Paradigm Shift in the Work of Arnold de Beer and Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Studies (1980–2020)

This article examines the early work of Arnold S. de Beer, a founding scholar of journalism studies in South Africa. Drawing on culturalism and autoethnography, a revisionist analysis examines the maturing perspectives of the author over 45 years of interaction with de Beer. The conceptual opposites negotiated include communication science versus media studies, positivism versus cultural studies, and objectivity versus subjectivity. The narrative focuses on how de Beer with Ecquid Novi (EN), and through his publications, shaped journalistic debates in South Africa from 1980 onwards. The junction where the paths of the two scholars converged is framed within a medieval jousting metaphor. This article continues and reassesses an overview written in similar vein in 2004 by the present author on the occasion of EN’s then 25th anniversary.