CRITICAL ARTS
A Journal for  Media Studies

1981;Vol  2  No  2

Press and  Broadcasting

CRITICAL ARTS

Editors:
Keyan G  Tomaselli
John van  Zyl

Editorial Board: 
Eve Bertelsen 
Tim  Couzens 
Peter  Horn 
David Maughan  Brown 
Robert  Stam 
Ian  Steadman
Les Switzer

Overseas Organisers:
London:  Susan  Gardner
USA  East Coast:  Peter  Davis
USA West  Coast:  David  Mesenbring
Sao Paulo:  Ismail  Xavier
Paris:  Patrice  Pavis

Published by: 
Critical Arts Study Group 
Printed by Central Printing Unit 
University of the Witwatersrand 
1 Jan Smuts Avenue 
2001 Johannesburg, South Africa 

Distributed  by:

l f r * g vH  Critical Study Group
(\3PEJl  Rhodes University
V%^/ 
^Jw/ 
N*/ 

P O Box 94
Grahamstown 6140
South Africa

Copyright is vested with  Editors and individual  authors.

fTH Contents

soae  notes  on  this  volme 

E d i t o r i a l: 
MAJOR ARTICLES
Ideolo$y/Culture/Hege*ony  and Mass  Media  in  South  Africa:  A
literature  survey 

-  Keyan  G Toaaselli  and  Ruth  Towselli 

-  Keyan 6  Towselli 

The  World  Newspaper  1968-1976 

-  Fred  St  Leger 

t

1

27

of  Information 

-  Christo  Doherty 

fforld  by R Righter 

Is  there  r e a l ly  a  difference  between

by A Smith,  and  Whose Hews?  Politics, 

The  Wits-Koornhof  Debate: 
the  English  and  Afrikaans  presses? 
Black  Housing,  Ideology  and the  Media  in  South  Africa  1970-1979
Jeffrey  McCarthy  and  Michelle  Friedaann 
REVIEW ESSAY
The  Ideology  of  Cultural  Deveiopaent:  Theoretical  foundations  for
resources  and action  on  cowBunications.  A review  of  Camunication
and  Class  Struggle  Vol  I  by A Mattelart  and S  Siegelaub;  The  Geo-
politics 
the
Press  and the  Third 
CONFERENCE REPORTS
F i r st  National  Student  Film  and  Video  Festival:  Two Views
View  One:  Theory  or  Practice 
View  Two:  Conflicting  Paradigms  and  Ideologies 
Tomaselli  and  Graham  Hayraan 
Black  Gold  or  White  Elephant? 
on  TV2/3 
BOOK REVIEWS
Capital  and  Ideology 
Nature  of  the  Ruling  Class  by  Belinda  Bozzoli
Reviewed  by  Ruth  Tomaselli 
The  Imitation  Game by  Ian  McEwan  -  Reviewed  by John  Cundill 

in  South  Africa  1890-1933:  The  Political

Coordinated  Marketing  Conference

-  Brian  Murphy 

John  van Zyl 

- 

Johan  Grove 

-  Keyan S

- 

39

51

67

77

80

84

"
92

**

25

Imges, 

by  Colin  MacCabe,  Mick  Eaton

by Len Masterman

Uses  and Abuses  by Albert  Hunt

Sounds,  Politics 
-  Reviewed  by John  van Zyl 

The  Language  of  Television: 
Teaching  about  Television 
Reviewed  by Graham  Hayman 
Oodard: 
and  Laura  Mulvey 
Other  books  mentioned:  Madia,  Politics 
Sews  and Mare  Bed News  (94);  Theories  on Authorship 
Queotions  on  Cinema  (97)
FILM REVIEWS
Peter  Davis1  Film  View  of  South  Africa:  An American  review 
Kimberley  Safford 
Notes  on  Contributors

