Vol 23, No 2 (2004)

This paper presents some of the findings of an ethnographic audience study of the soap
opera viewing patterns and interpretations of Zulu-speaking students living in residences
at a South African university (Natal University’s Durban campus) who watch The Bold
and the Beautiful (an American soap opera) and Generations (a South African soap
opera). Although the research undertaken covered various aspects of the soap opera
viewing experience and the consumption of an international vs a local soap opera, this
paper will focus specifically on the nature of the viewing process and the ways in which
the respondents relate to both soap operas, and it touches briefly on how the viewing
patterns of the students and their motivations for watching compare with audience
studies conducted elsewhere in the world.

The intention of the present study was to determine whether (1) the immediacy behaviour
of lecturers whose home language is Afrikaans or English contributes positively to the
affective and cognitive learning of learners whose home language is Afrikaans, English
or one of the African languages; and (2) whether the form of immediacy behaviour
displayed by English or Afrikaans lecturers functions differently for learners whose home
language is one of the African languages in relation to those whose home language is
Afrikaans or English. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire that had separate
sections on immediacy behaviour and learning. Positive correlations between the
immediacy behaviour of the lecturers and the affective and cognitive learning of the
learners were observed for the whole test group. The immediacy behaviour displayed by
the lecturers functions differently for learners whose home language is one of the African
languages than for those whose home language is Afrikaans or English. Considering these
findings, it is imperative that instructional communication in today’s South Africa be
increasingly characterized by a culture-centred approach.

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.

Prior research suggests there is a lack of editorial-level policy thinking around HIV/AIDS
coverage in South African media institutions. At the same time, constraints of time,
capacity and resources, common in the commercial newsroom, mean it is often illequipped
to deal more comprehensively with the complex effects of the pandemic in the
country. A quantitative study, conducted as a sister study to this, shows the press took
a strongly critical position in relation to the government health policy on anti-retrovirals
(ARVs) during the monitored periods (March-May 2002 and March-May 2003). Given the
relative complexity of a public ARV treatment programme, the lack of resources and
capacity in the newsroom, as well as the lack of widespread editorial-level policy thinking
on HIV/AIDS coverage, how is it that the press came to represent a position so strongly
in opposition to the government policy? In the context of an overview of the quantitative
findings, this paper explores several possible reasons that emerged during interviews
conducted with key informants in the field of HIV/AIDS and the media.

Globalization is an inevitable phenomenon characterized by both integrating and
disintegrating forces. This article argues that the outcome of Globalization will be
determined by how the global community responds to, and engages in, the process. It
suggests that communication scholars can play a role in influencing globalization towards
a constructive outcome by directing their research endeavours and theoretical reflection
towards finding ways to enhance human development and effective global integration.
A conceptualization of globalization for communication science and a number of
theoretical approaches which could be used to study the phenomenon from a
communication perspective, are proposed. Lastly, suggestions are offered for research
contributions that could assist in steering the global system towards a more mature and
stable state and the attainment of a higher order of societal consciousness.

In his speech at the Anti-corruption Summit Conference in Cape Town in 1998, the deputy
president of South Africa said that the culture of entitlement, so prevalent in our
community, had contributed to the ‘name it, claim it’ syndrome where individuals sought
an elusive moral justification for engaging in criminal activity and that public servants
were obliged to serve the public with integrity (Speech of the …: 1998 [O]).
Although the problem of corruption can be traced back to the 1960s in America and the
1980s in South Africa, the concept of whistle blowing has become an important
phenomenon in modern organizations in the last decade. Subsequently, it is clear that
the concept of whistle blowing should be conceptualized in terms of a theoretical
framework to provide a context for the analysis thereof. The main aim of this article is
therefore to conduct an exploratory study, based on a comprehensive literature review,
to explore, elucidate and critically assess the current status of whistle blowing in South
Africa. The first section of this article explores the development and theoretical perspectives
on the concept, and proposes perspectives on whistle blowing as a communication
phenomenon. The second section deals with the current status of whistle blowing in
South Africa in terms of legislation and ethical considerations. The last section
operationalizes the whistle blowing process and proposes criteria for dealing with whistle
blowing in the organization.

None

In approaching and addressing HIV/Aids, policies should play a major role in orchestrating
the country’s attempt to fight the pandemic. Policies on the HIV/Aids issue are mainly
formulated at national and provincial levels and there are supposed to be instructive
and applicable at local level. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on the communication
between provincial and local levels with regard to the HIV/Aids policy in general and the
policy documents in particular. Thus, our objectives are the following: to describe a few theories briefly in order to
provide a theoretical perspective on policy; to discuss the South African policy on
HIV/Aids and the Aids council system in the North-West; to describe the situation at
local and provincial levels, with the local level envisaged as the site where policy is
implemented; and to provide insights into the way in which communication is working
or not working between provincial and local levels, as far as effective policy formulation
and implementation are concerned. The findings confirm that there is a large gap between the provincial and local levels.
Within the district of Potchefstroom, the knowledge, interpretation and meaning of
provincial policy documents are varied and fragmentary. Although a policy is perceived
to be a guideline for the Local Aids Council (LAC), most organisations, represented on
the LAC, do not experience governmental policy as a guideline for their HIV/Aids
programmes and activities.