A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education
In this essay, we critically reflect on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education with specific focus on the South African context. After contextualising the problematics in terms of what Castells terms the “information technology revolution”, we define data visualisation and sur...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2020-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Academica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/4285 |
| _version_ | 1797265690437091328 |
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| author | Anusharani Sewchurran Benda Hofmeyr |
| author_facet | Anusharani Sewchurran Benda Hofmeyr |
| author_sort | Anusharani Sewchurran |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
In this essay, we critically reflect on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education with specific focus on the South African context. After contextualising the problematics in terms of what Castells terms the “information technology revolution”, we define data visualisation and survey the existing literature on the subject. The history of journalism education in South Africa is briefly revisited before assessing the current state of the profession in the country. The dangers posed by digital visualisation to the core ethos and function of journalism as a vehicle in the service of contributing to a resilient democracy is thrown into relief by utilising critical concepts from the work of Foucault, Habermas and Fuchs. We subsequently cite a few examples of the undisclosed bias inherent in data visualisation. In conclusion, we consider the feasibility and potential effects of the necessity to adopt data visualisation techniques on journalism in South Africa.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:45:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b4cd59cf913d49f793cbab08fdbcf74f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0587-2405 2415-0479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:48:48Z |
| publishDate | 2020-12-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Academica |
| spelling | doaj.art-b4cd59cf913d49f793cbab08fdbcf74f2024-03-11T23:03:21ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Academica0587-24052415-04792020-12-01522A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism educationAnusharani Sewchurran0Benda Hofmeyr1Durban University of Techology, South AfricaUniversity of Pretoria, South Africa In this essay, we critically reflect on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education with specific focus on the South African context. After contextualising the problematics in terms of what Castells terms the “information technology revolution”, we define data visualisation and survey the existing literature on the subject. The history of journalism education in South Africa is briefly revisited before assessing the current state of the profession in the country. The dangers posed by digital visualisation to the core ethos and function of journalism as a vehicle in the service of contributing to a resilient democracy is thrown into relief by utilising critical concepts from the work of Foucault, Habermas and Fuchs. We subsequently cite a few examples of the undisclosed bias inherent in data visualisation. In conclusion, we consider the feasibility and potential effects of the necessity to adopt data visualisation techniques on journalism in South Africa. http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/4285Digital disruptionData visualizationJournalismJournalism educationSouth Africa |
| spellingShingle | Anusharani Sewchurran Benda Hofmeyr A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education Acta Academica Digital disruption Data visualization Journalism Journalism education South Africa |
| title | A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| title_full | A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| title_fullStr | A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| title_full_unstemmed | A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| title_short | A critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| title_sort | critical reflection on digital disruption in journalism and journalism education |
| topic | Digital disruption Data visualization Journalism Journalism education South Africa |
| url | http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/4285 |
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