My Research
Research |
Until 1994, South African media was heavily censored under apartheid. Newspapers could be suspended or closed down at the whim of the government. In fact, the State of Emergency in 1986 was specifically aimed at the media. Its purpose was to get apartheid out of the international spotlight. Every time journalists found a loophole in one law, another was created. In fact, between 1986 and 1987, there was an average of one new regulation a week.
However, in 1994, with the ending of apartheid a new era of democracy began. But South Africa's repressive past has both shaped and marred the media. My research was to trace the political censorship of the media, focusing on mainstream print journalism, to understand its current relationship with the government from 1980 to 2001.
| This site includes information about Africa. You can do a country search to pull up all the articles about it. This site gets its information from wire services and African newspapers. Source: AllAfrica Global Media | |
| This is a portal service and you can search on any number of topics, including countries. It also gives country profiles on major issues such as AIDS and women's rights. It further can divide into different web sites on more specific topics such as government, cities, human rights, and the press. Source: afrol.com | |
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The Daily Mail and Guardian was the first online newspaper in Africa as a service to Mail and Guardian readers abroad but is now a separate company. The M& G was originally called The Weekly Mail and was started in 1985, by a group of journalists after the closures of two of South Africa's leading liberal newspapers, the Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Express. Source: Daily Mail and Guardian |
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| The Freedom of Expression Institute is a non government organization which gives monthly reports on African nations and how freedom of expression is being helped or hurt by the government. Source: Freedom of Expression Institute | |
| This is a non government organization. It takes minutes on meeting of the South African National Assembly and then posts them on the Internet. Scour: Parliamentary Monitoring Group |
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Merrett, Christopher Edmond. |
So this is democracy? : report on
media freedom in southern Africa, 1995
compiled by David Lush and David Nthengwe; edited by Amy Schoeman and David Lush. Windhoek, Namibia : Media Institute of Southern Africa, c1996. Call Number: P95.82.A4156 S64 1996 (Davis) |
| Merrett, Christopher State censorship and the academic process in South Africa Champaign : University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, c1991. Call Number: Z674 .I52 no. 192 (SILS Library) |
Phelan, John Apartheid media : disinformation and dissent in South Africa Westport, Conn. : Lawrence Hill, 1987. Call Number: PN4748.S58 P4 1987 (Davis) |
| Van Rooyen, J. C. W.
Censorship in South Africa : being a commentary on the application of the Publications Act Cape Town : Juta, 1987. Call Number: KTL3483 .V367 1987 (Law Stacks) |
Maja-Pearce, Adewale.
Who's afraid of Wole Soyinka? : essays on censorship London ; Portsmouth, N.H. : Heinemann, c1991. Call Number: Z658.A357 M353 1991 (Davis) |
| Censorship : a study
of censorship in South Africa / by five distinguished authors, Johan van
der Vyver, André Brink, Allan Boesak, Ian McDonald, and André du Toit ;
introduction by Geoff Budlender ; edited by Theo Coggin. Published: Johannesburg : SA Institute of Race Relations, 1983. Call Number: K4738 (Davis) |
(Use to Get a General
Idea About Apartheid) South Africa belongs to us [motion picture] : five portraits of women under apartheid / Gerhard Schmidt Produktion in association with W.D.R. ; re-edited by California Newsreel ; producer and director, Chris Austin. San Francisco : Resolution/California Newsreel, c1980. Call Number: 65-K82 (UL NonPrint Motion Picture) |
(TOPIC AREA: The Dark Side of the Net)
At 9:30 in the morning on August 25, 2000, a story appeared on a lesser known wire service stating that a high tech company named Emulex, in Costa Mesa California was under investigation from the SEC, its chief executive had resigned and that its fourth quarter earnings were to be restated (1). The story was soon picked up by the major wire services. The only problem was that the story was a hoax orchestrated by a former employee of Internet Wire, the original sender of the release. Although NASDAQ halted trading of Emulex stock soon after it discovered the hoax, investors had already lost more that $110 million and the company's shares had fallen 62%, losing $2.5 billion in less than half an hour (2). Although the company's stock rebounded, the investors are still out their money for selling off their stock for low prices.
With the speed of the Internet age, stock scams can spread like wildfire and even well trusted organizations can spread damaging rumors. In this case, the criminal was a 23-year-old who had lost money on Emulex stock because he had bet it would go down and "sold short." To make his money back, he created a hoax to send the stock price plummeting (3). He created a fake press release that looked like it came from the company. Then, by using his knowledge of Internet Wire, sent it from a computer at El Camino College. To take suspicion off himself, he went to Las Vegas and bought lots of Emulex shares after the news came out. He ended up with profits of more than $240,000. Authorities tracked him down and he pleaded guilty on December 22, 2000 (2). However, the investors who lost money will probably get no retribution and there is nothing to stop another person from sabotaging another company.
NOTES:
1. Jones, Adam. (2000, August 28). Internet Hoaxer Created Shock waves on Wall St. The Times (London). [Online], 250 words. Available: LEXIS- NEXIS [2001 February 18]
2. Meyer, Josh and Fields, Robin. (2000 December 29). Suspect in Emulex Hoax Set to Plead Guilty to Fraud. Los Angeles Times. [Online]. 912 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS [2001, February 18]
3. Becton, Neal. (2000, September 1). Arrest Made in Emulex Hoax; Recent Employee of Press-Release Service Allegedly Planted Bogus News. The Washington Post. [Online]. 1184 words. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS [2001 February 18]
THREE WEB SITES
Title of Web Page: The Lesson of Emulex
Web Address: http://ojr.usc.edu/content/print.cfm?print=440
Brief Description: This article talks about the role the media had in causing
Emulex's stock to plummet.
Source of Web Site: University of Southern California
Title of Web Page: FBI Probes Net Fraud in Emulex Hoax
Web Address: http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2620888-2,00.html
Brief Description: Gives information about the FBI probe about the attack on
Emulex
Source of Web Site: ZD Net
Title of Web Page: Emulex Fraud Hurts All
Web Address: http://www.fool.com/news/foolplate/2000/foolplate000828.htm
Brief Description: This article discusses how all of society loses out when
something like this happens and also how stock fraud is easier on the Internet.
Source of Web Site: Motley Fool
Contact Information:
Erin Rinn at erinn@email.unc.edu