Description
Book SynopsisTabloids hotly debated in South Africa
Trade ReviewWasserman's engagement with tabloid journalism in South Africa is comprehensive and critical, at all times attentive to detail and provides sound research and well-rounded critical inquiary into the recent rise of tabloids within the post-apartheid media sphere. Anyone who reads this book will be compelled to take South African tabloids seriously, and will be urged to consider the important socio-semiotic work they carry out for their vast numbers of readers today.
* Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies *
This is a thoughtful, refreshing and timely contribution to the South African and international media literature. It attempts to grasp tabloid journalism in all its dimensions: in its blatant commercialism, its social justice implications, its unpalatable eccentricity and sensationalism, its challenge to hierarchies of taste and cultural capital, and its role vis-à-vis the national journalistic field on the one hand and broader society on the other.
* Journal of Modern African Studies *
Wasserman's sound research and keen analysis make this book valuable as a sociological source on race and ethnicity in South Africa, as well as a resource on communication and journalism. . . . An excellent study that is easy to read and understand. . . . Highly recommended.
* Choice *
In all, Wasserman makes a convincing case that South African tabloids should not be dismissed as 'trash journalism' but, in the socio-historical context, should be read politically and viewed as part of the local-regional-global dynamic. 32(2)
* Australian Journalism Review *
As a whole, Tabloid Journalism in South Africa is a must read for media historians, journalists, and perhpas just about anyone who is interested in ongoing questions about a post-apartheid South Africa. Wasserman's work deserves great respect for encouraging a localized standpoint of tabloids in South Africa. Perhaps most importantly, Herman Wasserman's work shows that tabloid newspaper readers like Rapabi Boithatelo illuminate the failure of the post-apartheid government and mainstream media in South Africa to address the needs of all citizens.
* JHistory *
The book makes easy reading . . . [and is] interesting for its novel approach . . . to the examination of tabloid journalism in South Africa.Vol. 32, No. 1, Winter 2011
* Newspaper Research Journal *
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
1. Shock! Horror! Scandal! The Tabloid Controversy and Journalism Studies in Post-Apartheid South Africa
2. Attack of the Killer Newspapers! Tabloids Arrive in South Africa
3. Black and White and Read All Over: Tabloids and the Glocalization of Popular Media
4. Not Really Newspapers: Tabloids and the South African Journalistic Paradigm
5. The Revolution Will Be Printed: Tabloids, Citizenship, and Democratic Politics in Post-Apartheid South Africa
6. Truth or Trash? Understanding Tabloid Journalism and Lived Experience
7. Often They Cry with the People: The Professional Identities of Tabloid Journalists
8. Conclusion: Telling Stories
Notes
References
Index
