PART 1 Chapter 3 THE READER, THE KING
3.3 FINDINGS
3.3.2 The communication approaches of the Son
3.3.2.1 The application of self-refexivity as a communication approach in the Son This approach, held by the literature as one of the ways in which tabloid newspapers communicate with their readers (see section 2.4.2), is apparent in the Son introductions “Wéér word die mag van Son geïllustreer!”100 (TIK-TRIO GEVANG: Selle toe nadat drie met speurder gaan ‘gesels’ [Ford, 2008a:1]) and “SON het weer sy krag gewys. Ons het verlede maand berig hoe die mense van Doringbaai aan die Weskus ly weens werkloosheid... Ná die berig in Son is besluit om die fabriek te heropen nadat dit agt jaar gelede gesluit is” (’n TWEEDE KANS VIR VISFABRIEK: DORINGBAAIERS JUBEL OOR JOBS101 [Rahman, 2010:5]). In fact, the Son is very eager to illustrate its power and infuence in the community and all stories that supposedly illustrate this power are tagged with the “SONKRAG”
logo (see section 3.3.1.9). The newspaper ensures that the readers are aware of its abilities, power and infuence, and this strengthens its image as friend, ally and community champion (see section 6.3.2). The story HoëS RY OPPIE GRAVY PLANE: Diknekke spend só vir sokker-menu (Pretorius, 2010a:1, 4) also employed this approach: “Nothnagel het kort voor sy vertrek aan Son erken hulle gaan die besoekers se ‘etes uitsorteer’.”102 The paper provides many similar clues in its reports, probably to illustrate its power and that it acts on behalf of its readers. For example, in Paarl help in TV-soeke na rugbytalent103 (Whitebooi, 2008a:9), the journalist quoted the Springbok rugby coach who said “Ons
98 [EDIN-‘BURG’ AGAINST CRIME: Sport makes community a better place]
99 [SAFETY NET FOR PRISONERS: GROUP REACHES OUT TO THOSE BEHIND BARS]
100 [The power of the Son is illustrated again!]
101 [YET again Son has proven its power. Last month we reported how the people of Doringbaai on the West Coast were suffering owing to unemployment... After the report in the Son, it has been decided to reopen the factory after it closed down eight years ago (A SECOND CHANCE FOR FISH FACTORY: PEOPLE OVERJOYED ABOUT JOBS)]
102 [Before their departure, Nothnagel admitted to the Son that they are going to ‘sort out the food’ ] 103 [Paarl helps with TV search for talent]
het vanoggend ’n management meeting gehou toe ons die storie in Son gelees het”104. In this manner, the paper illustrates its power to initiate change in the community. The Son still does not disappoint in this regard and the stories VIES OOR DA HUL JOBS VAT: Afgedanktes sweer wraak by stembus (Pretorius, 2011a:1, 2) and DE LILLE SE U-TURN: Werkers weer op hul pos ná ‘Son’ se berig (Pretorius, 2011b:1, 2) indicate that the newspaper will continue to strengthen its position as the champion of its readers.
The newspaper reported that owing to the article in which it “exclusively” had exposed the wrongdoing against the 100 municipal workers, the DA decided to re-employ these people. The two front pages in illustrations 3.9 and 3.10 demonstrate this (see addendum B, illustration 3.9:
Son’s initial story on the workers who had lost their jobs [Monday, 4 April 2011] and illustration 3.10: Son’s follow-up story two days after the news broke [Wednesday, 6 April 2011]).
