Vol 40, No 2 (2021)

In 2000, South Africa’s central bank, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), adopted flexible inflation targeting as a monetary regime, and in doing so, set its inflation target at 3-6% for the headline consumer price index (Coco & Viegi, 2020). Essential to achieving this inflation target is not only clear communication of ex-post policy actions, but a clear dissemination of the SARB’s future actions.
This paper examines how the SARB has been communicating, with particular emphasis on their Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press statements between January 2000 and January 2021. The breadth of the sample space is informed by a necessity to explore changes in the SARB’s communication strategies. In particular, this study considers the role of the SARB’s MPC press releases, and given the wide span of the sample, it offers an inquiry into what has changed over the 21-year period, hence considering whether there has been more clarity in the SARB’s communication over that time. This question is answered using the Flesch and Flesch–Kincaid methods, which are widely accepted in central bank communication literature. The two methods gauge how difficult a passage in English is to understand, and are thus used to assess readability hence clarity. In evaluating central bank communications and upon surveying the data, the paper offers empirical evidence about the clarity of the SARB’s MPC meeting statements spanning over two decades, and clearly exhibiting its evolution. This study finds that SARB communications’ Flesch Reading Ease Score Computation is way above and fluctuates more than the Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level Computation, exhibiting a random fluctuation between 2000 and 2015. Therefore, despite SARB’s MPC statements exhibiting more readability, their reliance on academic words has made them more complex and difficult to understand.

This paper reports on findings from a qualitative content analysis on South African English newspapers’ depiction of learner-on-teacher violence, and the effects thereof on the victimised teachers’ private and professional lives, as well as teaching and learning. Lindner’s humiliation theory underpins the study theoretically. The author uses a relational lens to focus on the destructive, humiliating relationship between teachers and learners in schools where learner-on-teacher violence is problematic. SA Media is the databank, and the data source is 57 newspaper articles that report on the incidence of learner-on-teacher violence. The findings indicate that newspapers depict learner-on-teacher violence as the physical, verbal, sexual and psychological abuse and humiliation of teachers. The analysed newspapers highlight the physicality and humiliating nature of attacks against teachers. The study finds that the disintegration of teaching and learning and the degradation of teachers’ private and professional lives are serious negative effects of learner-on-teacher violence in schools where violence is rampant. An important and recurring discourse in the newspapers’ construction of teachers as disempowered, humiliated and vulnerable individuals is that learners’ rights in South Africa supersede teachers’ rights. The study highlights the important role newspapers play in informing the public, education and community leaders and policymakers about learner-on-teacher violence as a serious problem that must be addressed.

Viral video advertising is an avenue for marketers to spread information rapidly to a large, widespread audience. Video advertisements intended to “go viral” still get drowned out by media clutter. Content characteristics, positive affect and social motivations of the viewer have been highlighted as factors that influence the forwarding intention of viral product videos.
This study investigated these factors and their impact on forwarding intention. The results from a realised sample of 250 respondents confirmed the relationship between content characteristics and forwarding intention, the mediating effect of social motivations, and the multiple mediating effect of positive affect and social motivations but not the mediating effect of positive affect alone.
As a result, marketing managers should focus on both positive affect (evoked emotions of enthusiasm, pride, inspiration, and attentiveness) and social motivations (appealing to consumers’ need for distinctiveness, affiliation, and altruism) of the viewer when creating video advertisements intended for virality.

Baseline surveys on the gender distribution in Zimbabwe’s media industry indicate a male dominance in newsrooms in general, as well as in media leadership positions. This gender disparity reflects the persistence of patriarchy and heteronormative beliefs in the Zimbabwean society, despite the country’s constitution upholding gender mainstreaming and principles of equality. However, there
is a dearth of systematic academic studies exploring the experiences, aspirations and attitudes of female journalists in these macho newsrooms. The article is theoretically guided by Raewyn Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with purposively selected female Zimbabwean journalists to discuss their experiences and struggles in such environments. Findings indicate that gender remains an unresolved question in Zimbabwe. Due to alleged unprofessional conduct by some male journalists, Zimbabwean newsrooms resemble phallocentric and misogynistic “carnivals”. Women experience and battle against various forms of sexual harassment despite the presence of mechanisms to protect victims. Despite this violence, female journalists persevere and also find ways of speaking back to power.

