COM3706 Assignment
1 Semester 2 2024 -
DUE August 2024
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, COM3706 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2024 - DUE August 2024
The research scenario Topic:
A content analysis study to investigate how your newspaper (insert the name of your selected
newspaper) covers political stories in South Africa. As a researcher, the Institute of Political
Affairs has appointed you to study the coverage of political stories by your favourite newspaper.
Therefore, you are required to select a newspaper of your choice to investigate how this
newspaper covers political stories in South Africa. You may analyse five chronological issues of
your selected newspaper i.e. Monday – Friday or a specific month/s in the case of a weekly
newspaper. Therefore, it is important to select a newspaper that is likely to feature political
stories. We recommend the regional or national newspapers because these newspapers have
reach coverage of political issues. Attach the cover page of your selected newspaper as an
addendum. As a student, you need to use your discretion about whether a specific story is a
political story or not. In this study, for instance, you could investigate the main political themes
that your newspaper is likely to cover. How much space do political stories occupy in the
selected newspaper in relation to other themes? You could also investigate where in the
newspaper are these political stories placed (cover page, inside the newspaper or back page).
What are the leading political stories during the period of analysis? How many political stories
are covered daily and the total number of stories during the period of analysis? You may also
investigate the angle in which the stories are covered (positively, negatively or neutral). Which
voices were featured the most within the stories (indicate whether such voices are those of
politicians, ordinary citizens or political parties)? You may also investigate how the newspaper
uses images to convey the message. Therefore, the study is both quantitative and qualitative as
1 Semester 2 2024 -
DUE August 2024
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, COM3706 Assignment 1 Semester 2 2024 - DUE August 2024
The research scenario Topic:
A content analysis study to investigate how your newspaper (insert the name of your selected
newspaper) covers political stories in South Africa. As a researcher, the Institute of Political
Affairs has appointed you to study the coverage of political stories by your favourite newspaper.
Therefore, you are required to select a newspaper of your choice to investigate how this
newspaper covers political stories in South Africa. You may analyse five chronological issues of
your selected newspaper i.e. Monday – Friday or a specific month/s in the case of a weekly
newspaper. Therefore, it is important to select a newspaper that is likely to feature political
stories. We recommend the regional or national newspapers because these newspapers have
reach coverage of political issues. Attach the cover page of your selected newspaper as an
addendum. As a student, you need to use your discretion about whether a specific story is a
political story or not. In this study, for instance, you could investigate the main political themes
that your newspaper is likely to cover. How much space do political stories occupy in the
selected newspaper in relation to other themes? You could also investigate where in the
newspaper are these political stories placed (cover page, inside the newspaper or back page).
What are the leading political stories during the period of analysis? How many political stories
are covered daily and the total number of stories during the period of analysis? You may also
investigate the angle in which the stories are covered (positively, negatively or neutral). Which
voices were featured the most within the stories (indicate whether such voices are those of
politicians, ordinary citizens or political parties)? You may also investigate how the newspaper
uses images to convey the message. Therefore, the study is both quantitative and qualitative as