In addition to the headline reference to the newspaper, the story included phrases such as “Dit nadat Son eksklusief oor hul lot berig het”105 and “Son het Maandag eksklusief berig oor dié werkers wat deur amptenare by die Wes-Kaapse departement van maatskaplike ontwikkeling ge-fre is.”106
The story about a baker who had allegedly stolen a bride’s wedding cake, also illustrates this self- refective approach in a more humorous manner. In BRUID SE KOEK TOE OPGESPOOR: Bakker op dié dag nie 100% wakker107 (Prinsloo, 2010a:6), a bride claimed that her wedding cake had never arrived at the wedding, but that she had recognised the cake in a Son issue and immediately phoned the newspaper. It turned out that the baker had sent Lizelle Titus’s cake to Lizelle Lewis’s wedding. The story was written in a very tongue-in-the-cheek style: “DIE koeklose bruid van Mamre het haar koek gekry – maar iemand anders het lekker daaraan gesmul. Dit lyk asof die bakker as die koekboef uitgekryt word. Son verneem dié troukoek wat Lizelle Titus bestel het vir háár troue, het toe op die troue van haar naamgenoot – Lizelle Lewis van Atlantis – beland. Eish! Twee bruide, twee troues op dieselfde dag – een KOEK.
Die bruide is okei daarmee om ’n naam te deel, maar ’n koek!”108 The next sentence illustrated that readers engage with the newspaper owing to its interactive and self-refective approaches (see section 3.3.2.2): “Lewis vertel: ‘Ek het verlede week deur Son geblaai en dadelik regop gesit toe ek sien my troukoek is dan in die koerant!’”109 Illustrations 3.11 and 3.12 (see addendum B) show that the Son successfully employs this approach to create the perception that it is the “best” newspaper (illustration 3.11:
104 [This morning, we held a management meeting after we had read the story in the Son]
105 [This after the Son reported exclusively on their lot]
106 [On Monday the Son exclusively reported on these workers who were fired by public officials of the Western Cape’s Department of Social Development]
107 [BRIDE’S CAKE FOUND: Baker not very alert]
108 [THE cakeless bride from Mamre found her cake – but someone else had already feasted on it. The baker appears to be the cake villain. The Son learnt that this wedding cake that Lizelle Titus ordered for her wedding ended up at the wedding of her namesake, Lizelle Lewis from Atlantis. Eish! Two brides, two weddings on the same day – one CAKE. The brides do not mind sharing a name, but a cake!]
Son’s use of a self-refective approach to illustrate its involvement in the community [Monday, 11 August 2008]
and illustration 3.12: Son's use of a self-refexive approach to illustrate its power [Friday, 15 August 2008]).
In the frst example, the newspaper uses this approach to demonstrate its power to initiate change in the community. It also reinforces its image as a paper – or rather a friend – that cares about the community. The newspaper would probably use its new page three for these positive and uplifting community stories and to illustrate its involvement in the community and its caring attitude towards its readers. This story is a good example of the manner in which the newspaper maintains its image as community champion. The second example is pure boasting, something in which the Son frequently engages. The photograph caption reads: “SON-KRAG: Maatoema Groenmeyer wys in die galery watter koerant ’n mens die beste op hoogte hou van die Najwa-saak.”110
The gossip page boasts the tagline “Your number 1 showbiz column” and by this reference to itself, the paper reinforces the idea of a “relationship” between the reader and the paper. Readers are also invited by means of a logo that accompanies most news stories to sms their comments.
The logo states: “Sms jou mening oor dié storie aan 32369. Sê ons!”111 The Son now even presents itself more overtly as “a person” or “an individual” by supplying pictures and contact details of the journalists with most of the stories. This opens up channels of communication and creates the impression that the journalists are the readers’ friends and available to them – it positions the newspaper as a friend and an ally. The newspaper would probably use the new page three for stories about their soup kitchens and school projects in future – also a method to draw the focus to the newspaper and the role it plays not only in supplying stories, but also in creating a more positive environment for its readers.
One particular story should also be noted in this regard. In what is presented as a story (‘Son’ kry sy kant skoon ná berig oor hospitaal112 [Anon, 2010:4]), the newspaper apologises to the Robertson hospital and its patients after the Press Ombudsman found the S o n journalist guilty of photographing patients and interviewing them without the permission of the hospital. The story was of medium length and readers were referred to the full report on the Press Council’s website.
