Abstract
A content analysis of two South African newspapers was undertaken to determine the extent to which health-related news items would reveal the nature and process of social change in South Africa today. Data was collected from the Star and the Sowetan over a period of sixteen months, from 26 November 1985 through 31 March 1987, a period characterized by intense black opposition to apartheid and by correspondingly increased government repression and censorship. The results show that, press restrictions notwithstand ing, news related to the health sector revealed much about life and change in South Africa today. Interestingly, censorship had little effect on the number and content of the health news in the paper written for the black community, the Sowetan. In the Star, however, the number of health articles actually increased with increasing censorship, but the proportion of those articles related to apartheid and social change decreased. The study thus focuses on the effects of political restrictions on health-related news in two important South African newspapers.
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