Disrupted for Life: An Analysis of Journalist Job Losses in South Africa—at Odds with Journalism’s Function in a Democracy

ABSTRACT

This article is an explication of the experiences of journalist job losses in South Africa as digitisation in newsrooms began and then accelerated in this age of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda. Theoretically, the article is framed through one of the important roles of journalism in a democracy: that journalists make an enormous contribution to the public by shining the spotlight on those with power. In addition, journalists are meant to serve the public by being reliable conduits of information. Yet if newsrooms are depleted of staff, especially of senior journalists, how can these functions be fulfilled? The methods of research here include a survey and interviews with journalists and unionists. This shows the traumatic transitions from full-time jobs in newsrooms to freelance or “gig” work to public relations or just being “broke” and unemployed. It also shows how journalists could hardly fulfil their roles to deepen democracy given the precarity of their job situations.

KEYWORDS:

• journalists
• job losses
• retrenchment
• digitisation
• democracy

Notes

1 Those who were trained to report, write stories and were taught professional codes of ethics in journalism.

2 This research refers to all State of the Newsroom, South Africa research, at https://journalism.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/State-of-the-Newsroom-report-2018_updated-20190709.pdf, as well as anecdotal evidence from interviews (including interviews with unionists) and job losses survey material. From all accounts, it appears as though the professional journalist force has been halved over the past decade (Daniels 2014a).

3 However, some journalists leave on their own accord to enter the public relations field; to give two recent examples, in 2020, Sam Mkokeli left Bloomberg to become spokesperson to the minister of public enterprises, and Sikhonathi Mantshanstsha left the Daily Maverick to become spokesperson for Eskom.

4 https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/risj-review/truth-behind-filter-bubbles-bursting-some-myths

5 This survey is part of the international New Beats/job losses survey project, based in Melbourne, which the author is also part of.

6 These were the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF), Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ), Press Council of SA, South African Communications Association (SACOMM), Media Workers Association of SA (MWASA), Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Save our SABC (SOS), Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Association for Independent Publishers (AIP), Broadcast Complaints Commission of SA (BCCSA), Pen South Africa (PENSA), National Press Club, SA Freelance Association (SAFREA), Right2Know, National Association of Broadcasters, Amabhungane, and Wits Journalism.

7 The New Beats Job Losses Survey SA was adapted from the Australian New Beats survey and is part of worldwide research on journalist job losses. It was conducted in SA in July/August 2018.

8 In November 2018, Facebook gave 4.5 million GBP to fund 80 local newspaper jobs in the UK.

9 The author of this article, Glenda Daniels, at the time of writing (February 2020), held a leadership position in SANEF as a council member and chair of the Diversity and Ethics subcommittee.