PART 2 Chapter 5 NEGOTIATING MEANING
5.3 THE READERS: A BACKGROUND
5.3.3 Who reads the Son?
Table 5.1 shows that both men and women read the Son – the fact that these readers were not deliberately chosen, but randomly picked while some voluntarily participated, confrms this. It would appear that the newspaper speaks to both genders, for when asked which gender they think the newspaper is aimed at, almost all of the respondents replied that in their experience the paper caters for both male and female readers. The ages of the group of participants indicate that people of all ages read the newspaper. For ethical reasons, children under the age of 18 were not
included in the study, but responses from older readers made it evident that their children and grandchildren are just as fond of and loyal to the newspaper as they are. Table 5.3 shows the age groups of those who participated in this study.
Age group 18 to 30 30 to 39 40 to 59 60 and older Number of
readers 12 15 30 11
Total number of respondents who indicated age 68
Total number of respondents who did not indicate age 6
Table 5.3: Age dispersion of respondents
The table shows that readers of all ages participated in the study. This offered the opportunity to explore interpretations of readers of different ages. Of the 74 respondents, the youngest reader who participated was a 20-year-old female, whilst the oldest reader was an 80-year-old female.
When the interviews and questionnaires were conducted, most of the readers under the age of 60 were employed and many of the women were housewives. The average age of the readers who participated in the study was 44. The readers older than 60 were mostly retired, while only two of the participants were unemployed and one was employed on a part-time basis. Participants were employed in various felds, such as administrative work, general work, cashier jobs, sales assistants, teachers, business owners, hair stylists, farm workers, truck drivers, waiters, and fower, fruit and newspaper sellers, as well as security workers. The participants' level of education, which is summarised in table 5.4, sheds light on their employment.
Highest level of
education Primary
school High school Matric/ Grade
12 Higher education
Number of
participants 9 34 14 7
Total number of respondents who indicated level of education 64 Total number of respondents who did not indicate level of education 10 Table 5.4: Respondents' highest level of education
As is clear from the table, most of the respondents had some form of education. The lowest level of education indicated by two of the respondents was Grade 5. Three respondents had BA degrees – one practised law, another was employed in the tourism industry and the third was a
project manager. Other readers who had furthered their education had national diplomas, while a few held teacher's diplomas. Only about 30% of the respondents had obtained matric certifcates, and the other 70% had not been educated beyond Grade 11, most of them having only fnished Grade 10 at that stage. None of the readers indicated that they had had no schooling. One reader indicated that although he had matric exemption, no funds were available to pursue his education.
This respondent, an avid reader of anything he could fnd, be it old Rapport newspapers he obtains from his employer or other reading material friends give away, added that he, however, would like to see his children build careers after school. His response suggests that, despite the fact that the majority of the respondents are clearly working class, there are those who do not see themselves as victims of their circumstances, but have hopes for a better, in other words crime-free and more carefree, life. This corresponds with what indexmundi (2011) holds. Like this farm worker who sends his children to school and assists them with their homework, some of these readers are actively involved in improving their families' lives and their communities. Family and communities appear to be the centre around which these readers' lives revolve. Table 5.5 provides an indication of the nature and size of the participants' families at the time of the study:
Nature of
family Husband &
wife/
Life partners
Parents and
child(ren) Single parent and child(ren)
Extended
family Single
Number of
families 8 27 5 23 2
Number of respondents who indicated family size 65
Number of respondents who did not indicate family size 9
Table 5.5: Size and nature of respondents' households
As seen in this table, only two respondents lived alone, while only eight of the respondents lived in two-member households, in other words with their life partners or spouses. The majority of those who participated in the study were part of extended families, in other words they lived either with their aunts and uncles, grandparents, grandchildren or siblings – and in many cases with more than one of these groups. Respondents were therefore part of large families – the largest being a household of 12, consisting of the respondent, his wife and eight children, as well as his brother and sister-in-law. Three other households had ten members: two of these families consisted of life partners with their eight children,134 while the other respondent was unable to indicate clearly who
134 Note that in the case of these two life partners (of whom the woman was markedly older than the male), the researcher was unable to establish whether they were telling the truth regarding their relationship and family (of eight children), or whether they were merely joking. The researcher experienced an uneasiness whilst interviewing these two
lived with her in the house. As many media audience researchers have pointed out (see sections 4.3.2.4 and 4.3.3.2), media are often used within family settings. Moreover, one's immediate settings infuence media use, experience and interpretation. The nature and size of these families were therefore kept in mind in exploring reader experiences and interpretations of the Son.