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How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613812590379008 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Lottering, Lisa Demi |
| author2 | Jordaan, Marenet |
| author_browse | Jordaan, Marenet Lottering, Lisa Demi |
| author_facet | Jordaan, Marenet Lottering, Lisa Demi |
| author_sort | Lottering, Lisa Demi |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/132230 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:42:05.565Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/132230 How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE Lottering, Lisa Demi Jordaan, Marenet Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism. Social media Twitter Online social networks Digital media Online journalism Electric power failures Eskom (Firm) UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Lottering, L. D. 2025. How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/353af2a3-c78e-4a87-8fc2-e90b0b25d4f2 ENGLISH ABSTRACT: X, previously known as Twitter, has been studied widely as a newsgathering tool in journalism. Background research suggests that it has become more common for journalists to include information from the internet in their articles. And now, journalists also use tweets to inform what is popular. This suggests that there is an increasing mutual dependence between journalists and X (Molyneux & McGregor, 2022:1578). This study focuses on journalists from three South African online news publications, namely News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE, who use X to report on load shedding in South Africa. The aim of this study is to study how journalists use X as a newsgathering tool to write articles about load shedding. Load shedding by the government-owned electricity supplier Eskom started in November 2007 and has become a regular occurrence in South Africa. It is a popular topic among citizens and journalists who often turn to social media and X to find information on load shedding. Therefore, this research aims to add to existing debates about the topic of using social media for reporting on load shedding. By using gatekeeping and agenda setting as theoretical frameworks, this study investigates whether information shared on X has an influence on the news and how journalists decide what to report on. Moreover, this study explores how journalists use X as news source to set the agenda in their reporting on load shedding by determining what to report on. A qualitative research design was used for this study. To answer the research question, this study employed semi-structured interviews with nine journalists to gather data about their usage of X in their respective newsrooms to report on load shedding. The data from these interviews was interpreted through thematic analysis. Six themes were identified that relate to the usage of X in the newsroom. The findings of this study suggest that the journalists actively use X as a newsgathering tool to report on load shedding and that there is a place for X in the newsroom. However, they also still find value in traditional methods of reporting and believe that journalists should follow up on sources and verify facts when using X as a starting point for an article. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar nie. Masters 2025-05-30T10:00:43Z 2025-05-30T10:00:43Z 2025-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132230 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 89 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Social media Online social networks Digital media Online journalism Electric power failures Eskom (Firm) UCTD Lottering, Lisa Demi How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title | How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title_full | How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title_fullStr | How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title_full_unstemmed | How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title_short | How tweets become the news: Using X as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at News24, Netwerk24 and TimesLIVE |
| title_sort | how tweets become the news using x as a newsgathering tool to report on loadshedding at news24 netwerk24 and timeslive |
| topic | Social media Online social networks Digital media Online journalism Electric power failures Eskom (Firm) UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132230 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lotteringlisademi howtweetsbecomethenewsusingxasanewsgatheringtooltoreportonloadsheddingatnews24netwerk24andtimeslive |