lightened my workload so I could work on the PhD. Anton Harber, Glenda Daniels, Kevin Davie, Alan Finlay and Brigitte Read all took on extra responsibilities to free me up, and it is much appreciated. For help with practical, technical and institutional issues, I relied on Judi Mafika, Pierre Miller, Carol Townsend, Nooshin Erfani-Ghadimi and Sintha Chiumia (for help with graphs). Then there were those who read my work along the way, a very special (although small) group. The Journalism research group – Joanne Richards, Indra de Lanerolle, Ruth Becker, Kate Skinner and Joey Kok – offered crucial feedback in the final stages. I could not have done this research were it not for the generosity of the Times Media and Sowetan journalists and executives. Apart from giving me their time for interviews, Andrew Gill, Taryn Gill, Thabo Leshilo, Len Maseko, Musa Zondi, and Mike Siluma also engaged passionately with the questions the project presented. Special thanks are due to Lloyd Coutts, whose account of the Sowetan relaunch first sparked my interest in the project, and Mike Tissong, who was endlessly available for follow-up questions and last-minute requests for stats and details. Proving that television journalists have secret scholarly aspirations, Jimi Matthews, Mike Cadman and Victor Antonie all read an early chapter, offering some useful feedback. Victoria Stapf turned my thinking in a new direction at a crucial moment, and let me explore that while hosting me, feeding me and plying me with books in New York. Karen Martin introduced me to the little town of Greylingstad, its walks and dams, and I enjoyed a number of houses and views there, courtesy of her, Graeme Reid and Pat Pillai. Akiedah Mohamed, Joanne Richards and Micaela Smith iv were motivational fellow writers, dragging me along in writing tandem. I was thankful for the quick intelligence of Susan Russell, who listened ad nauseum to all the variations of my arguments on readership, advertising, newspaper content over many years, never seemed to get bored, and often produced a delicious cooked dinner to go with the discussion. David Dison was another intelligent listener, who demonstrated an amazing ability to remember where the last conversation had left off. Shaun de Waal did a final read, offering me his vast editing experience. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my supervisors Larry Strelitz and Lynette Steenveld, who read every word (every comma, every reference!) with great attention and many times, who engaged so fully with the project, and who brought such nuanced insights and encyclopaedic knowledge to the table. Thank you for your patience and understanding, as I argued every point and defended against every change, and for the rigorous “conversation” of the last few years. Finally, thanks to my son, Lucas, for living with this project for almost half of his existence, and to my family, especially my mother Sheila, for her quiet but substantial acts of support in the background. They have not gone unnoticed and unappreciated. v Contents Abstract ii Preface iii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Research question 1 1.2 Context of the research 3 1.3 Rationale for the study 5 1.4 Sowetan as the focus of study 6 1.5 The study 9 1.6 Chapter outline 10 Notes on Chapter 1 16 Chapter 2: Methodology 17 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 The practitioner as researcher 17 2.3
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