Denying racism: Discursive strategies used by the South African media

Durrheim, Kevin; Quayle, Michael; Whitehead, Kevin A.; Kriel, Anita Julia.

doi:10.1080/02560040585310111

Cited by 24 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…These strategies will be illustrated by an analysis of media commentary following the emergence of the student video, applying the discursive strategies of denial of racism as identi ed by Durrheim et al (2005). The aim is not to provide an exhaustive analysis of all media commentary around the incident, but to demonstrate how these discursive strategies function in relation to the repositioning of the Afrikaans media within post-apartheid society.…”

Section: 'We're Not All Like That' 6 : Strategic Denial Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Anderson 1983), and remains a central platform for debates around cultural politics. Durrheim et al (2005) refer to the discursive strategy of 'denial of racism' in the South African media's response to the investigation into racism in the media, conducted by the country's Human Rights Commission (see Tomaselli 2000) in 1999. According to their study, the media reacted scathingly to allegations that they continued to display racist attitudes well into the post-apartheid dispensation.…”

Section: 'We're Not All Like That' 6 : Strategic Denial Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to analyse the responses in the Afrikaans press to the emergence of the racist video by UFS students, the categories identi ed by Durrheim et al (2005) will be used deductively to establish whether similar strategies were used by the Afrikaans press to deny any association with the racist attitudes displayed by the UFS students. Texts chosen for analysis appeared in the mainstream Afrikaans newspapers Die Burger, Beeld, Volksblad and Rapport.…”

Section: Discursive Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(...) While politicians play the race card at every corner, four students (...) cannot get all the blame for South Africa's race problems. Jankielsohn (2008) also used the 'looking back at history' strategy identi ed by Durrheim et al (2005) in their study of responses to the HRC enquiry as a way to displace racism to beyond the current sphere of in uence, by equating the ANC's af rmative action policies to apartheid: 'Just like the old National Party used the Communist (Red) Danger to achieve its apartheid goals, the ANC is now using the White Danger to achieve its transformation goals. '…”

Section: (Dis)locating Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘We're not like that’: Denial of racism in the Afrikaans press in South Africa

Wasserman

2010

Communicatio

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1While the South African media on the whole underwent significant shifts after the demise of apartheid, repositioning was especially acute on the part of the Afrikaans-language press, which during the apartheid years largely served as legitimising institutions for apartheid and now had to adapt to the changing democratic political and social environment. This repositioning coincided with a liberal consensus in the news media in general, in terms of which individual rights, independence of the media and freedom of speech were emphasised. What complicated matters for the Afrikaans media was the need to retain the loyalty of primarily white Afrikaans readers, who remained attractive to advertisers, while having to orientate itself in relation to the new centres of political power in the country. The precarious balance between the liberal consensus of individual rights and freedom of expression on the one hand, and the imperative to carry a torch for Afrikaans cultural identity in the new dispensation, comes to light in news coverage of a recent racist incident at a historically white, Afrikaans university. This article will seek to explore editorial comment on the incident in selected Afrikaans media, to indicate how the event was interpreted and presented as an individual transgression, rather than a systemic and historically determined problem.

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Section: 'We're Not All Like That' 6 : Strategic Denial Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: 'We're Not All Like That' 6 : Strategic Denial Of Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discursive Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: (Dis)locating Racismmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

‘We're not like that’: Denial of racism in the Afrikaans press in South Africa

Wasserman

2010

Communicatio

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“…However, these academics also pointed out that the shortcomings of the SAHRC research did not mean that the media in South Africa were not racist. Some scholars went further to point out how the media in South Africa have actively deployed elaborate discursive strategies to deny its racism (Durrheim, Quayle, Whitehead and Kriel, 2005;Wasserman, 2010). It is the perpetuation of this history of a racially exclusive 'public sphere' in the setup of the media industry as mostly white and privately owned that has underpinned calls for media transformation in the country (Tomaselli, 2000;Berger, 2001;Boloka and Krabil, 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%