Assessing the role of the media in influencing confidence levels within state institutions

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this thesis is to determine the role played by the media in creating a level of awareness in the public mind, and an associated level of trust and confidence within the legislative arm of government. This is achieved through a qualitative research methodology that includes indepth interviews with experts in the field of political communication, particularly journalists and politicians who are members of parliament. Detailed in-depth questionnaires were also used to ascertain the views of these respondents on the same topic. The research also does a comparative content analysis of two newspapers the Cape Argus and the New Age. The key finding of this thesis is that the state is responsible for its own confidence levels without the role or impact of the media – a view not shared by some members of parliament and communications experts. Indeed, members of parliament feel strongly that the media does not portray a true understanding of the work of parliament and that they should do more than what is currently presented by the media houses across the spectrum in the field of communication