PART 1 Chapter 3 THE READER, THE KING
3.3 FINDINGS
3.3.1 The content and style of the Son
was thus able to see which stories the newspaper posted online, what links they tweeted (communicated/made available) or shared on these networks, as well as how they approached those readers who have their own Twitter and Facebook accounts, in other words readers who follow the newspaper on these networks. The researcher also participated in the form of replying to these tweets, posting questions and retweeting the Son’s stories and messages (sending the stories to her own followers on the network).
The aim of a participant observer is to become an unobtrusive member of the group studied and in this way it offers the researcher the opportunity to obtain valuable and otherwise unobtainable data (Hornig Priest, 2010:96, 97). Although the researcher was not physically part of a group, she was a member of the online community and therefore virtually present (see Lindlof, 1995:135). In this case, the researcher played an observer-as-participant role, which means that observation was the primary goal, in other words the researcher attempted to establish how and in what way the newspaper communicates to its online community. The role of participant was secondary to this (see Lindlof, 1995:146–8).
vrees10 (Coetzee, 2008:10), about a man who raped and then stalked a woman, was accompanied by a list of ways in which one could protect oneself against rapists. These tips included advising readers not to walk alone at night, to ensure that someone is always informed of their whereabouts, to be aware of their surroundings and to stay away from strangers. However, just by covering stories such as PESTE TEIKEN KIDS: Vlakte-verkragtings skok inwoners11 (Ford, 2010:8), readers are made aware of the dangers their communities face and are indirectly equipped with useful knowledge that will enable them to make decisions and protect themselves.
Wives who have killed their husbands and parents who have murdered their own children are prime news for the Son. In the 37 issues included in this study, the paper covered a few cases extensively in which wives were suspected of killing their husbands, e.g. Najwa Peterson and Ruby Marais. These stories support the notion that tales of murder make great newspaper copy, particularly when those involved act uncharacteristically, which was the case in these stories (see Stephen, 1997:101; section 2.3.1). The tabloid is also fond of stories about corrupt policemen, cops who have attacked or kidnapped civilians and the issues examined even included stories about cops who had killed their own families or driven over the children of others, e.g. ‘MOOR-PA’
SE PLAN: Hy wou himself daai aand skiet, sê laywer12 (Mfazwe, 2008b:5), in which a father killed his three young children. Head-and-shoulder photographs of the three laughing children, as well as close-up photographs of the parents, accompanied the story in typical tabloid style, i.e. sensational and dramatic (see section 2.4.2 and table 2.2). The front-page stories are usually crime stories, and this focus supports the argument in this study that crime news is prime news for the Son.
Crime news in the Son is also packaged in a sensational style (see section 2.4.2 and table 2.2) and front-page news stories all have extremely large, uppercase headlines and usually a photograph that takes up the rest of the page. The headlines and text are mostly white on black (WOB) and only the introductions are published on this page; the full stories continue on anything from the second to the fourth pages. News (which is generally crime news) is therefore published on the front pages to attract readers and the large, dramatic headlines and photographs of victims or criminals in despair, as well as the short introductions, most probably entice readers. The language use in the stories is also characteristic of tabloid newspapers: simple, colloquial and to the point.
English-language words are used frequently and the paper created its own in-group code, i.e. it speaks in the language of its readers (see sections 2.4.2, 5.4.2.2 and 6.3.1.2). Tik users become Tik-koppe, polisiemanne are referred to in English, in other words, “cops”. They are also frequently
10 [RAPE OF JUSTICE: He's free; she lives in fear]
11 [PESTS TARGET KIDS: Vlakte rapes shock community]
12 ['FATHER OF DEATH'S' PLAN: He wanted to shoot himself that night, says lawyer]
referred to as “boere” (see ‘LIEGBEK’-PIEMPER BEDEL ’n LIGTER VONNIS IN HOF13 [Mfazwe, 2008a:4]; MA LEWER LAAITIE UIT ‘WAT LEM’: Vrou doen regte ding al breek hart14 [Prinsloo, 2010b:1, 5]).
