Vol 42, No 2 (2023)

The release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 met with fears and optimism. One particularly important avenue of research that is emerging revolves around ChatGPT's ability to provide accurate and unbiased information on a variety of topics. Given the interest that Google and Microsoft have shown in similar technologies, it is likely that Large Language Models such as ChatGPT could become new gateways to information, and if this is the case, what kind of information this technology provides needs to be investigated. The current study examines the usefulness of ChatGPT as a source of information in a South African context by first investigating ChatGPT's responses to ten South African conspiracy theories in terms of truthfulness, before employing bias classification as well as sentiment analysis to evaluate whether ChatGPT exhibits bias when presenting eight South African political topics. We found that, overall, ChatGPT did not spread conspiracy theories. However, the tool generated falsehoods around one conspiracy theory and generally presented a left bias, albeit not to the extreme. Sentiment analysis showed that ChatGPT's responses were mostly neutral and, when more emotive, were more often positive than negative. The implications of the findings for academics and students are discussed, as are a number of recommendations for future research.

In the context of South Africa as a developing country, we argue that CSR communication should contribute to both business sustainability and the empowerment of society for societal sustainability. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of senior South African communication practitioners regarding sustainability and the practice of CSR communication to support dual sustainability. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten senior communication practitioners responsible for CSR and/or CSR communication in ten national and international organisations across South Africa. Our findings revealed that although all practitioners recognised sustainability as the purpose of CSR, business sustainability was prioritised, while societal sustainability has only been supported. CSR communication was primarily used to enhance business sustainability by portraying the company as a responsible corporate citizen through corporate communication efforts to enhance its reputation. This is attributed to the fact that the current CSR communication theory is based on corporate communication, which prioritises business objectives.
We contend that a more comprehensive theoretical framework, including principles of development communication, would enable CSR communication to significantly contribute to societal sustainability.

Multicultural crisis communication in Botswana has become complex due to the country’s various ethnicities and cultures. Facebook remains a dominant communication platform, but traditional media is also used to cover organisational exigencies. However, there is a lack of research guiding public relations (PR) practitioners in multicultural crisis communication in Botswana, and this study addresses this gap. Semi-structured interviews with 20 Botswana PR practitioners revealed that they use Facebook to manage crises, but do not engage in online dialogue with the public. Instead, they post status updates and switch to offline cultural communication platforms for face-to-face dialogue. This article proposes and introduces a Botswana-focused model, the Cross Cloverleaf Relationship Model (CCRM), that probably resonates with similar contexts in Sub-Saharan African countries. The model facilitates authentic crisis communication between Facebook and the kgotla system, Botswana's traditional and cultural communication platform. I suggest that multinational companies may find the kgotla system helpful during emergencies in Botswana.

South Africa remains one of the most dangerous places for women – lesbians in particular – to live freely and safely, where a culture of patriarchy and a lack of socio-economic opportunity are ubiquitous throughout its communities. While the Internet has given journalists a wider platform to provide insights about issues plaguing lesbians, there is very little information regarding the elements used in these online reports. This is not only due to the lack of language required to contextualise lesbian issues, but also persistent institutional and societal homophobia. This article describes the technical frames used in the online news reporting of four case studies of ‘queercide’. Using a thematic coding sheet, data was collected from 70 online articles purposively selected based on a priori population characteristics. The study found technical elements, such as the length of online reports, credible sources used, and ‘code-driven’ and ‘user-driven’ elements identified in the coded online articles. The conclusion uncovers some clear trends enabling the construction of a Venn-type diagram, which presents insights into how the murder of lesbians (referred to as a sub-section of ‘queercide’ in the article) is being reported by online news media compared to contemporary theoretical discussions on how these cases should be reported on. This article situates queercide within a conceptual framework for future studies, while the findings demonstrate how online articles on the killing of lesbians lack self regulatory and sharing features that would improve their legitimacy in the minds of their readers.

The enduring rate at which fake news is disrupting the political economy of the media is the subject of this study. Using a largely qualitative instrument of intensive interviews with 18 journalists purposively selected for the study, we discovered that fake news is one of the banes of journalism in Ghana. Fake news's notorious role in the political and economic realities of the country is not uncommon, as it has created uncountable political controversies. With several of the country's media owned by politicians or persons with a vested interest in politics, it became a practice for players to utilise fake news as a propaganda tool to outwit their competitors through the media. For these architects to fully achieve their goal, social media and affiliated mainstream media were used as instruments to propagate fabricated content against their opponents, especially during the 2020 general elections. This paper also identified the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in the creation of fake news content. The study recommends the need for media organisations in the country to seek the services of fact-checkers as a means of verifying stories, as well as to intensify education on the identification of fake news and possible flagging.

The aim of this study was to assess the current state and determine the development of internal communication research in South Africa over the past 21 years (from 2002 to 2022), to provide direction for future research with a view to expanding the body of knowledge in the field from a South African perspective. Research articles on internal communication that were written from a corporate communication and public relations perspective that had been published in three peer-reviewed scholarly communication journals in South Africa were systematically reviewed. Authorship information, research topics, theoretical frameworks, methodologies, and suggestions for future research indicated in 28 articles were analysed. It was found that most scholars focused on the implementation of internal communication management and internal strategies or plans in specific contexts or to attain certain outcomes. The most frequently used theories were relationship management theory and reputation management theories, and a qualitative research approach was the predominant methodical approach used, with non-probability (purposive) sampling, even though questionnaires were the prevalent data collection tools. Although internal communication as a research field has grown globally, research in the South African context is lagging behind. Future research opportunities include: (1) more quantitative studies that employ large probability samples to generalise findings, (2) the digitalisation of communication channels, (3) developing and empirically
testing local theories, frameworks and models, (4) including marginalised and diverse groups as a starting point for knowledge production, and (5) adapting the findings of research conducted prior to the post-COVID-19 setting.