The aim of this study is to examine what effect an extensive affirmative action programme has had on a group of black women in the South African media, and how they perceive how existing power structures affect their everyday experiences within their respective media companies. The empirical base is an interview study with eight black women who hold or held top editorial positions in South Africa. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, the results suggest that there is an escape from journalism as other forms of symbolic capital have not managed to outweigh the negative capital of being a black woman in South African journalism.
Battling the ‘invisible nets’ studies journalism as a gendered practice in sub-Saharan Africa. This thesis analyses the gender logic in the field of journalism by examining how structures of gender, class and race interact to create barriers and opportunities for black women journalists and media managers. The empirical focus is on South Africa but also includes Zambia, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda. The theoretical framework is inspired by French socio- logist Pierre Bourdieu and the appropriation of his theories by Toril Moi. Inspired by an ethnographic approach, five empirical studies examine the lived experiences of black women journalists. The thesis also examines how gender logic operates in the field of journalism in South Africa on a detailed level by analysing reporting and editorial discussions concerning a specific gender-sensitive topic during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The results of the thesis show the South African context is unique in the way it shapes opportunities and obstacles for women in the field of journalism, and how black women journalists act in order to navigate the ‘invisible nets’ and succeed in the field.