ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a new and alternative model for the measurement of media diversity and plurality appropriate to conditions existent in much of the Global South. It focuses on describing the model itself and explaining its use, in the hopes that this model can be adopted elsewhere. The chapter explains why Northern developed metrics and tools for the measurement of media diversity are not appropriate for use in South Africa or much of the Global South, thus necessitating the development of this new model. It presents the new model, by introducing the methodological position of an audience-centred approach to media diversity studies, and, thereafter, explaining the workings of the model according to this approach. A review of the regulatory and legal framework within the context of content diversity has revealed that while the broadcasting sector in South Africa is regulated through policy in terms of content requirements, the print sector is not.