and Culture  {37)»  Sad
(50); and

-

9*
iv

Editorial: Some Notes on this Volume

Keyan G Tomaselli 

, 

'<

It  is  certainly  one of  the  f i r st  major  attempts  to  study

This  is  the f i r st  Critical  Arts  issue  devoted  entirely  to  the  study  of  the  Sou*
African  mass  media. 
these  media  from  a radical  point  of  view.  As such,  we hope  that  this  issue  w i ll
generate  discussion  and debate,  with  future  issues  building  on the  ideas  explored
here.
The  f i r st  paper  attempts  to  contextualise  media  studies  in  South  Africa  and  tries
to  bring  clarity  to  the  complex  notions  of  ideology,  culture  and hegemony.
Pointing  out that  the liberal-humanist  and radical'approaches  are  essentially
irreconcilable,  a point  emphasised  by Brian  Murphy  and further  examined  in the
interchange  on the Students  Film  and Video  Festival,  the  Toraaselli's  contribution
questions  the value  of  bourgeois  methodologies  and theories.  The paper  ends  with
a discussion  of  the possible  reasons  for  the government  distrust  of  the  English,
press.  Certainly,  this  section  of  the South  African  press  is  seen  as a  prime
cause  of  the country's  bad overseas  image.  This  is  also  the  view  taken  by the
Afrikaans  press.  Die Burger,  for  example,  defending  the  government's  actions  at
the  Nyanga  squatter  camp where  the  shanties  of  thousands  of  people  were  torn  down
and  burnt  by police  in  mid-winter  charged: 
" If  there  is  one matter  in  which  the
opposition  and its  Press  have  acquired  a cunning  proficiency  over  the years,  it
is  in  creating  an image of  a heartless  inhumanity  on the  part  of  the  government"
llr/15Aa 
£Ondonin?  insensitive  police  action  within  the  framework  of "law
and  order  ,  Die. Burger  claimed  that  it  made  no sense  to  abuse  the  government  over

In- 

^T 

"!••  !!Ot  of 

h 
Z ™rnJ]ed 

t h e ir  o wn  m a k i n9- 

In  contrast,  the  Rand  Daily  Hail

response  of  a group  of  United  States  Congressmen  on page

sL  ?v LwS ph e-d l l"e  cT e a rs  as  US  T e am  s e es  s h e 1 t^  misery"  (12.8.81).  Finally,
SABC-TVJgws_Rey_i!£ °u  S u n d ay  30  September,  in  an unprecedented  three-quarter
Vth 
hZ 
"Would  it  not  have
h a VV ?1 < t e <l  t he  N y a n ga  p a t t e rs  after  the US Congressmen
had  qSne  h S K J hf  ^h
S ^ ^ l? 

in  S°U th  A f r 1 c^us  generating  bad

t he  P r 1 n*  Minuter,  asked  the  question: 

IltV™ 

"*" 

^ 

ihu 

c o n t r i b u t i o n *^  r a n ge  °f  attitudes  that  Jeff  McCarthy  and Michelle  Friedmann's
Way  u a ck  h o u s i ng  1««t1ons  *™  reported  by the media,  should
be  seen 
forlmsl  b u sL l ?Z  h l 9"19|}ts  t he  l a<*  of  interest  oK the  part  of  the  country's
comparison w?h?hf 
the  emeraina  h i^  T 
empirics  evi e  e S? S ? ^8 0 1 5 1!7! " '1  St  L e9e r's  s t u dy  Pr0^des  f u r t h er
examination  of  editorials 

'  F i n a n c!aI  " » "-  on the  issues  of  black  housing,  in
5"PP^ssed  Post  'which  articulated  the  aspirations  of

O f n n i on  a nd  c o n c e r n' 

f r om  an

t i r ae 

t h is 

f

P^ ^ ?s°n

f" £i t a 1 i?t 

r e 1 a t i°«=  is  the  thesis  used  by  Christo

S h e r t n ^s
news events  are  1ntero«?Lthe.  lns2dl°us"ess  of  ideology  in  determining  the way
believing  contexts  w h i r h'  ^ P °r ted  and how readers  and subjects  are led  into
than  the9ac?ual  context  w thin  h - ° ^ ^1 1y  " " " ^ " t u r nl  by the  media,  rather
Ch  t he  e v e nt  o c c u^ e d.  This  Editorial  w i ll
will  sketch  the backomimi 
made public  on the clZZ  n f1^  rf ,f?r e n ce  to  some of  the  petitions  and memoranda
on  tne campus  of  the University  of  the Witwatersrand  (Wits)  campus.

\ 

hegeTOnicloc^counti^ 
natures) to  theUniversitrfM?"1^"*  w as  e s^^  by a staff  petition  (150  sig-

resP°nse  which  is  representative  of  the
umversity  following  a spate  of  memoranda  and press  releases

t he  T6"' 

emanating  from the highest eschelons of the University administration, including
one from a member of the University Council who curtly detailed possible reper-
cussions on sources of income.  The staff petition points out that senior office
holders of the University  "confused the issue by references to infringements of
academic freedom and to  'unscholarly' behaviour, notions which are hardly of prime
relevance to a meeting of this kind".  The petition tersely sketched the actual
context of the incident  in the following  terms:

...  the meeting was not an academic lecture, but an election meeting;
that Dr Koornhof addressed  it as a member of a political  party and in
an attempt to solicit votes for that party;  that election meetings
in South Africa are generally rowdy affairs, in which damage to property
and even physical  violence are not uncommon;  and that by these stan-
dards the behaviour of the students at Dr Koornhof's meeting was
relatively  restrained.