In addition to the informal and tabloid style language, the Son also exploits all possible human- interest angles, another tabloid feature (see section 2.4 and table 2.2). The story VIOLE(N)TS:
SKOOL LEK WONDE: Spelers, toeskouers raak handgemeen15 (Prinsloo, 2008b:5) reported on a physical fght involving supporters and players during a rugby game between the Violets club and the Zwaanswyk high school team. A whole page was devoted to the incident and the main story, tagged KLUBRUGBY SE SKANDE,16 was accompanied by a shorter story about a parent who had had a heart attack during the fght (SKOK LEI GLO TOT PA SE HARTAANVAL17 [Prinsloo, 2008c:5]). Despite the sensational language used (i.e. word choice, dramatic headlines and short, descriptive sentences), the accompanying photographs are not presented more sensationally or dramatically than they would have been in any mainstream newspaper. For instance, the Son published a photograph showing a man’s body in a river, yet the paper did not exploit the potential sensational value of the image: the photograph was placed at the bottom of the page, barely larger than a stamp (Onbekende man se lyk in water gekry18 [Anon, 2009:2]). Another photograph on the same page, which depicted stunned police offcers looking at a body (the body does not appear in the photograph), would have made a terrifc front-page photograph for the reason that it has sensational, dramatic and human-interest value. Yet again, the photograph was not any larger than the picture of the other body. The main photograph on the page showed a woman with her fst in the air, expressing outrage about the number of rape incidents in her community (WITSAND BETOOG OOR ‘BAIE RAPES’: Cops: Dis nie ’n reeksverkragter19 [Martin, 2009:2]). This too is typical of the Son: its reading community is represented on its pages and photographs that do not depict readers are rare (see Bloom, 2005:17). Considering the previous example of the police offcer who killed his children and the melodramatic presentation of their photographs, it could be argued that the newspaper does not necessarily aim to shock (by publishing photographs of a violent nature), but rather to evoke emotion (by publishing photographs of grief-stricken families and laughing, happy children). Human-interest stories are therefore considered more newsworthy and appealing to the readers, possibly because they can
13 [LIAR PIMP BEGS FOR A LIGHTER SENTENCE IN COURT]
14 [MOM TURNS IN SON WHO ‘KILLS WITH KNIFE’: Woman does the right thing, although it breaks her heart]
15 [VIOLE(N)TS: SCHOOL LICKS WOUNDS: Players, spectators scuffle]
16 [CLUB RUGBY’S SHAME]
17 [SHOCK ALLEGEDLY LEADS TO DAD’S HEART ATTACK]
18 [Unknown man’s body found in river]
relate to these (see sections 6.3.1.1 and 6.3.1.2).
Despite the sensational presentation of crime news, the paper does succeed in covering events that have an impact on its community. It is important to note that the Son becomes a crusader against crime and other wrongdoings in its community. The paper’s “Son sien ’n rapist, Son sien ’n lafaard”20 slogan at one time appeared with every story that involved rape (e.g. Seks-euwel ruk SA21 [Prinsloo, 2008d:6]). These slogans (the others will be referred to later on) reinforce the tabloid’s tagline “Die Son sien alles”. The paper becomes a Big Brother, a friend and an ally that has the best interests of its readers at heart. Moreover, the Son goes to great lengths to cover crime in its community and its journalists follow up on most of their stories. The Najwa Petersen case, for example, in which Petersen was accused of murdering her husband, received extensive coverage over a period of several weeks and the story was covered from every possible angle. Another example is the search for the Tik trio and the unfolding of the case appeared on the front pages of several issues. The three were eventually caught and the tabloid devoted an entire front and second page to the story (TIK-TRIO GEVANG: Selle toe nadat drie met speurder gaan ‘gesels’22 [Ford, 2008a:1]; ‘TIK-TRIO’
VASGETREK: Bel nog die speurder om te sê hulle’s op pad na die ‘meeting’23 [Ford, 2008b:2]). The Lifman sex scandal, for instance, which involved Lifman supplying two boys with the drug Tik in return for sexual favours, was covered over a period of time too (see ‘EVIDENCE OP TOILETPAPIER’24 [Afrika, 2008b:8]).
