"Manufacturing Consent" revisited. China's image in selected South African media in the opening phase of the Covid-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

As the Covid-19 pandemic reached South Africa in early March 2020, fear and distress gripped the nation. In the various debates, discussions, and narratives, one notable absence was any substantial critique of China in South Africa media. This is odd given the ample evidence concerning the origins of the virus. With so much of the pandemics narrative shaped by the media, what constitutes truth and fiction became opaque and murky. Added to this malaise are allegations that China is exporting its authoritarian press censorship culture abroad. In developing a methodology which asks if "China is crafting its image', this research examines a sample of South African media between March and June 2020 to ascertain if negative critiques of China are being censorship within South African media. Two dailies, The Star and The Citizen, as well as a number of online media publications are used as the study's sample. The data collected is cross analyzed against the five filters of Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model to determine if China is Manufacturing Consent within South Africa media. There is conclusive evidence that censorship is taking place within South African media.