Media coverage as an instrument of language rights activism: The case of Hoërskool ErmeloPeople everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news [AJ Liebling 1904-1963]

Abstract

The contentious nature of language rights in the education system of South Africa has over the years given rise to the utilisation of media coverage as an instrument of language rights activism. This article focuses on the media coverage of the Hoërskool Ermelo case which was heard in the Pretoria High Court from February 2007. Drawing on methods of content analysis and critical discourse analysis, the article demonstrates that media coverage of an activist nature is fraught with biases and subjectivities which are evident in the framing of news reports. The activist nature of the newspaper reports analysed in this article point to an inclination to mobilise, and in other instances to incite, language rights activists and other concerned constituents to engage in various forms of language rights activism.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2010, 28(1): 89–97