In addition to covering stories that have an impact on the readers, the paper plays an important role in exposing injustices, criminal activities and the incompetence of local government and other public fgures, e.g. the story about a senior lecturer accused of committing fraud at the University of Stellenbosch (see KETEL ‘KOOK BOEKE’25 [Whitebooi, 2009c:1] and Dié Ketel kook glo die boeke:
Slimkop-dosent het dalk miljoene gevat [Whitebooi, 2009d:4]). GROOTBEKKE DELIVER NIE: Ouma desperaat vir hulp met kleinseun26 (Pretorius, 2009d:8) reported on a grandmother’s struggle to care for her disabled grandchild. The story was presented from a strong human-interest angle (see previous section) with detailed descriptions about her circumstances, how she took care of the boy and how the local Congress of the People council member refused to help her and her family. In the same edition, the paper published a report on a women’s rights activist’s protest against the system. She
20 [The Son sees a rapist, Son sees a coward]
21 [Sex evil shocks SA]
22 [TIK TRIO CAUGHT: Behind bars after ‘chat’ with detective]
23 [TIK TRIO CAUGHT: They even phoned detective to say they’re on their way to ‘meeting’]
24 [‘EVIDENCE ON TOILET PAPER’]
25 [KETEL COOKS BOOKS]
26 [BIG MOUTHS DON’T DELIVER: Granny desperate for help with grandson]
argued that the system protected the rapists and not the victims in the story ONTBLOOT DIE RAPISTS27 (Johnston, 2009:4).
The paper also investigates other issues and creates awareness among the community. In the story
‘VERGETE’ IN BLIKKIESDORP: ‘Honde het beter lewe as dié hier’28 (Mfazwe, 2008c:10), the journalist reported on the Delft community’s struggle to survive and keep their families safe. Illustration 3.1 (see addendum B) illustrates the newspaper’s focus on the community, as well as its witty, tongue- in-the-cheek style (illustration 3.1: The Son’s use of humour to present serious community issues [Tuesday, 13 October 2009]).
The paper is clearly concerned with ordinary individuals and their daily battles and , by covering their stories, the paper creates awareness of issues in the community. In this way, the Son succeeds in creating a platform (or alternative public sphere – see Ndlela [2010:94, 95] and section 2.3.3.3) for debate and discussion about relevant issues to which the readers relate.
Despite the changes the newspaper has undergone over the past four years, the Son still focuses on violence against children or crime stories involving children (KLAAR MET LEWE OP 10: Ouers kom op lyk in slaapkamer af29 [Hannam, 2011:1, 2]), gangsterism (FAKE COPS IS FUNKY: Met ’n helse bad Fortune vir rasta-ou30 [Afrika, 2011a:1, 2]), sexual crimes such as rape (Verkragter word lank gebêre31 [Martin, 2011b:1, 4]) and murder (Satansmoord ontplooi32 [Sapa, 2011a:1, 2]). Judging by the number of stories on gangsterism, the community is ridden by their criminal activities – and this refects what the city’s report states (see section 5.3; GANGS SE NOMMER IS OP: Bende-busters herleef33 [Jason, 2010a:1, 4]; GANGSTERS AAN’T PRUT: Maar inwoners leef voort34 [Jason, 2010b:5]).
The story about the alleged Satanic murder in Welkom, which had received extensive media coverage in the mainstream Afrikaans newspapers such as Die Burger, Rapport, Beeld, Volksblad and even the Afrikaans tabloid Sondag, was also covered in the Son, and although it was used as a teaser on the front page, it only received little attention on page two (one ten-centimetre column).
Moreover, the Son did not deem the story of enough importance to spare one of its own journalists to cover it. This supports the argument that the newspaper offers its readers local crime news that
27 [EXPOSE THE RAPISTS]
28 [‘FORGOTTEN’ IN BLIKKIESDORP]
29 [FINISHED WITH LIFE AT 10: Parents discover body in bedroom]
30 [FAKE COPS ARE FUNKY: With a very bad Fortune for rasta dude]
31 [Rapist put away for a long time]
32 [Satanic murder unfolds]
33 [GANGS’ TIME IS UP: Gang busters rise again]
is relevant to them (Satansmoord ontplooi [Sapa, 2011a:1, 2]; Paartjie in hof weens gru-moord [Sapa, 2011c:2]). A white boy murdered in the Free State is probably of no particular importance to these readers – and why would they care when their own community is afficted by gangsterism, drugs and poverty?
Exposing injustices, criminals and cowards remains one of the newspaper’s distinctive features.
