GENDER DISCOURSE AND UBUNTU MEDIA PHILOSOPHY

Abstract

This paper examines news framing of rape on the website of South Africa's most popular newspaper during 2008–9, following the passage of major legislation reforming the treatment of sexual assault. A qualitative analysis of 145 Sowetan Online news stories revealed three major, often overlapping frames: (1) ubiquity of rape, (2) enforcing male dominance, and (3) justice denied. Drawing on literatures addressing anti-rape activism and media in South Africa, I argue that the dominant framing mobilizes the discourse of anti-rape advocates, although with notable caveats attributable to the adherence to news values of drama, conflict and celebrity, which serve the website's interest competing with rivals in an increasingly tabloid-oriented marketplace. The dominant framing pattern is attributed, in part, to editorial decisions consistent with ubuntuism philosophy, which privileges educating the public, facilitating dialogue, and eradicating social hierarchy. The findings suggest that, when gender hierarchy is fore-grounded as problematic, ubuntuism-influenced news frames can challenge cultural discourses that resist progressive reforms. Additionally, the case suggests that media philosophy and media organization reputation can be important influences on news framing.

Keywords:

• framing
• legal reform
• rape
• sexual assault
• South Africa
• ubuntuism

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a summer research grant from Quinnipiac University's School of Communications. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication at the August 2010 conference in Denver, Colorado.

Notes

1. Being female is not necessary for rape victimization however, as Sowetan Online illustrates with a story in which a man recounts being raped by a male mugger when he was a teenager (Meth, 2009), and another that describes three women gang-raping a man who was hitch-hiking (Mahlalela, 2008).

2. Although the topic of child rape attracts considerable coverage, no statistics indicating the gender of victims are included. References to specific cases are almost always female though, with one exception.