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Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom
Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613783336157184 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Gouws, Andries Jacobus |
| author2 | Jordaan, Marenet |
| author_browse | Gouws, Andries Jacobus Jordaan, Marenet |
| author_facet | Jordaan, Marenet Gouws, Andries Jacobus |
| author_sort | Gouws, Andries Jacobus |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/132391 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:41:37.777Z |
| 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:10019.1/132391 Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom Gouws, Andries Jacobus Jordaan, Marenet Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Journalism. Public sphere Journalism -- Social aspects Journalism -- Political aspects Electronic discussion groups Online social networks Digital ethnology Mass media and public opinion Communities -- South Africa -- Potchefstroom Press and politics Journalism -- Social aspects UCTD Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Gouws, A. J. 2025. Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on Facebook about Potchefstroom. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/21d1af01-73af-450b-bb9c-d54e32b629aa ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Journalism as an institution is facing several threats, from financial constraints to loss of influence. Researchers have been exploring questions such as how journalism should be defined in the age of social media, how to practise journalism, who are the journalists in an era of social media influencers, and even how to define journalism when the field seems to be changing beyond recognition. The journalistic public sphere is also changing. Where people used to write letters to newspapers or participate in radio discussions, they now often take part in online deliberations on social media. Peripheral actors in journalism seem to play a role in a new type of journalistic public sphere, on the boundaries of traditional, normative understandings of journalism. These peripheral actors are present on various social media platforms, including Facebook groups. They seem to fill gaps in the journalistic environment, particularly in local communities where legacy media have either left or become less influential. The roles of these peripheral actors in journalism, specifically the journalistic public sphere, have not been explored in depth. There is a lack of theory to describe the work of peripheral actors in journalism and a lack of an appropriate framework to examine their work. Journalism scholars have also often neglected the audience as active agents in journalism. This dissertation fills a gap in understandings of the work of peripheral actors in the journalistic public sphere in a specific South African location because of the importance of the public sphere in society and its role as a space where people make sense of their daily lives. This study was a netnography of the work of peripheral actors in journalism in the journalistic public sphere on Facebook groups about a small city, Potchefstroom, South Africa, where residents share information and deliberate on topics of general interest. Data were collected through online immersion in Facebook groups to examine the work of these actors from the perspective of the audience themselves. This study identified issues that matter to the audience through the lens of a novel theoretical framework. The framework was influenced by scholarship on journalistic boundary work and by new terminology to describe the work peripheral actors in journalism. This study showed that the work of peripheral actors in journalism correlates with the work of legacy journalists but also expands understandings of journalistic roles. These peripheral actors exhibit journalistic skills and competencies. The dissertation contributes to scholarly understanding of journalism in the digital era. It is necessary for scholars to understand the work of peripheral actors in journalism to understand the changes in the field and to expand the boundaries of the field. An examination of the work of non-journalistic actors in the field of journalism would contribute to future scholarship and a redefinition of what journalism in the digital era means. This study also contributes to theoretical understandings of peripheral actors in journalism through the development of a theoretical framework that may be employed to examine the work of these actors on other social media platforms and in other contexts. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar nie. Doctoral 2025-06-05T14:03:25Z 2025-06-05T14:03:25Z 2025-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132391 Stellenbosch University 305 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Public sphere Journalism -- Social aspects Journalism -- Political aspects Electronic discussion groups Online social networks Digital ethnology Mass media and public opinion Communities -- South Africa -- Potchefstroom Press and politics Journalism -- Social aspects UCTD Gouws, Andries Jacobus Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title | Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title_full | Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title_fullStr | Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title_full_unstemmed | Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title_short | Redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism: A netnography of community deliberation on facebook about Potchefstroom |
| title_sort | redefining the public sphere on the shifting boundaries of journalism a netnography of community deliberation on facebook about potchefstroom |
| topic | Public sphere Journalism -- Social aspects Journalism -- Political aspects Electronic discussion groups Online social networks Digital ethnology Mass media and public opinion Communities -- South Africa -- Potchefstroom Press and politics Journalism -- Social aspects UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/132391 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gouwsandriesjacobus redefiningthepublicsphereontheshiftingboundariesofjournalismanetnographyofcommunitydeliberationonfacebookaboutpotchefstroom |