Abstract
M.A. (Communication Learning)
This investigation examines the audience experience with television
news in South Africa and presents a process model of
uses and gratifications based upon an expectancy-value approach.
According to this approach expectations about finding certain
television news-items and evaluations of these news-items are
important antecedents of motives to seek associated gratifications.
The prime objective of the study was accomplished when three
reliable scales for the measurement of values attached to
television news-items ; expectations about finding such news items
in television news; and gratification of these expectations,
were developed.
The Pearson product-moment correlation method which was used to
explore the relationships between the three scales, indicated a
significant correlation between all the scales, although the
correlation between values and expectations was much stronger
than the correlation between values and gratifications. While
the correlation between expectations and gratifications was
still significant, it was also much lower than the correlation
between values and expectations. This latter finding of a not
nearly perfect correlation between expectations and gratifications
provides evidence against the teleological criticism that since
a gratification is expected and sought, it must necessarily be
obtained. Instead, it is found that television news programmes
in South Africa, while effective, are imperfect providers of
news-related gratifications sought (expectations) by audience
members.
Finally, to cast additional light on the relative lower
correlation between expectations and gratifications, the degree
of dependence on television news as primary news source was
taken into account.