Vol 21, No 1 (2002)

This article argues that new media often get involved in struggles for new rights. The
nascent book was involved in the struggle for religious freedom, the press has been
engaged in the struggle for fairer political regimes and the Internet is used today as
an instrument for the advocacy of new liberties: the freedoms of intimacy. Communities
and individuals seek to gain rights related to the needs and preferences derived from
their self-identity. This article shows that the Internet is best suited to dealing with
issues associated with the self and intimacy than are other media. Taking the example
of sexual minorities who use cyberspace as an alternative public sphere, it argues that
it is particularly well adapted to two key practices that are essential to communitybuilding
and that can only take place in the public sphere: self-definition and political
mobilization. The article also shows how public authorities have always tried to censor new media
when used by minorities to demand new rights. It argues that censorship has become
increasingly efficient and that today's new media face a new means of censorship in
technology. The article illustrates the case with the rating and filtering software used
to censor cyberspace. Finally, it claims that the fight for new rights is part of the
process of individualization inherent to modernity.

The main purpose of this article is to stimulate and contribute to the debate about
the role of the media in South Africa as a developing country. Against the background
of an overview of the relationship between the government of apartheid and the
media, and the similarity of this relationship to the conflict between the African
National Congress (ANC) government and the media in 2000 and the early part of
2001, it is argued that there is a need to rethink the role of the media in South Africa.
Such rethinking could start with a revaluation of the values underlining the concept
of "freedom of expression". Both the media and the government use the concept of
"freedom of expression" as a basis for their interpretation and debate about the role of
the media in South Africa. Yet, the historical development of the concept, the values
associated with it, and its meaning and relevance in terms of the nature of present day
society, including developing societies such as South Africa, are seldom investigated
and debated. In short, the concept is taken for granted and dealt with as a matter of
course without critical consideration of its content, the values it embodies and its
applicability to modern democracies. From such a point of view, a starting-point for
discussing the role of the media in South Africa could be a critical investigation of
whether the meaning(s) and values attached to the basic concept of "freedom of
expression" are still appropriate today. For the government, it would entail a critical
investigation of the compatibility of the concept of "freedom of expression" with the
developmental role they want the media to play. For the media, it would mean an
investigation into whether their modes of operation, their production of content and
their distribution of information and meaning are still in line with the original values
associated with the development of the concept. Tentative arguments to support this
view are presented in this article.

Brochures are often used in South Africa to disseminate information to disadvantaged
communities. This article is based on a research project in which the effectiveness of
printed texts containing information about agricultural practices was tested among a
target audience of small-scale farmers in deep rural areas. The methodology used was
informed by reception theory. The historical development of reception study is traced
and compared with recent trends in communication research. The findings of this
study indicate that considerable interpretation gaps exist between sender and receiver.
This is mainly caused by a lack of understanding about the life world of the end-user
and results in the absence of a common coda[ system between communicator and
receiver. Empirical studies based on reception theory can make a positive contribution
towards improving development communication in the pluralistic cultural and lingual
South African society. It may well be used as an instrument to test the effectiveness of
messages aimed at a specific target audience.

Business organisations are increasingly viewing knowledge as their most valuable and
strategic resource to remain competitive. Every organisation has both explicit knowledge,
referring to carefully analysed and defined knowledge, and tacit knowledge, referring
to complex knowledge, difficult to specify and often unrecorded. Tacit knowledge
becomes embedded in an individual's personal expertise and cannot be expressed through
the normal use of words. But it is precisely the tacit knowledge that often delivers a
sustainable competitive advantage, as it is this part that competitors have difficulty
in replicating. Many organisations are realizing that they must explicitly manage their knowledge
resources and capabilities, and they have initiated a range of knowledge management
programmes. An important managerial responsibility resides in managing the knowledgetransfer
context, including the assessment of all knowledge possessed by a firm. This
necessitates the conversion of tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. This article looks at the tacit knowledge literature and focuses on the existing methods of converting tacit knowledge into implicit knowledge in organisations. A pilot survey
on existing tacit knowledge articulation in a large South African province is discussed.
This has pointed towards a more comprehensive research project, with the aim of
providing a model for tacit knowledge communication strategies in South African
multicultural firms.

This article explores recent events in Zimbabwe, the violence and intimidation that
marred the 2002 presidential elections and the war Robert Mugabe, the country's
president since independence in 1980, waged against whoever was opposed to or
challenged his leadership - especially white farmers and journalists - in the run-up to
the crucial polls. I opine that even though Mugabe won 56 per cent of the country's vote, his leadership
lacks legitimacy because a sizeable number of people, especially in the opposition
areas, were denied the right to exercise their democratic right to cast their vote.
Although I argue that his purge against critics is unjustifiable and evil, I also write
about the need to fight injustices subjected to his people. I posit that Mugabe's contempt and assault on the media will continue, especially after he signed into law the controversial Access to Information Act aimed at curtailing
criticism by the press.