Technological developments continue to have an existential impact on the normative understanding of the community radio sector of South Africa. Advances, trends and changes in the technological sphere have meant that as researchers we need to keep up and re-think the long debated matter of “community” within the community radio sector. Within the discourse of continuing research,
this re-thinking is being necessitated by the rapid introduction of new media and new forms of information and communication technologies (ICT) within the broadcasting space. In addition to these ICTs, the mandate and growth of some of the media institutions broadcasting as community radio stations in South Africa have changed – in some cases from small to regional broadcasters. In this paper, I examine the impact of ICTs as well as the accelerated growth of some community broadcasting institutions and their impact on the normative and conceptual understanding of the broadcasting sector. Using a case study perspective, the examination of such developments within the sector has been carried out through Vukani Community Radio (VCR) as a case study. This is one of the oldest community radio stations in South Africa. Drawing on theories about the decoloniality of knowledge, this paper argues that new trends that are emerging within the technological space, as well as community of reception dynamics, forces the academic, research and policy fraternity to re-look the conceptual understanding of the community radio sector of South Africa.

In any successful project, communication plays a significant role and forms the basis to ensure effective project results. Only a few studies in South Africa have considered the influence of communication on the perceived success of a project. Thus, this research investigates the influence and explores the role of communication in project management success within the case example of Gauteng’s SANRAL e-toll project in South Africa. This study highlights some of the areas in the project communications processes. The practical importance of the study shows that communication is the key to effective project management. The research design of this correlational and exploratory study entailed a positivist research philosophy using a deductive approach. The quantitative research was conducted by means of a survey questionnaire. A questionnaire was designed and used to determine the level of influence of communication on stakeholders in the case example of Gauteng’s SANRAL e-toll project. A qualitative study was conducted by means
of a semi-structured interview. An interview guide was designed and used to determine insight about Gauteng’s SANRAL e-toll project. The answers provided on these questions were then analysed to determine how project communications might contribute to the outcome of projects. 

The study investigates if companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) use impression management techniques when disclosing earnings-related information on Twitter. A content analysis was followed as a research methodology to conduct the study. The findings indicate that Twitter is not widely used by listed companies to disclose earnings information. However, where Twitter is used, companies do employ impression management techniques. The impression management techniques differ depending on whether the earnings information distributed is positive or negative. This was evident as tweets with a positive tone were circulated much more than tweets with a negative or neutral tone. The use of self-presentational and dissemination patterns also differed significantly across the tone of tweets. Positive tweets contained more narratives compared to negative tweets, indicating that negative information is concealed. Negative tweets predominantly did not contain hashtags, once again indicating that companies often conceal negative information. Most positive and neutral tweets contained hashtags, illustrating that companies often use Twitter
as a means to alter users’ perceptions towards a positive image. Understanding how companies use impression management techniques will assist users in interpreting and using the information shared. The research may also be beneficial to regulators who may consider drafting guidance and standards regarding the use of social media by companies.

Internal communication is a prerequisite for organisational success as it underpins organisational effectiveness. Previous research (Albrecht, 2010; Andrew & Sofian, 2012; Hayase, 2009; Mamdoo, 2012; Markos & Sridevi, 2010; Meng & Berger, 2012; Ruck & Welch, 2012; Welch & Jackson, 2007; Welch, 2011) has linked this process to employee engagement, which generally refers to “a positive fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption.” To illustrate how employee engagement can be achieved through internal communication, a quantitative research approach was used to obtain data from a sample of 300 respondents identified by means of systematic random sampling from a population of 1 322 employees from the case organisation. The findings point to the critical role played by internal communication in the achievement of employee engagement and specifically investigated the relationship between employee engagement and constructs such as: participative organisational
culture; supportive communication climate; participative leadership communication; quality and reliability of information; two-way asymmetrical communication and two-way symmetrical communication.