Exposure to political news via media and political trust in South Africa : a quantitative study
| dc.contributor.advisor | Schulz-Herzenberg, Collette | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | Green, Melanie | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.other | Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Political Science. | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-11-24T09:37:41Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-01-31T19:42:38Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2020-11-24T09:37:41Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2021-01-31T19:42:38Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-12 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2020. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Media usage to gather political news and the attitude of political trust are both key theoretical ingredients for a successful democratic state. Citizens’ political trust in the state is essential in ensuring that the decisions made by the political authorities on their behalf are accepted. The media not only fulfils a watchdog function in a democratic state but is also an important communication link and vessel of information between the citizens and government. Despite their recognised importance, however, media usage and political trust have a contentious relationship. Two key schools of thought exist when referring to the way in which media usage to gather news influences political trust, with supporting evidence found for each. The first is the media malaise school of thought, which argues that an increased exposure to political news will negatively shape the trust that citizens hold towards government and the state. The second school of thought is the virtuous circle, which argues that the increased political knowledge gained through news consumption will promote democratic learning and political trust. Studies on these schools of thought and the conclusions drawn have largely been conducted in advanced democratic states. This study explored the association between the frequency of media usage to gather political news and political trust in the South African context. South Africa presented an interesting case study to further explore the relationship between these variables and this study contributes to filling this gap in the literature. Firstly, there is a high rate of media usage to gather news in by South African citizens. Secondly, the South African political landscape has been tumultuous in recent years and various corruption and other scandals have been covered widely by the media. Some examples of this include the Nkandla scandal and the allegations of state capture involving the Gupta family. This study explored the way in which the frequency of media usage to gather political news affects political trust in South Africa. This was achieved through a quantitative approach using Afrobarometer data from survey Round 6 (2015) and Round 7 (2018). The methodology and the operationalisation of the concepts in this study drew from a large body of international literature that fits the context of this research. The media platforms examined in this study were radio, television, newspapers and the internet. Political trust was operationalised using Norris’(1999) conceptual framework and included the following objects of trust: political actors, political institutions, regime performance and regime principles. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mediagebruik om politieke nuus te versamel en die ingesteldheid van politieke vertroue is albei belangrike teoretiese komponente van ’n suksesvolle demokratiese staat. Politieke vertroue in die staat is noodsaaklik om te sorg dat die besluite wat politieke owerhede namens burgers neem, aanvaar word. Die media in ’n demokratiese staat vervul nie net ’n waghondrol nie, maar is ook ’n belangrike kommunikasieskakel en inligtingsmiddel tussen burgers en die regering. Nietemin, al word albei as belangrik erken, is die verhouding tussen mediagebruik en politieke vertroue ook omstrede. Daar bestaan twee denkrigtings oor hoe mediagebruik vir nuusversameling politieke vertroue kan beïnvloed, met stawende bewyse vir elk. Die eerste is die denkrigting van media-malaise, wat aanvoer dat verhoogde blootstelling aan politieke nuus ’n negatiewe impak op burgers se vertroue in die regering en die staat het. Die tweede is die denkrigting van die positiewe kringloop, wat beweer dat verhoogde politieke kennis as gevolg van nuusverbruik bevorderlik is vir demokratiese leer en politieke vertroue. Studies oor hierdie denkrigtings is tot dusver hoofsaaklik in gevorderde demokratiese state onderneem. Hierdie studie ondersoek egter die verband tussen die gereeldheid van mediagebruik om politieke nuus te versamel en politieke vertroue onder burgers in Suid-Afrikaanse verband, en help vul dus ’n leemte in die literatuur. Suid-Afrika bied ’n interessante gevallestudie om die verwantskap tussen hierdie veranderlikes te verken: Eerstens maak Suid-Afrikaanse burgers deeglik gebruik van die media om nuus te versamel. Tweedens is die Suid-Afrikaanse politieke landskap die afgelope paar jaar onstuimig, en berig die media breedvoerig oor verskeie korrupsie-en ander skandale. ’n Paar voorbeelde hiervan is die Nkandla-skandaal, en die bewerings van staatskaping waarby die Gupta-familie betrek word. Die studie volg ’n kwantitatiewe benadering met behulp van Afrobarometer-data uit opnamerondte 6 (2015) en opnamerondte 7 (2018) om te bepaal watter effek gereelde mediagebruik vir die versameling van politieke nuus op politieke vertroue in Suid-Afrika het. Die metodologie en die inwerkingstelling van die konsepte in hierdie studie is gegrond op ’n uitgebreide versameling internasionale literatuur wat op die konteks van hierdie navorsing betrekking het. Die mediaplatforms wat bestudeer is, is radio, televisie, koerante en die internet. Politieke vertroue is aan die hand van Norris (1999) se konseptuele raamwerk in werking gestel, met politieke rolspelers, politieke instellings, regime prestasie en regime beginsels as vertrouensobjekte. Die navorsingsbevindinge is verrassend en in lynregte teenstelling met wat aanvanklik verwag is. Die studie bring aan die lig dat die gereeldheid van mediagebruik om nuus te versamel nié ’n sterk impak op burgers se vertroue in die verskillende politieke rolspelers en instellings het nie. In plaas daarvan, blyk die algehele verband tussen burgers se vertroue en die gereeldheid van mediagebruik die teorie van die positiewe kringloop te ondersteun vir alle mediaplatforms buiten die internet (wat klaarblyklik eerder media-malaise veroorsaak). | af_ZA |
| dc.description.version | Masters | |
| dc.format.extent | xii, 123 pages | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/109280 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Press and politics -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Journalism -- Political aspects -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Communication in politics | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Mass media -- Political aspects -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Political science | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Mass media and public opinion -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Public opinion and mass media -- South Africa | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Misconduct in office | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | UCTD | |
| dc.title | Exposure to political news via media and political trust in South Africa : a quantitative study | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |