Decoding government publications : a reception study of the Metro Ezasegagasini

Abstract

The government is responsible for transparently communicating with the public about its work. To fulfil this mandate, the eThekwini Municipality distributes the bi-weekly Metro Ezasegagasini publication as a communication tool, with almost similar content to community newspapers. Community newspapers have survived the decline in newspapers as their news coverage is of interest and focused on the communities they cover. This study explored how readers of the Metro Ezasegagasini decode the content and the influence this may have on how they perceive the municipality. The Theory of Reception was used as the analytic lens in the study because the theory focuses on the way an audience decodes text. A qualitative research approach was adopted because this study aimed to gain insight from the readers’ experiences with the metro publication. Data was collected from three focus groups in rural, township, and urban settings. A thematic research approach was used to analyse the data by identifying, analysing, and then reporting on themes. The study found that the Metro Ezasegagasini was fulfilling its role of educating and informing the public about developments in the city. It also emerged that the different backgrounds of participants impact how readers interact with the text and whether they view it as a credible source of information. Participants from the township and rural areas adopted a more favourable position to the publication, while participants from the urban community were more critical of the content. The study also found that participants enjoyed reading the publication because of its strong community focus. Another issue that emerged during the study was the accessibility and distribution of the publication, with many readers highlighting the lack of easy access to the publication.