Elections and TV News in South Africa / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

"With the crisis in mainstream media in South Africa and elsewhere - we journalists should shoulder much of the blame - this timely book places television coverage of general elections in South Africa post-1994 under the magnifying glass, pleads for more depth and proposes ways to improve narratives, visual rhetoric and framing. My hope is that this book will encourage deep introspection and debate among media practitioners from Africa and elsewhere. Jones' book is necessary, incisive and informative." - Max Du Preez, Journalist
This book takes television news seriously. Over the course of nine chapters, Elections and TV News in South Africa shows how six democratic South African general elections, 1994-2019, were represented on both local and international news broadcasts. It reveals the shifting narratives about South African democracy, coupled with changing and challenging political journalism practices. The book is organised in three parts: the first contains a history of South African democracy and an overview of the South African media environment. The second part is a visual analysis of the South African elections on television news, exploring portrayals of violence, security, power, and populism, and how these fit into normative news values and the ruling party's tightening grip on the media. The final part is a conclusion, a call to action, and a suggestion to improve political journalistic practice.