Browsing by Author "de Vente-Bijker, Tanya Nelly"
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- ItemA media historiographical investigation: Examining three aspects of a press club’s history over four decades(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) de Vente-Bijker, Tanya Nelly; Rabe, Lizette; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This media historiographical study examines the history of the founding of the National Press Club (NPC). The NPC was founded as the Pretoria Press Club (PPC) in 1978, in Pretoria. In 2002, the PPC was renamed to the NPC to keep up with transformation of South African society in general. In 1980, the PPC introduced the Newsmaker of the Year award. Since then, the PPC, and later the NPC, named a Newsmaker of the Year annually. The goals of this study were to research three elements of the history of the NPC since its founding as the PPC. The first goal was to research the reason why the PPC was founded. The second was to investigate the reason for the name change from the PPC to the NPC, and the third was to research the selection of Newsmakers from 1980 until 2017. Social network theory and social responsibility theory were found to be relevant, and were both applied as theoretical frameworks for this study. Data was collected through historical research and semi-structured interviews with ten interviewees. These interviewees were either founding members, former chairpersons, or former, and current executive committee members. The research found that the NPC (and PPC) was founded to serve as a networking platform for journalists and, secondly, to serve as a platform for journalists to raise the status of the profession. It emerged that the name of the PPC was changed to the NPC to keep up with the transformation happening in South Africa, and to support transformation of the Press Club. As for the third goal of the study, the research found that the decision for a Newsmaker was made on the grounds of news value and impact (within a specific calendar year), which is decided by the executive committee of the club. The social network theory underwrites the networking aspect of the NPC, as it explores the notion of how individuals create societies through networking. The social responsibility theory supports the NPC’s founding purpose, namely to raise the status of the profession, as it prescribes certain “key journalistic standards”, such as ethics and the notion of press freedom, that should be upheld by the media.