Patterns of news consumption among female students at North West University, South Africa

Abstract

News consumption patterns have characterised the everydayness of audience members in societies across the world. The practice of news consumption has been interrogated by various scholars in the field of news consumption (Antunovic, 2018; Chan-Olmstead, 2013; Fourie, 2017; Pointdexter, 2008). On the media studies research agenda, there has been a clarion call to explore news consumption from an African and Southern African perspective as well as to decolonize the media audience research (Fourie, 2017). This study therefore explored news consumption patterns among female students studying at a South African University. The study looked into the motivation, demographic factors and extent of news consumption among female students at the North-West University (NWU), South Africa. It explored the affordability and degree of interest among these students, as overarching variables and whether they impact on the news consumption patterns of female students studying at the abovementioned institution. The study focused on the three delivery sites of the North-West University, namely the Mafikeng, Potchefstroom and Vanderbijlpark campuses. To guide this study, the theoretical frameworks, which are the Uses and Gratifications Theory and Media Dependency Model, were used. The study further employed a mixed methodological approach. Five hundred surveys were administered, and six focus group discussions were used to collect data. The findings from the study revealed that female students on all three campuses do consume news to keep abreast with issues that directly affect their needs. The study also found that numerous demographic and socio-graphic factors such as income bracket, language preference and field of study played a significant role in their news consumption patterns. The study recommends further studies into the differences in news consumption patterns between male and female students as well as longitudinal studies that would include other institutions of higher learning. Furthermore, it also suggests that differences be explored at the level of demographic factors located in the Global South, particularly from a Southern African perspective. The study made a noble contribution which was to highlight

the much-neglected African media audience in terms of how they consume which is different from the counterparts in the Global North, and the discourse of the 'de- Colonisation' of the broader Media Studies discipline.