This  is especially apparent when one considers that Dr Koornhof rep-
resents a particularly harsh and oppressive regime, that he adopted at
at the meeting a provocative and pugnacious stance, and that many
students are victims of the racist legislation and actions for which
he shares responsibility.  Furthermore, the meeting took place on the
eve of the anniversary of Sharpville, an event of deep significance
to many of those present.

Dr Koornhof was invited onto campus by the Student Moderate Alliance and the
Political  Forum, and not by the democratically elected Students' Representative
Council  (SRC).  It also needs to be pointed out that such behaviour is not un-
precedented on the Wits campus where anyone to the right of the Progressive
Federal  Party  (PFP) has been invited to address the student audience.  Dr Koorn-
hof was not the first to be confronted with such behaviour, but, because of the
presence for the first time of SABC-TV, which deliberately focussed on a relati-
vely small  group of rowdy students, the impression was gained that all  1 200 pre-
sent behaved similarly.  In this instance, this was not the case, although it had
often been  in the past.  This event was thus defined by SABC-TV and packaged into
its pre-existing  political  context that students fall outside legitimate politics.
This interpretation was seized upon by all sections of the media, and the PFP.
Thus classifying  the incident as deviant action, SABC-TV not only repeated action
clips the following night, but also attacked the students and University on Current
Affairs, broadcast on radio.  The English press responded  in turn to a further
threat now posed  by the Nationalist press and SABC which were using this incident
as a platform to attack the PFP, a competitor within the ruling alliance.  Hence,
as Doherty shows, the English press responded to the threat to hegemony posed by
the students  in the same way as the SABC and the Afrikaans press, but went to
some lengths to dissociate the PFP from the students.

Of importance  is that the English press had, a few days earlier, questioned the
credibility of SABC-TV election coverage occasioned by the Prime Minister's ad-
dress in Rustenburg.  The Rand Daily Mail  (March 18) report of the meeting stated
that "Violence flared", "hecklers booed... shouting racist slogans" at Botha,
while others sang the derogatory song "Bobejaan Klim die Berg" (Baboon Climbs the
Mountain).  One hundred and thirty policemen physically ejected noisy Herstigte
Nasionale Party supporters from the hall and prevented several others from e
entering. Commening on the SABC's reporting of this meeting, The Star, which
had simply described  this event as "stormy" (although it was seen as a legitimate
form of political  expression), pointed out in its television "Point of View"
column that the eight-and-a-half minute close-up of Botha gave no hint of heck-
nng whatsoever.  This newspaper went on to state, "a question mark hovers over
the SABC's ability to portray the news honestly and accurately, especially after
last night's speech  ...". 
only five days later, in a comment on the Koornhof incident, The Star (16.9.81)
called for a "more rational  debate", "more display of freedom of speech" and
imposed a superflous context of a "liberal campus" where "one expects rather

In view of this observation, it seems strange that

ii

more than bullyboy tactics of the backveld".  Claiming that there is a difference
between "legitimate heckling and wrecking", The Star seemed to imply that the
students were guilty of the latter, fearing  "views  (which) might actually carry
some weight on campus".  That the SABC had similarly distorted  the event at Wits
did not occur to The Star since, in this case, the newspaper took an equally dis-
torted view in response to hegemonic pressure.  The Argus, on the other hand,
stated: 

—a—

As for freedom of speech, the NP and the Government have been poor
examples to students and others.  People who lock up or ban" poli-
tical opponents without trial, who shut down newspapers and keep up
a relentless propaganda assault upon a free Pree cannot be taken
seriously when they bleat about freedom ... For years  Nationalist
hooligans broke up the meetings of their political  opponents. And
... students will remember being viciously assaulted by the Govern-
ment s police ... Nobody in the NP had the decency then to condemn
tne police action and speak up for freedom  (24.3.81).

event was reported by the media and critics  within  the 'free  flow
n  argument  The spuriousness  of this  belief  is  discussed  by Brian
nis  paper  which  follows.  The Wits  Black  Students  Society,  for example,
this  conception as a myth in relation  to the Koornhof  incident:

iking  students  have shown that  while  they do suffer  oppression
not  tolerate  its  'rational'  basis  being  flaunted  in  their

would  hauo n»2  +!  u 
on Ihe Lnrt^n  nstood.the motives  of the students  and not merely  climbed
on the bandwagon rangmg  from Gerrit  Viljoen  to Helen Suzman.

