The SABC and Afrikaans news: a matter of language economy in action?
a matter of language economy in action?
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- Articles
- Submited: October 20, 2022
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Published: October 24, 2022
Abstract
Afrikaans and English television news started in 1975 with equal airtime. In 1996 after
an SABC policy change, the Afrikaans TV news bulletin was relegated to a lesser and
infrequent time slot. Many Afrikaans-speaking viewers perceived these changes as a
threat to the future of Afrikaans and pressure was exerted by cultural organizations and
Afrikaans newspapers. There are also indications that economy of language played a
major role in the re-establishment of a regular time slot for Afrikaans television news.
Economy of language is a field of study probing the relationship between linguistic and
economic variables. The role of language in people’s involvement in the economy is
diverse but fundamental. On the one hand language empowers or disempowers people
to join the national economy, and on the other hand people’s language preferences
sometimes determine their consumer decisions. The SABC’s Afrikaans television news is
a prime example of language preference becoming an economic determinant.
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How to Cite
The SABC and Afrikaans news: a matter of language economy in action?. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 23(2), 51-67. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v23i2.1760
