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This thesis focuses on the role of mainstream media as exemplified by Business Day in reinforcing... more This thesis focuses on the role of mainstream media as exemplified by Business Day in reinforcing dominant and hegemonic world views, which in the case of the South African macroeconomic framework context; this is illustrated by the abrupt adoption of the market oriented-Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) in favour of the more interventionist Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Thus the aim of the study is to show how this shift was framed in Business Day as one of the representatives of the mainstream financial press. And this will be explored by testing the two hypotheses which are central to this study, that elite sources will have more access to the business press and also that market friendly government economic policies are likely to find favour and support within the mainstream media. The importance of this study rests on two key reasons. Firstly, as a field of media study economics, business and finance journalism in Africa in comparison to the rest of the world particularly Europe and America it is still relatively under-researched. Given that in recent years the media has come to represent the largest part of what is widely known as the "public sphere" it is of paramount importance that there be studies which examine the role the media plays in either enabling or constraining participation for all people irrespective of race, gender or class on issues and debates surrounding a country's macroeconomic policies. Moreover, the critical approach adopted in this particular study of economics, business and finance reporting helps to demystify the dominant taken for granted assumptions underpinning the consensual economic discourses as reported in the mainstream media. This approach is useful in the sense that it provides counter-perspectives to the dominant economic discourses and in the process paving the way for alternative voices with alternative economic views to be heard. Secondly, as democratic theorist argue that the health of democracy is linked to the health of systems of communication (Sen, 2000; Dahlgren,1995) it could also be argued that a healthy economy and financial system requires a healthy financial press and studies like this make a significant contribution towards this end.
This thesis focuses on the role of mainstream media as exemplified by Business Day in reinforcing... more This thesis focuses on the role of mainstream media as exemplified by Business Day in reinforcing dominant and hegemonic world views, which in the case of the South African macroeconomic framework context; this is illustrated by the abrupt adoption of the market oriented-Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR) in favour of the more interventionist Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Thus the aim of the study is to show how this shift was framed in Business Day as one of the representatives of the mainstream financial press. And this will be explored by testing the two hypotheses which are central to this study, that elite sources will have more access to the business press and also that market friendly government economic policies are likely to find favour and support within the mainstream media. The importance of this study rests on two key reasons. Firstly, as a field of media study economics, business and finance journalism in Africa in comparison to the rest of the world particularly Europe and America it is still relatively under-researched. Given that in recent years the media has come to represent the largest part of what is widely known as the "public sphere" it is of paramount importance that there be studies which examine the role the media plays in either enabling or constraining participation for all people irrespective of race, gender or class on issues and debates surrounding a country's macroeconomic policies. Moreover, the critical approach adopted in this particular study of economics, business and finance reporting helps to demystify the dominant taken for granted assumptions underpinning the consensual economic discourses as reported in the mainstream media. This approach is useful in the sense that it provides counter-perspectives to the dominant economic discourses and in the process paving the way for alternative voices with alternative economic views to be heard. Secondly, as democratic theorist argue that the health of democracy is linked to the health of systems of communication (Sen, 2000; Dahlgren,1995) it could also be argued that a healthy economy and financial system requires a healthy financial press and studies like this make a significant contribution towards this end.