Mediating the Landing of a Commercial Aircraft at Waterkloof Air Force Base

Abstract

The debate on Africanising media theories has been broadly framed through the bifocal prism of postmodernism and postcolonialism. While the postmodernists argue that there is no single framework for studying the media in a pluralised world, the postcolonialists contend media theories inspired by the lived realities of the Anglo-American sphere are not suited to the African context. This paper contributes to this debate by replicating an Anglo-American media theory in the South African context. The paper tests Entman’s cascading activation thesis through an analysis of inter-elite contestations in the South African media. The paper examines the inter-elite struggle over the framing of the landing of a commercial aircraft at Waterkloof Air Force Base in four South African newspapers and news sites (City Press, Independent Online, Mail & Guardian and TimesLIVE [N = 75]). Using framing analysis, the paper examines the framing challenge mounted by the Gupta family against the ANC-led government over the narrative of the landing of a commercial aircraft at Waterkloof Air Force Base in the four news sources. The paper identifies two dominant framings of the incident, Waterkloofgate and Guptagate, depicting the two narratives promoted by the ANC-led government on the one hand and the Guptas on the other hand.