The impact of commercialism on community: a case study of coverage of the Alexandra Renewal Project by two commercially-owned newspapers

摘要

In a bid to reflect the role of commercial media in communities, this study examines theudreportage, by two commercially-owned community newspapers, on the township ofudAlexandra’s important community development story, the Alexandra Renewal Project (ARP).udDriven by a common assumption that commercialism poses a threat to the watchdog role of theudmedia, and does not reflect community views, this study uses the theories of community mediaudand media political economy to highlight the tension between commercial publishers andudgrassroots community media advocates. The study uses content analysis and interviews toudreflect the role of the newspapers by critically analysing content and opinions about theudcoverage of ARP by the two newspapers. The dissertation argues that if the twoudcommercially-owned newspapers, namely Alex News and City Vision, are covering ARP – audvital story for Alexandra’s post apartheid revival, then they are moving towards fulfilling theirudcommunity function as community media. However, a closer analysis of such coverage is keyudto questions on whether commercialism can balance between making money and servingudcommunities.