t ne  diversity  (with  its  tradition  in mind)

in  t e m s ' o f d l Z l ^1-  Is  t h iS 
t y pe  of  misinformation,  distortion  and manipulation
ike the r L f ^ ln 
interests  that  is the subject  of Murphy's  contribution,  Un-
butfon L5 access'of""^^^0"  5y °°hn  van Z^  which  was concerned with  distri-
s K he  SrldSrt on of c'oull^t  H T " * ^31  "formation,  Murphy is conceFSia—
P r e s s u r e s£w S w l r ™2S ,f V?W ^1S is  determined by the very capitalist pr
the  latter™  d i s c u I s i o n s l ^ n L^  ^e  Coordinated  Marketing  Conference.  That
of  the broaderdeSncv  ™H  i  y  t o ok  P1ace °"tside  of, but were totally  unaware
clear.  F u r t h e r^  as van Zv V s "^ 
C ??S a l 1 i a"Ce  d i s c u s s ed  "V M"rphy is
ecutives  remain unaware  f  i!  , 
themselves!  albeU  flat  a l i L*  fS  ecO?omic  b a s is  of  apartheid  whereby  they
evitably  co-opted bv caoitl  ?t  y  C n t i C al  p o i nt  of  v i ew  of  SABC-TV, are in-
tion.  and Kencelheypresent  c  ass "!p r o d u c i n9  t he  easting  relations  of  produc-
h J S ^ S : , ^ . . ! !^  " P ^ ! ,1"  K5!id1n»« a
better quality of l i S T S ,f 
the  accumulation of wpita?  hv f ^ ^1-1 n t e 1 1 e c t u a ls  a^e merely  aiding
t he  new1y  emerging
black  petty  bourgeoisie  and Uhlt 
with  capital  and fore  nq a d S & T ! * °C r a C?  c an be  c°-°Pt ed  i n to  an alliance
I 
between  t h e se  a nd t he black  working  class,
Judging from the proaral^  I 
this  station  i n ? e n d s9s o c ^ i i ^ hSt  °ll T V 2 /3  so  f a r'  t h e re  is  "°  d o u bt 
style,  while  Radio B a n t S w i r L ^6  Urban  b l a ck  1 n t0 a  consumer  oriented  l i f e-
black  class  structure  p a r t U u KT 
of  the "Black  Gold" will  fVnA )tl  V 
Inevitably, much

t0  anaethetize  the lower  ranks  of the
h°Se  in  t ne  r u r a1  a r e a s- 
win  tmd its way into  white  pockets.

resume  illustrates,  these  black  marketing ex-

^ l "9  t he  roeans  »hereb* 

t h at

tlIB  r,ini  andevUn  rCa£Ua1  1 n t e r est  which  also  sets  apart the

content  from context  the Orlan^i 
which is  underlined and driven  to£  hST*  t h a-  t h ey  a re  ^seperable,  a connection
Masterman, Hunt and Godard  KimW!  y  *n« /e v i e w e rs  of  the books by Bozzoli,
f11ras
should also be seen inlhis  context  ey,,S?-u°rduS  o v e r v i ew  of  P e t er  »*vis' 
films  are not fooled by surface  r e a li t l l l ll 
t h?1r.B Htish  counterparts,  these
urtace  realny  with  religion  obscuring  materialism.

r e n C e;  Mnere  G r o ve  t r i es 

t0  separate out

i ii

Notes on Contributors

Keyan G Tomaselli is a lecturer in the Dept of Journalism and  Media
Studies, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Ruth Tomaselli is a Wits Development Studies graduate, presently a
Graduate Assistant in the Dept of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes

Fred St Leger holds a PhD fom the Rhodes Dept of Journalism and is
presently lecturer in Social  Administration at the New University of
Ulster, Northern  Ireland.

Jeffrey McCarthy is a lecturer in the Department of Geography, Univ.
of Natal, Durban.  He holds a Phd from Ohio State Univ.  Hns contri-
bution is part of a larger project on the reporting of housing issues

Michelle Friedmann is a final year student in Geography and Computer
Science at Rhodes University.

Christo Doherty is a final year English student at Univ. of Cape Town.

Brian Murphy is a freelance journalist based in Ottawa, Canada. Formerly
associated with  Carleton University School of Journalism, the Scottish
International  Institute and worked as Co-ordinating Editor for Print
Materials and Broadcasting at the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre.
Was also a consultant on the formation of community media in Cameroon
Presently working on a book entitled Unscrambling the New Communications
Puzzle:  satellite broadcasting, cable TV and teletext

John van Zyl is senior lecturer in film and television studies in the
School of Dramatic Art, Univ. of the Witwatersrand

Kimberley Safford works for a broadcasting company in New York. She

ia.Tfis.s

made by Fred Taylor
Graham Hayman, previously producer of Portfolio on SABC-TV. is now
lecturer in television in the Rhodes Dept of Journalism and Media
Studies.
John Cundill is a UCT Drama graduuate, ex-journalist and JV script-
writer.  His productions  include JlOlliiSers> Ml  and 

BSMM.

This  issue was compiled and edited by Keyan G Tomaselli.  Cover
photograph by Ashley la Grange.  Products by *^  Tomasell and
the Rhodes Univ. Print Unit.  Printed by Central  Printing unit,
University of Witwatersrand