People often like to identify themselves with the best and with top range products. Some, even if they don‟t have money for particular items regarded as the best, will however find means to be seen buying them so that they can be part of the „family‟ that knows what is best.
That is, it is the aim of advertisers “to influence consumers‟ beliefs and evaluation regarding the favourable consequences of consuming the brand,” (Shimp, 1981:9). Following a similar argument, Lovaas observed that “market-driven newspapers continue, through a series of new filters, to limit, shape, and censor ideas for the benefit of the private and public sectors,”
(2007: 52). Linking this to the topic, the lack of investigative journalism and critical analysis of issues of concern in communities for instance, maladministration and mismanagement of funds by government or municipal officials and also unfair treatment or dismissal of employees by the private sector, only serve to perpetuate the interests of the elite (advertisers and media owners) to the detriment of the right to relevant information to the community.
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Severin and Tankard (1992) explain that the mass media are the source to which people look to find distribution of public opinion. Researchers have spent time developing theories that demonstrate how audiences construct their meanings through texts (either visual or graphic), focusing on the main media role players. The Agenda Setting and Media Hegemony theories are two theories which can be used to explain the indirect influence of the media owners, corporate advertisers and even government on media content. For the purpose of this research project, the study has adopted these two theories which explain, not only how different role players use the media for different purposes, but also illustrate how they indirectly influence the media content both national and local.
According to Severin and Tankard (1992: 207), agenda setting focuses on the idea that the news media determine the issues the public thinks and talks about. On a similar note, McCombs (2004) points out that with the increasing salience of public figures in the news, for example, more people move away from a neutral position and form an opinion about these persons. This was the case for instance, during the events leading to the ANC conference in Polokwane. The media reported extensively on the possible implications if former President Thabo Mbeki was to be re-elected for the third term as the ANC president.
The issue of two centres of power, the Zuma and Mbeki camps, had been central to political analysis and media coverage. Therefore the media emphasis played a role in the change of mind for many delegates who converged on Polokwane and voted for Jacob Zuma as the ANC president instead of Mbeki. For instance, through the media and various political analyses provided on the issue, it was clear that the ANC went to the Polokwane conference as a divided house mainly characterized by Mbeki and Zuma camps. Mbeki‟s intention for a third term as the ANC president was viewed by the media and analysts as an unprecedented move, as far as ANC policy is concerned, to have a president for the party and president for
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the country. This was seen as unacceptable by the majority of people at the grass roots level, including the Zuma supporters. They insisted that such a move was a way to cling to power and would lead to dictatorial rule in South Africa. As a result of the extensive media coverage on possible implications of two centres of power many delegates at the conference voted for Zuma as the ANC president. This shows that the media play a critical role in shaping the minds and perceptions of the people. Likewise, community newspapers which are aimed at providing information and news to the community can also provide such a platform for the people if they provide unbiased, critical and relevant information to the readers.
One of the main concepts or theories used to analyze the data is media hegemony. Media hegemony explains how the ideas and values of the ruling class in society become the ruling ideas. “The mass media are seen as controlled by the dominant class in society and as aiding in exerting the control of that class over the rest of society,” (Severin and Tankard, 1992:
254). According to Lull, “mass media are used by ruling elites to perpetuate their power, wealth, and status by popularizing their philosophy, culture and morality,” (2000: 49). This is the case with community newspapers, through their ability to connect with communities, being used as a means for profit making by corporate advertisers and the newspaper owners to advance consumerist ideology. This means, while the commercial aspect in the form of advertisements of these publications is important, however, more emphasis to it could relegate other crucial aspects of the community in terms of needs and various other issues that affect communities.
This does not only represent political and economic control, but also the ability of the dominant class to project its own way of seeing the world so that those who are subordinated to it accept it as “hegemonic or dominant cultural order,” (Philo, 2008: 536). It is within this
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perspective that Daniel Chandler points out that, “the contents of the media and the meanings carried by their messages are primarily determined by the economic base of the organizations in which they are produced and consequently media organizations must cater to the needs of advertisers and produce audience-maximizing products while those media institutions whose revenues are controlled by the dominant political institutions or by the state gravitate towards a middle ground, or towards the heartland of the prevailing consensus,”(
www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents). Unlike Marxist theories that saw societal inequality as based on the exploitation of the working class, however, for the purpose of this study, inequality could be seen through the unwavering support and existing relationship between the community newspapers and the advertisers, where commercial interests of both parties are highly promoted and safeguarded by these publications.
It is important to note that when the concept of hegemony was first used by Antonio Gramsci in the 1930s (Lull 2000), it was to explore how the fascist regimes of Italy and Germany respectively, used the propaganda model to effectively manage and manipulate the masses.
Linking this to the topic of this dissertation, it suggests that while propaganda was effectively used by fascist governments to control and create consciousness amongst the people, today in the corporate world (including media conglomerates) characterized by globalization, the ruling ideas and commercial interests are disseminated mainly through “advertising and other informational campaigns to accomplish the same goals,” (Lull 2000: 50).
This is evidenced by competing advertisements in the four community newspapers under study by retail companies and other stakeholders. At the same time readers or customers are constantly urged by the corporate advertisers in almost every issue of publications to look for big promotional sales and competitions that would see the readers win food vouchers in retail
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shops. This suggests that advertisers “encourage audiences to think of themselves as markets rather than as public, as consumers rather than citizens,” (Lull, 2000: 50). McChesney observes that “media and communication systems have emerged as central areas for profit making on modern capitalist societies,” (in Thomas and Nain 2002: 3). For instance, in South Africa today, news is controlled by a handful of media companies such as Independent Newspapers, Media 24, AVUSA (formerly known as Johnnic Communications) and Naspers.
The art of news propagation plays an indispensable role in society, and this suggests that community newspapers could become integral part of the community they serve, and to which they contribute, for the enhancement of community involvement.