SLEGDING LOOP MY IN: Pa van kind drafstap draaie om sy papgeld35 (Pretorius, 2011c:1, 2) exposed a well-known struggle veteran who was unwilling to pay maintenance for his child. In the same issue, the newspaper uncovered an incident in which cops attacked a mute and disabled 14-year- old boy and threatened a 10-year-old in the story BLOUES ‘DREIG NOU AL KIDS OOK’: Laaities kom tweede in raid36 (Coetzee, 2011:7). In contrast to this, the story in illustration 3.2 (see addendum B) exposes a gang of fake cops, suggesting that no one is safe from the newspaper’s team of journalists (illustration 3.2: Son exposes a gang that poses as cops [Thursday, 7 April 2011]).
In another story, the paper indicated a link between hitmen and the mayor of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Municipality (Burgemeester met saak verbind37 [Martin, 2011a:6]). In similar stories, it exposed more irregularities in RYBEWYS-SCAM SE 3 GAAN MANG: Oud-verkeershoof sê hy weet van niks38 (Afrika, 2011c:5), ABOR’SIES’ VIR VUIL DOKTERS: Owerhede sê: soek hul bloed39 (Botha, 2011:4) and VERGEET MAAR VAN ’N GRANT: ‘Vrotsige dokters dra by tot ellende’40 (Pretorius, 2011d:4). The last story investigated a specifc case in which a doctor had declined a woman’s application for a disability grant. All the doctors involved were depicted as cowards who were responsible for the increase of poverty in the area. These stories make it clear that the newspaper acts as champion for its readers by exposing these injustices, fghting on their behalf and urging action by means of its coverage of the story.
No different from the 2008 issues, the stories are still represented in a sensational style with white, uppercase headlines on a black background, red banners, and large photographs of victims, criminals, people crying at funerals or readers showing their wounds (FAMILIE WEEN BY NEGE SE FUNERAL41 [Nelson, 2011:5], ONGELUK EIS VIER LEWENS42 [Mfazwe, 2011:4] and DAG
35 [BASTARD FOOLED ME: Father of child does not pay up]
36 [POLICE ‘NOW EVEN THREATEN KIDS’: Boys come second in raid]
37 [Mayor linked to case]
38 [DRIVER’S LICENCE SCAM’S 3 WILL PAY: Former head of traffic says he knows nothing]
39 [ABORTIONS – SHAME ON DIRTY DOCTORS: Authorities want their blood]
40 [FORGET ABOUT A GRANT: ‘Bad doctors contribute to misery’]
41 [FAMILY WEEPS AT NINE’S FUNERAL]
42 [ACCIDENT TAKES FOUR LIVES]
LANGE WAG REK LYDING: Verligting eers 24 uur later43 [Afrika, 2011b:8]).
3.3.1.2 Coverage and presentation of sex as a theme in the Son
The Son realises the power of sex. The newspaper exploits sex as a subject and a news style.
Stories with sexual content are high on the paper’s agenda and the paper takes advantage of sexual links in crime, sport and celebrity stories. Until fairly recently, the famous page three boasted a Son Babe and the rest of the page was devoted entirely to stories with sexual content (page three now looks dramatically different; see section 3.3.1.9 for a discussion on the change).
