an investigation of the democratic alliance's political public relations campaign in the 2009 south

338 Pages·2013·3.4 MB·English

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE’S POLITICAL PUBLIC
RELATIONS CAMPAIGN IN THE 2009 SOUTH AFRICAN GENERAL ELECTIONS
INCLUDING HOW SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE FACEBOOK WAS LEVERAGED
TO HELP INCREASE THE PARTY’S VOTE-SHARE
by

RONESH DHAWRAJ

submitted in accordance with the requirements
for the degree

MASTER OF ARTS

in the subject of

COMMUNICATION

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

SUPERVISOR: DR B KARAM
JUNE 2013
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been a long and difficult road to this high point in my studies. On it, I
encountered some wonderful and very inspirational people who always encouraged
me to forge ahead and never to give up. To each of you, I say thank you. To my
supervisor Dr Beschara Karam, thanks for your patience and for always pushing me
despite the hectic work and study schedules. Thanks to Mr Brett Ward for helping
with the editing. My gratitude also extends to the University of South Africa and its
friendly staff (Mr Dawie Malan and Mrs Soekie Van Gass) for always being available
to endure my incessant queries. To the university, again a huge thank you for the
bursary funds; and for making it possible to pursue this Masters degree.

To my mum and my late dad, this is especially for you. Thank you for the great
values of simplicity, perseverance and hard work that you both instilled in me. In the
same vein, thank you to my brothers Neresh and Navin; sister Pravitha; cousin
Deepak and his wife Linda; colleagues Vuyo Madanda, Aasra Bramdeo and Kitso
Kgaboesele and friends Susan Booysen, Nivashia Ramsaroop, Shevaal Singh and
Reuben Moodley for your unending motivation. A special thanks to former manager,
Izak Minnaar and present manager, Nomazulu Mda, for giving me the space to
explore this passion for politics; and communication science.

Finally, without God nothing is possible!
ABSTRACT

This thesis examines the political public relations campaign of the Democratic
Alliance in the 2009 elections in order to explain the party’s performance in these
elections. The research is premised on John Petrocik’s (1996) issue ownership
theory. A number of quantitative and qualitative content analyses were conducted to
provide answers to the main research questions. These involved: the party’s 286
media releases; party leader Helen Zille’s 2009 campaign speeches; and Zille’s
Facebook platform. Results revealed that although the DA demonstrated extreme
political resilience amidst fierce challenges in the 2009 elections, the party primarily
campaigned on an anti-ANC ticket and a fair amount of negative advertising against
the governing party to win itself votes. Not only did the party fail to “associate” itself
with real issues affecting South African voters—especially the poor Black African
majority which constitutes the largest voting bloc—it failed to pronounce itself clearly
on other issues. Instead, the party attached itself to a multitude of shared issues,
often “trespassing” on issues of common concern not necessarily “owned” by any
one political party. This study also deduced that while Facebook facilitated public
opinion on the DA in the 2009 elections, it still could not be regarded as a genuine
public sphere in the South African context.
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER

1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Context of the problem 1
1.3 Background to the problem 3
1.4 Statement of the problem 8
1.5 Purpose of the study 8
1.6 Research questions 9
1.7 Importance of the study 10
1.8 Scope of the study 12
1.9 Delimitations and limitations 13
1.10 Chapter outline 15
1.11 Conclusion 15

2 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY 16
2.1 Introduction 16
2.2 Goals and objectives of study 16
2.3 Research method and design 17
2.4 The quantitative paradigm 19
2.5 Creating the measuring instrument, the coding rubric 19
2.6 Research questions 22
2.7 Researcher’s role 23
2.8 Data collection 24
2.9 Quantitative content analysis of the DA’s 286 media releases 25
2.10 Quantitative content analysis of Helen Zille’s 27 Facebook posts 26
2.11 Quantitative content analysis of Helen Zille’s campaign speeches 29
2.12 Sampling methods 29
2.13 Data analysis 30
2.14 Pilot study / studies 30
2.15 Limitations and demarcations 33
2.16 The qualitative paradigm 34
2.17 Research questions 35
2.18 Researcher’s role 36
2.19 Data collection 36
2.20 Sampling methods 37
2.21 Data analysis 37
2.22 The narrative 37
2.23 Limitations and demarcations 38
2.24 Feasibility of study 38
2.25 Conclusion 40

3 CHAPTER THREE: LITERATURE REVIEW 41
3.1 Section One: Introduction 41
3.2 Ideology 41
3.3 Political communication 45
3.4 The public sphere and public opinion 48
3.4.1 Genesis and eventual decline of the public sphere 51
3.4.2 Institutional criteria and assumptions for a public sphere to exist 54
3.4.3 Observed criticisms of Habermas’ public sphere 55
3.4.4 A new public sphere 60

3.5 Web campaigning 62
3.5.1 Campaigning using the World Wide Web 63
3.5.2 Web campaigning, its benefits and disadvantages 67

