From apartheid to democracy: Shifting news values of journalists at the “Sunday Times” newspaper

Abstract

This study explores the news values of journalists at the Sunday Times newspaper in South Africa. Of particular interest are the values espoused under the apartheid era and whether these values changed with the resultant transformation to democracy in 1994.

Using a qualitative method of inquiry, the study shows the pursuit of capital and the newspaper's watchdog role emerge as enduring values in a new dispensation. Contrasting views are held on whether the newspaper was a staunch critic of the apartheid government, but what is clear is that values not only shifted due to the country's political transition, but through the personality of an editor who embraced change.