By referring to itself in this manner, the newspaper admits that it can make mistakes but demonstrates that it is willing to admit to these (this publishing of corrections and apologies has become typical of “quality” newspapers in Britain [Allan, 2010:124; see section 2.4.8.1]). This could instil trust and demonstrates that the Son, even in this case, uses the self-refective approach
110 [SON POWER: Maatoema Groenmeyer shows in the gallery which newspaper best keeps you up to date about the Najwa case]
111 [Sms your opinion on this story to 32369. Tell us!]
112 [Son comes clean after hospital story]
to its advantage.
3.3.2.2 The application of interactivity as a communication approach in the Son The Son relies on interactivity to involve its readers in the newspaper. This corresponds with the literature, which states that tabloid newspapers employ this approach to attract readers (see section 2.4.2). In this way, readers become involved and the newspaper succeeds in stimulating interaction, not just among its readers, but also between the paper and the audience (see Kovach
& Rosenstiel, 2001:149; section 2.4.8.1). Readers are always invited to give information to the police, to assist in identifying criminals or to look for missing community members – and the readers deliver. A phone call from a reader enabled the police to set up a “meeting” with the Tik trio in which they arrested the three criminals (see ‘TIK-TRIO’ VASGETREK: Bel nog die speurder om te sê hulle’s op pad na die ‘meeting’ [Ford, 2008b:2]). The paper always acknowledges the help of its readers and in this way the reader is crowned a local hero. This might give readers a feeling of power and hope because they know that they are in control of their environment in some way and that they too can contribute positively to their communities.
This interactivity is also strengthened by an invitation to readers to send their news tips and comments on stories to the paper. The paper sometimes publishes these comments alongside the relevant story; the rest of the comments appear under the headline “Ditjies en Datjies”.113 It can be argued that this too gives readers a sense of power because, as Bird (2003a:155) and Johansson (2007:115) demonstrated in their study of tabloid readers, the readers have the opportunity to be the judges of others’ actions. The reader comments support this notion: they often condemn the behaviour of those involved in the crimes reported on and they were particularly outraged at the
“light” sentence Judge Patricia Goliath gave the three men who assaulted and killed a young girl while they were under the infuence of Tik (GEE HULLE MEER AS VRYSPRING-VONNIS114 [Eggington, 2008:6]). They were not given life sentences, as she held that they would not have committed the act had they not been under the infuence of this drug. The invitation to offer commentary may give the usually powerless and unfortunate reader the opportunity to exercise power, but it may also be an important tool for them to voice their concerns and opinions. Some of these comments include: “Najwa [Petersen] soek sommer aandag. Mens sal sweer die hof het nie nog ander sake om te hanteer nie”115 and “Asseblief, stop om van Sondag ’n nasionale suipdag te maak. Sies, kry ’n slag skaam”116 (Ditjies en datjies [Anon, 2008b:16]). The Son in particular allows readers to tell stories,
113 [This and That]
114 [GIVE THEM MORE THAN A DODGE SENTENCE]
115 [Najwa is just looking for attention. One could swear the court does not have other cases to attend to]
give advice and voice concerns that no one was willing to listen to before. “Son se mense sê hul sê”
provides almost a whole page for readers to sms their concerns, opinions and advice. They can comment on news, send birthday wishes, or comment via dieson.mobi. The comments on news stories include everything from condemning the behaviour of politicians (“Wie dink Malema is hy om Zille so te beledig? Sy gedrag teenoor vroue is swak”, “Die ACDP is die oplossing vir alle kiesers se probleme” and
“Die ANC vang k*k aan. Eers mors hy geld om tronke nuwe name te gee en nou word gevangenes vrygelaat wat life gekry het”)117 to comments on the behaviour of celebrities and the scandals in which prominent people are involved (“Aan al die pa’s wat nie hul kinders kan onderhou nie, hou jul gulpe toe. Die oumas en oupas het julle nie gestuur om kind te maak nie. Desiree, gaan doen aansoek vir AllPay”118) and comments on community ills and struggles (“Gedurende die nag is hulle skoonveld. Van 20:00 af is ons weer alleen teen die bendes en tik”, “Aan julle wat my Vrydag daar by Du Noon ge-rob het, wil ek net sê God slaap nie”119 – see Wednesday, 6 April 2011 and Thursday, 7 April 2011 issues). Besides these, readers appear to enjoy sending messages to loved ones on this page. The overall impression is that this page is very popular, since it is packed with messages from readers. It could be argued that this page too contributes to creating a platform that offers readers the opportunity to voice their concerns and discuss issues that are relevant and important to them as a community. The post and comments (see illustration 3.12: Son's use of a self-refective approach to illustrate its power [Friday, 15 August 2008], addendum B) on the profle of Son Koerant on Facebook illustrate that this newspaper creates an approachable and safe platform for its readers to discuss issues and air what they otherwise would probably not have shared (illustration 3.13: Establishing a platform to discuss relevant issues [Monday, 27 June 2011]).