3.6 Social networking sites 71
3.7 Political advertising 77
3.7.1 Paid advertising and free advertising 79
3.7.2 Brief history of political advertising 81
3.7.3 Political advertising and the South African angle 83
3.7.4 Social networking sites and political advertising 83
3.8 Political public relations 85
3.8.1 Political marketing 88
3.8.2 The four ‘p’s’ of marketing 90

3.9 Conclusion: Section One 91
3.10 Section Two: The DA’s previous electoral campaigns and performance 91

3.11 Introduction to voting theories and “Issue ownership theory” 95
3.11.1 John Petrocik’s “Issue ownership theory” 99
3.11.2 Sources of issue ownership 102
3.11.3 The median voter according to Petrocik (1996) 104
3.11.4 Saliency, the media’s role in issue ownership and issue convergence 106
3.11.5 Trespassing on owned issues 111
3.11.6 Criticisms of “issue ownership theory” 113

3.12 Conclusion: Section Two 118

4 CHAPTER FOUR: PROFILE OF THE DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 120

4.1 Introduction 120
4.2 A brief background of the Democratic Alliance (DA) 120
4.3 Profile of the typical DA supporter 122
4.4 An introduction into the DA’s 2009 political public relations (PR) campaign 123
4.5 An overview of the DA’s 2009 political PR campaign 124
4.5.1 Political television advertising permitted for the 2009 election 126
4.5.2 The absence of debate in the 2009 elections 129
4.5.3 The DA and its use of social networking in 2009 130
4.5.4 Capturing the youth vote in the 2009 election 131
4.5.5 Helen Zille’s image management exercise 134

4.6 Conclusion 141

5 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS 142

5.1 Introduction 142
5.2 Results of quantitative studies 142

5.2.1 Quantitative content analysis of the DA’s 286 media releases 143
5.2.2 Quantitative content analysis of Helen Zille’s Facebook posts 149
5.2.2.1 Discussion of Helen Zille’s Facebook posts 149
5.2.3 Quantitative content analysis of Helen Zille’s campaign speeches 151
5.2.3.1 Discussion of Helen Zille’s campaign speeches 160

5.3 Qualitative content analysis of Helen Zille’s Facebook page 161
5.3.1 Discussion of Facebook conversations 175
5.3.2 Helen Zille’s Facebook page…a public sphere? 179

5.4 Research outcomes from the content analyses 182
5.5 Conclusion 198

6 CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 199
6.1 Introduction 199
6.2 Limitations 199
6.3 Recommendations 200
6.4 Chapter outline 203
6.5 Research questions 204
6.6 Conclusion 208

SOURCES CONSULTED 215

APPENDICES 265

Appendix A: 2009 Election results and analysis 265
Appendix B: Categories developed for the three quantitative content analyses 268
Appendix C: Instructions for content analysis pilot study 275
Appendix D: The DA’s media releases 1 January 2009 – 30 April 2009 287
Appendix E: Helen Zille’s Facebook posts 1 January 2009 – 30 April 2009 288
Appendix F: Categories, likes and comments on Helen Zille’s 27 Facebook
posts from 1 January 2009 - 30 April 2009 289
Appendix G: Category-coding combinations in Helen Zille’s 20 speeches 291
Appendix H: ANC media releases frequencies by month 293
Appendix I: The DA’s coding combinations for its 286 media releases 294
Appendix J: Coding breakdown for Helen Zille’s speeches 301
Appendix K: Questions for DA CEO Jonathan Moakes 308
Appendix L: History of the Democratic Alliance 315
Appendix M: The DA’s new logo compared to Barack Obama’s 2008 election logo 316
Appendix N: Census 2011 data on Internet connectivity 317
Appendix O: Census 2011 data on first language profile 318
Appendix P: The DA’s “Know Your DA” campaign 319
Appendix Q: How the DA is using Twitter 320
LIST OF FIGURES PAGE NUMBER

Figure 2.1 DA Facebook front panel 26
Figure 3.1 The different types of political advertising 81
Figure 5.1 DA’s media releases top nine categories identified 143
Figure 5.2 Results of 21 categories by monthly breakdown 145
Figure 5.3 Categories identified in Helen Zille’s campaign speeches 152
Figure 5.4 Sample of user comments on Facebook 164
Figure 5.5 Sample of DA support on Facebook 169
Figure 5.6 Facebook Diaspora conversations 170
Figure 5.7 DA posts on Election Day posts 173
LIST OF ACRONYMS

ACDP African Christian Democratic Party
AIC African Independent Congress
ANC African National Congress
ANCYL ANC Youth League
APC African Peoples' Convention
AZAPO Azanian People's Organisation
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
CEO Chief Executive Officer
COPE Congress of the People
DA Democratic Alliance
DASO Democratic Alliance Students Organisation
DIRCO Department of International Relations and Co-operation
DP Democratic Party
EC Eastern Cape
FEDUSA Federation of Unions of South Africa
FS Free State
FF+ Freedom Front Plus
GMAIL Google Mail
GP Gauteng
HSRC Human Sciences Research Council
IDASA Institute for Democracy in South Africa
ID Independent Democrats
IEC Independent Electoral Commission
IFP Inkatha Freedom Party
IJR Institute for Justice and Reconciliation
IOT Issue ownership theory