G1 Yes G2 No
Quantitative: Photographs used as part of the online reports
125 H. Photographs used as part of the online
report
H1 No
photographs
H2 Photograph of victim H3 Photograph relevant (LGBTIQ theme) not of victim
H4 Photograph irrelevant (no LGBTIQ theme)
The three main sections of the quantitative coding sheet were: online report layout, quantitative:
elements of quality in online reports; and quantitative: photographs used as part of the online report. Eight themes (A – H) were developed to investigate the technical aspects of all 70 online reports.
Concerning the layout of online reports, Grozelle (2014) proposes that the length of a report (A) can indictate the quality thereof, where less than 400 words is insufficient to create context, introduce a thesis statement, and provide supporting information and arguments. A word count, according to Grozelle (2014), of between 401 – 800 is a medium report which, for online audiences, is best in terms of effort and information. On the other hand, 801 – 1 000 words for online reports are considered long for online audiences, however, this length might not be a deterrent for audiences such as activists, journalists and LGBTIQ groups who have vested interests in the report. However, more than 1 000 words per report for online writing is considered too lengthy (Grozelle, 2014). For each of the online reports, the content – from headline to the end of the final sentence – was copied, transposed to a word document and saved. This elicited a Word word count to determine the length of the article in words.
Online reports with a ‘share’ feature (B), according to Almgren and Ollson (2016), engage online audiences, and this feature is a benefit of online reports over traditional media. The question was thus posed: “Which online formats (C) publish online reports on ‘queercide’”? There was limited information on the technical structure of online reports on ‘queercide’, particularly because different platforms (formats) approach and design these reports differently. For example, ‘Blogs’ might include information that is more colloquial, more speculative and more salacious for infotaining, whereas
‘News outlet websites’ might be more clinical, informational and professional. It was envisaged that the insight that would be gained from this theme would be significant in bridging what had hitherto been uncovered about online writing on LGBTIQ issues.
The following figure is a copy of a quantitative content coding sheet that was used to analyse an online report of Noxolo Xakeka’s killing as a selected case study of ‘queercide’:
126 Figure 3: Example of how online reports are coded using the quantitative coding sheet (Adapted form Isaacs (2016))
To determine the elements of quality in online reports, the research investigated whether source(s) were acknowledged (D), which is a basic requirement of ‘good’ journalism (Murphy, 2007; Byerly, 2018).
It is also of interest to the quality of an online report to establish whether the report is an original text, or whether the online report is a construction of other texts (E) and presented in the interest of time and resources, but at the expense of fact checking and creativity. The works of Lazerfeld and Merton (1948), in reference to the Queer Theory, predict the importance of the mass media, which include online media, to contribute original ideas to the true collaboration of society in creating salience and brainstorming resolutions to issues such as ‘queercide’. Grundlingh (2017) describes a “code driven” media in
127 Identifying markers of sensationalism in online news reports on crime and explains how critical industry and award recognition of online reports (F) helps audiences to determine whether the text is credible and reliable. This recognition is thus an indication of the quality of reports, including online reports.
Finally, an online report has the potential, even in conservative LGBTIQ geo-political contexts, to oppose heterosexist viewpoints, particularly in the ‘comments’ (G) section of websites. Such comments could assist an online content producer to regulate the content it publishes (Sicetsha, 2018; Grant, 2019).
Moreover, the photographs (H) that are used in online reports are capable of transmitting ideologically rich messages in overt as well as covert ways and they may thus driving perceptions and interpretation of an issue (Batziou, 2011).
After using the quantitative coding sheet to collect data from all 70 selected online reports on
‘queercide’, This research analysed the data to determine a set of standardised codes that appeared throughout four cases. For example, the research scrutinized whether the majority of the online reports in each case study included a “share” feature (B). In order to establish this baseline, a Venn-diagram was constructed by applying the same coding sheet to the online articles that were considered ‘good’
quality texts. Similar codes between the ‘good’ quality online reports and the reports on ‘queercide’
from the four selected case studies were then used in a probability sample of 16 online reports (thus, four units of analysis selected per case study through simple random sampling) from the original 70 online reports for the qualitative component of the research. By analysing the quantitative data, the research sought to establish causal relationships and the identification of trends in these online reports on ‘queercide’ as they pertained to their technical composition. Because the qualitative data were used to explore why certain ideological frames had been used, and to provide a more robust information set about texts concerning LGBTIQ issues and how they were of significance to online reporting, these online reports were used to critically explore an (as yet) undefined and under-researched phenomenon.
The newness of the research made it difficult to select a large enough number of online reports on
‘queercide’ to achieve data saturation and uncover a particular trend. Therefore, there were frames that failed to show any particular pattern. This may be regarded as a limitation of this research and is thus significant for further studies that may wish to create cognisance of the issue and attempt the emergence of a phenomenon by attending to the shortcomings of this research.
If there had been too many frames that failed to highlight patterns, the research would have had to refer to one or more of the similar frames in all the quantitative online reports to widen the data scope, and/or the research might have had to include more online reports in the qualitative sample. However, sufficient patterns emerged that assisted in addressing the objectives of the study.
The selection process will be explained in more detail in the Data Collection chapter. A qualitative data collection sheet was devised for the investigation of frames in the selected online reports of ‘queercide’.
128 Table 2: Qualitative coding sheet appearing before the pilot study (see section 4.5)
CODING SCHEDULE TO ANALYSE FRAMES USED TO REPRESENT ‘QUEERCIDE’
IN ONLINE REPORTING
ARTICLE NAME AND DATE:
FRAME DESCRIPTION OF FRAME
Qualitative: Narratives used in online reports referring to efficacy
I. Infotainment I1 Infotainment on seminal online reports
I2 Infotainment on economy of scale online reports J.
Informational
J1 Informational on seminal online reports
J2 Informational on economy of scale online reports J3 Informational on advocacy
K. Moniker