Vol 10, No 2 (1991)

In this article it is postulated that a critical/analytical reading of TV programmes should be an eclectic (or multi-disciplinary) transaction. With the "auteurism" viewpoint (vide Lapsley et all, Reader-response Criti cism (Allen et al) and the British Cul tural Studies (Birmingham) approach (Fiske et al) as point of departure, the popular Afrikaans sitcom ORK NEY SNORK NIE! (SABC TV1) is used as "vehicle" to demonstrate that TV viewing is a highly entangled, inter textual, communication transaction. The question of genre delimination, as an ideological implement, is also mooted. Two diagrammes (the nar ratological prose model and the "6 phase" communication model) are used as illustration to elucidate on encoding/decoding, with special emphasis on the contribution of the various sender collaborators and on author Esterhuizen as primary source of signification. With due allowance for the TV viewer as a reader who "negotiates" and "opposes", to use Althusser's terms, this article is an attempt at TV deconstruction in or der to demonstrate certain theories of pictorial communication and dis course analysis.

This article deals with the question of managers' ethical responsibilities in their communication with em ployees. The idea of a social contract for business is used as a starting point for the development of an ethi cal standard for communication. Fo cusing on the concept of corporate culture, the author looks at the role of power, rhetoric and ideology in exerting symbolic control in the organisation. He argues that although some believe that the presence of rhetoric and of power differences precludes the possibility of ethical communication, this is not necessar ily true. Finally, Sonja Sackmann's view of corporate culture as a dy namic construct is introduced as an approach that seems to promote ethical communication with respect to employees.

This research has as its theme the sit-in by three persons staged in the USA consulate in Johannesburg in 1988. The event is studied from a semiotic perspective. The semiotic 'model' followed is eclectic as it is constituted by views drawn from inter alia Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur, Benson, and particularly Eco. Two main readers were involved in the event, i.e. the governments of South Africa and the United States of America. The interpretation of the event by both governments cre ated a specific 'perception'/meaning in the minds of South Africa's (and the world's) population. This re search strives to establish which country's interpretation was ac cepted by the population in South Africa.

It is now broadly accepted that long term shifts occur in the values that people hold which determine their behaviour. In the South African con text this process is being accelerated by the clash between Ideologies. It is argued that there is one megatrend in South Africa, namely Equality, which is leading to the development of parallel and reactionary sub-trends. In many respects South Africa is moving in the opposite direction to other developed countries, but it can not hide from certain global influ ences, in particular the gathering world-wide concern about Environmental Conservation. These deep seated changes, which, for the most part, reflect a conflict between the freedom of the individual and a de sire for uniformity, have considerable significance for communication and marketing.

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