News headlines point to the ‘facts’ that citizens feel in charge of the virus
Ian Siebörger
Ian Siebörger is a senior lecturer in Linguistics at Rhodes University, specializing in discourse analysis, particularly the analysis of media and political discourses. His PhD, completed in 2018, is on the positioning of political parties in the Daily Sun's reporting. In his research he focuses on how emotive and evaluative language is used in the media to associate different ideas with particular people and organisations, shaping the opinions and knowledge that everyday citizens have about what is happening in South Africa's political landscape.
Posted inGeneral, Health, News/Politics
Covid-19: South Africa’s fears… and some ways we can fight them
The novel coronavirus has taken over South Africans’ lives in the past month. At the beginning of the month, the country was still hosting major sporting events and big gatherings; now we’re in lockdown. Some quick research into news coverage from the past month reveals what South Africans are most afraid about, but also […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What Ramaphosa announced, and what he admitted
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address contained all the usual announcements of new government initiatives, but was marked for what he admitted about the country’s huge challenges. This comes out clearly in a look at how this tough SONA was reported on in the media. The name “Ramaphosa” was mentioned 80 times in […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
Eskom is bent
If Eskom is bent, what is it going to take to straighten it out?