Beyond Watchdog Journalism: Media and Social Accountability in South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article offers an analysis of newspaper coverage of education in the Eastern Cape. Using content analysis of news print media as a method of investigation, the findings illustrate a gap in education journalism in South Africa between 2005 and 2016. This study is an exploration of the education landscape in the Eastern Cape across two interrelated fields—social accountability and journalism. The aim is to understand the gaps in coverage in a key sector in the province, one that has continually been visible in the media, but which has also consistently failed to improve despite that visibility. The argument made herein is that for the media to be effective in holding duty bearers to account and fulfilling their role as “watchdogs” of society, what is required is a shift in the assumption that simply reporting on or highlighting corruption, maladministration or mismanagement of public resources is sufficient. Rather, the episodic reporting which is currently prevalent in education coverage keeps citizens information-poor and lacking the knowledge they require to actively hold public officials to account. The findings point to a failure by the printed press in fulfilling any accountability role and suggest that they are currently not contributing meaningfully to social accountability in the education sector in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.