How the 'natives' and the 'hybrids' are transforming South African journalism

Abstract

Addressing the American Society of Newspapers Editors in April 2005, Rupert Murdoch, media mogul and owner of News Corporation, made several profound statements which were reported in The Independent (2005-04).Firstly he said: 'Like many of you, I am a digital immigrant. I wasn’t weaned on the web, nor coddled on a computer. I grew up in a highly centralised world where news and information were tightly controlled by few editors, who deemed to tell us what we could and should know.'Secondly, he stated: 'The peculiar challenge, then, is for us digital immigrants – many of whom are in positions to determine how news is assembled and disseminated – to apply a digital mindset to new set of challenges.'Thirdly, Murdoch cited a Carnegie Report, which stated: 'There is a dramatic revolution taking place in the news business today, and it’s not about TV anchor changes, scandals at newspapers or embedded reporters. The future is being altered by the technology-savvy young people [natives] no longer wedded to traditional news outlets or even accessing news in traditional ways.'