Even the short fllers about unusual events around the world had a strong sexual focus. The story AMPER WAS DIT TOT(TIE) SIENS, MNR.: Bankie word klampie44 (Anon, 2008a:3) reported on a man who had attempted to masturbate on a park bench. He eventually became stuck and despite doctors’ efforts to help him, the bench ultimately had to be removed. The story’s main news criterion (see section 2.4.4) would be the unusual or extraordinary, yet the sexual nature of the event boosted the story’s newsworthiness and the relatively short and rather insignifcant story, no matter from what angle one looked at it, was consequently published with the largest and most dramatic headline on the page. An equally strange story about a farmer whose bull mistook him for a cow and consequently attempted to mate with him was also published on page three (see BOER PAK BUL BY DIE HORING(S): Jagse bees dag hy is ’n koei45 [Ananova.com, 2008:3]). Ordinary people therefore made it to page three only if they had been involved in some extraordinary sexual events. Some of these reports were what the critics would refer to as vulgar regarding content and language usage (see sections 5.4.7 and 5.4.2.2). Another example is the story BLIKKIE IN HAAR REKTUM: ‘Haregat’ oor details46 (thesun, 2009:3) about a woman who arrived at the hospital, begging the doctors to help her remove a can of hair spray from her rectum. She refused to explain what had happened. These stories were presented in a dramatic and sensational style with clever wordplay, large and uppercase headlines. The paper also takes delight in giving detailed descriptions of these strange sexual incidents. The S o n in addition uses colloquial language and in the process creates its own in-group code (see sections 2.4.2 and 6.3.1.2). The above-mentioned story about the man who had an accident with a park bench started with the lines: “’n Man (41) het amper sy penis verloor toe hy ’n staalbankie probeer seks het”.47 The sentence is not grammatically correct and would roughly translate into: “A man (41) almost lost his penis when he tried to sex a steel bench”. This is not the only story is which this particular manner of writing was
43 [DAY-LONG WAIT PROLONGS SUFFERING]
44 [MAN ALMOST LOSES MEMBER: Bench clenches penis]
45 [FARMER TACKLES BULL BY THE HORNS: Horny bull thinks he’s a cow]
46 [CAN IN HER RECTUM: Woman’s lips tight about details]
observed. This language might, however, mirror the manner in which readers speak and in this way the paper too supports the in-group code (see section 5.4.2.2). The paper uses words that some would fnd too inappropriate for publishing. In Toeris se lus geblus48 (Verster, 2008:3), one sentence reads: “Get on the ground, motherf*cker!” This suggests that the Son truly speaks in the language of its readers, regardless of whether an elite audience might fnd it offensive.49 Page three also contained “Hot Goss” fllers about celebrities, provided these stories contained sexual elements. The page-three Son Babes were, contrary to their British counterparts, not topless during the week. However, on Fridays they were topless for the weekend edition of Son. They posed suggestively in tiny bikinis and sometimes in underwear and these girls were generally splashed across the page, as shown in illustrations 3.3 and 3.4 (see addendum B, illustration 3.3:
The Son’s former page-three girl as she appeared during the week [Monday, 16 August 2010] and illustration 3.4: The Son’s former page-three girl as she appeared on Fridays [Friday, 18 September 2009]).
Sex as a topic and news style is also exploited on other pages of the Son. For a short while, female readers were treated to a “Outjie van die week” in the middle pages of the newspaper (see section 5.4.1.7). Furthermore, the emphasis is placed on sexual elements in stories and the paper describes these incidents in detail. The journalist who reported on the story ‘SEKS VIR TIK-GELD’: ‘Hy, ’n pêl en Lifman in Jacuzzi’50 (Afrika, 2008a:4) described the sexual acts between the two schoolboys and the well-known businessman Mark Lifman in detail. He quoted one of the boys who explained how Lifman had made them take baths, had them lie on a double bed and forced them to give him oral sex (or blowjobs, as the S o n prefers). This content and detail would seem inappropriate to a more elite audience and would consequently not appear in mainstream or serious newspapers. The content of the readers’ letters and the questions in the advice column (“Moan by Antie Mona”) also suggest that readers are sexually inclined and that sexual elements in stories interest and attract readers. The letters written to Antie Mona are, for example, explicit, sometimes vulgar and generally provide unnecessarily detailed descriptions (see sections 5.4.1.7, 5.4.2.2 and 6.31.2). It is interesting though that the agony aunt generally gives answers in the form of short comments and she does not necessarily dispense advice. This might suggest that the main purpose of this column is not to give sound advice, but to provide entertainment of a sexual nature (see section 5.4.7).
The Son’s page-three girl, however, has disappeared from the newspaper and can now only be
48 [Tourist’s lust dampened]
49 It is interesting, however, to note that the mainstream Afrikaans-language Sunday newspaper Rapport, which had a stronger focus on sensation under its former editor Liza Albrecht, employed similar tabloid language. In a front-page story about Steve Hofmeyr and another one of his lovers, the paper quotes Hofmeyr: “Ek het die week in Sasolburg gesing en daar was 600 girls wat my wou spyker en aan my boud gevat het”. This translates into: “I performed in Sasolburg this week, where 600 girls wanted to shag me and touch my ass.” (De Villiers & Prins, 2009; see Shaughnessy & Stadler, 2008:64).
50 [SEX FOR TIK MONEY: ‘He, a pal and Lifman in Jacuzzi’]