SA tabloid newspapers: Xenophobic? Intolerant? Nationalistic?

"The feeling of superiority by South Africans towards their African counterparts fuels the concept of xenophobia in this country," Jos Kuper, lecturer, researcher and a member of Transparency International, said.

Kuper, speaking in Auckland Park late last week at a tabloid journalism conference hosted by the Media24 Journalism Academy, also said more than half of South Africans believe in vigilantism, citing the futurefact findings.

Daily Sun, SA's biggest-selling tabloid newspaper of all times, was found 'guilty' in 2009 by the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) for fuelling the 2008 xenophobic attacks. Sixty-two people were killed, more than 1500 were injured and scores of black foreign women raped in those attacks, in which no one has ever been convicted.

"Be careful"

Kuper on Friday, 13 May 2011, warned: "Be careful of what you put in the media in terms of these trends," adding that newspapers must write topics relevant to the day-to-day lives of readers, and should push for social, economic and political freedoms.

The 2011 futurefact survey also found that 68% of tabloid readers believe they should get free education, while 56% say free housing is the way to go, 45% want free electricity and 45% want free medical aid.

Rhodes University lecturer Herman Wasserman, who defined tabloid newspapers as nationalistic and xenophobic publications, said most of them have snappy headlines, striking visuals and graphics, are melodramatic, sensational and stimulate emotional, moral and aesthetic responses. He also said tabloidisation, which is mostly seen as a trend eroding good journalism, is full of heightened emotionality, celebrity culture and personalisation of politics, and often raises issues of ethics, taste, skills and class.

Critics strengthened their case against tabloid newspapers early this year when one of them, Sunday World, published a column written by Nomakula 'Kuli' Roberts, in which she was reportedly prejudiced against coloured people. The 'racist' article quickly reinforced the notion that SA's tabloid journalism, which some say is unsuccessfully trying to copy the British model, lacks ethics and skills to produce tabloid newspapers.

Focus group members

Members of the Daily Sun focus groups, who were also invited at the conference, said they like reading that newspaper because it is cheap and always available in every street corner of the townships. However, they said stories such as 'chicken talking' or 'cellphone talking to me' were definitely putting them off, and constituted a big disadvantage.

They also said that were tired of reading about Khanyi Mbau (Khanyi-fatigue) in papers such as Sunday Sun and Sunday World, and wanted something what would educate them and their kids.

"Most of the townships do not have libraries, and sometimes you have to go far away to consult one, so we want newspapers to write about those things - how we can get libraries and improve our communities," said Mpho Mokwena, a resident of Moletsane (Soweto).

Some readers believe Daily Sun's frequent stories about witchcraft in Limpopo province smelled of prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination.

The tabloid journalism conference was facilitated by both its head Mathatha Tsedu and her his deputy Elizabeth Barratt.