Readers are also invited in an informal way to contribute to the Son gossip page “Pssst” (formerly edited by Lynn Prins): “Do you have any gossip? E-mail me at [email protected].” The new editor, Jill May, also invites readers to provide her with news tips and asks them: “Het jy lekker stories?”120 It is impossible to determine by a content analysis only whether these tips are ever used.
However, what is important is that by being given the opportunity to participate in the gossiping, readers feel that they are part of the newspaper’s community. Moreover, readers who participate in this discourse by sending comments are always acknowledged. This interactive approach therefore strengthens the reader community, gives readers a sense of belonging and in this way
117 [Who does Malema think he is, offending Zille like that? His behaviour towards women is appalling.] [The ACDP is the solution to voters’ problems] [The ANC’s making a bugger-up. First, they waste money renaming prisons and now they free those with life sentences]
118 [To all those dads who can’t support their children, zip up those pants. The grandparents did not send you to have children. Desiree, apply for AllPay]
119 [During the day, they’re gone, but from 20:00 we’re alone again with the gangs and the Tik] [To those who robbed me at Du Noon on Friday, I just want to say that God does not sleep]
120 [Do you have any good stories?]
creates a platform for the readers to voice their opinions and participate in the communication process (see sections 2.3.2.2 and 2.3.3.3).
3.3.2.3 The application of a moralising tone as a communication approach in the Son
As the literature review has demonstrated, tabloids tend to employ a moralising tone and unlike more mainstream newspapers, they choose sides on behalf of their readers – they do not give them information and let them decide. In this way, the newspaper sets the boundaries for acceptable behaviour (see Wasserman, 2011; Johansson, 2007:114, 115; Bird, 2003a:73). The story MA LEWER LAAITIE UIT ‘WAT LEM’: Vrou doen regte ding al breek hart (Prinsloo, 2010b:1;
Prinsloo, 2010c:5) about a woman who took her son to the police station after he confessed to her that he had committed a gang-related murder illustrates this. In the headline, as shown in illustration 3.14 (see addendum B), the paper already decides that the mother has done the “right”
thing (illustration 3.14: Son’s use of a moralising approach [Monday, 16 August 2010]).
The journalist writes: “‘Ek het saam met die boere charge offce toe gery en daar vir Dylantjie ’n moerse pak slae gegee. Inspector Moses het nog afgekeer en gesê ek moenie die kind so slaan nie.’ Jack het ook seker gemaak die kind maak ’n bekentenis van wat gebeur het. Sy sê huilend maar trots: ‘Niemand moet ooit sê Sera bedek nie haar kind se dinge nie Ek leef in die oopte. En selfs my eie kind se dinge moet geopenbaar word.’”121 Readers had the opportunity to put themselves in this mother’s shoes and to imagine what they would have done had they been in the same situation. By presenting this woman’s actions as the “right” and
“moral” thing to do, the newspaper probably encouraged other readers to do the same in an attempt to rid the community of crime. This is in accordance with what the literature suggests regarding tabloids and their moralising role (see Bird, 2003b:34). It therefore sets the boundaries in terms of not only acceptable behaviour, but also praiseworthy actions. A similar story followed the next day: KID GELEM ‘VIR RANG IN BENDE’: Oupa sê slagoffer se lyf is sonder tjappies122 (Prinsloo, 2011b:1, 2).