ABSTRACT

This article is an explication of the experiences of journalist job losses in South Africa as digitisation in newsrooms began and then accelerated in this age of misinformation, disinformation and propaganda. Theoretically, the article is framed through one of the important roles of journalism in a democracy: that journalists make an enormous contribution to the public by shining the spotlight on those with power. In addition, journalists are meant to serve the public by being reliable conduits of information. Yet if newsrooms are depleted of staff, especially of senior journalists, how can these functions be fulfilled? The methods of research here include a survey and interviews with journalists and unionists. This shows the traumatic transitions from full-time jobs in newsrooms to freelance or “gig” work to public relations or just being “broke” and unemployed. It also shows how journalists could hardly fulfil their roles to deepen democracy given the precarity of their job situations.

摘要

本文是对南非新闻工作者失业的经历的诠释，因为在这个错误的信息，虚假的信息和宣传时代，新闻编辑室的数字化开始并随后加速。从理论上讲，这篇文章是通过新闻在民主制度中的重要作用之一来构架的：记者通过将权力聚焦于有权力的人，为公众做出了巨大贡献。此外，新闻记者的目的是通过可靠的信息渠道为公众服务。但是，如果新闻编辑室的工作人员，特别是高级新闻记者的工作人员都枯竭了，如何履行这些职能？这里的研究方法包括调查和对记者和工会会员的采访。这显示了从新闻编辑室的全职工作到自由职业或“大杂烩”工作再到公共关系或只是被“打破”和失业的痛苦过渡。它还表明，鉴于工作环境的不稳定，记者如何几乎无法履行其职责来加深民主。