Symbiosis: mass media and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa

Abstract

One of the most important and visible elements of South Africa's transition to democracy has been the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Without mass media - particularly broadcast media - the TRC's much-heralded process of providing a public platform for victims of gross violations of human rights and forging a new national history would have been severely limited. This article teases out the relationship between mass media and the TRC, focusing primarily but not exclusively on broadcast media. It draws on two analytical frameworks from the field of media studies: Dayan and Katz's Media Events (1992) and Hayman and Tomaselli's `Broadcasting Technology as an Ideological Terrain' (1987). Particular attention is paid to the TRC's institutional hearings on the media. These explorations help us to better conceptualize how and why mass media have played such a unique and crucial role in South Africa, both under apartheid and throughout the TRC process.

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