Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 11 Number 3 pp 156–167 (2011)

Published online 22 June 2011 in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.404

■ Special Issue Paper

You cannot run or hide from social

media—ask a politician
Nic S. Terblanche*
Department of Business Management, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland, South Africa

Politicians try to distinguish themselves from others and, as a rule, devote a great deal of their time on ‘brand’‐
building exercises. Some would go out of their way to attract attention and, for that reason, foster a relationship with
the media. The Web 2.0 has enabled social media that not only changed the ways in which politicians’ interact with
the masses but also brought speed and scale to exposure in the public domain unparalleled before. This paper attends
to three cartoons illustrating activities of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. The cartoons are analysed for the
presence of satire, and this analysis is then followed by a deliberation of the extended life gained by the three cartoons
when they were transferred to social media such as Google, Google Trends, YouTube, Twitter and blogs. Social media
now share the control over a message that are sent out and grant a satirical cartoon an unforeseen longer life. The
extended life comes about because communities and individuals can now share, co‐create, discuss and modify user‐
generated content in social media. Where political cartoons in printed media, as a rule, end up as waste, online
political cartoons have the potential to live forever and ever—‘ad infinitum’. The implication of the extended life of a
political cartoon is that the image of a politician can be tarnished daily for 24 h online. Social media has become a
powerful mechanism for the electorate to voice their concerns, and politicians such as President Zuma have little
opportunities for recourse. The recent upheavals in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other countries are evidence of the role
that the social media can play in fostering political support. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION for decent government and the accomplishment of

A politician needs to represent something that sets
her or him apart from the other candidates.
Politicians have become similar to products or
services that are branded to portray a perception
that is favoured or wanted by the public. In this
brand‐building exercise, politicians need publicity
to keep them in the face of the voting public, and
some go out of their way to foster relationships
with the media. However, most of the time, they do
not have control over what is said or portrayed
about them in the media. Cartoons caricaturing
politicians have been around for a long time.
Evidence suggests that the political cartoon has
been with humans since at least 1360 BC (Danjoux,
2007). The particular cartoon referred to by
Danjoux was a caricature of the Egyptian leader
Turankhamen’s unpopular father‐in‐law. During the
Gilded Age (1845–1916), graphic humour and polit-
ical satire played an important role as a campaigner
*Correspondence to: Nic S. Terblanche, Department of Business
Management, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1,
Matieland, 7602 South Africa.
E‐mail: nst@sun.ac.za
American constitutional ideals (Thomas, 2004). More
recently, the arrival and growth of social media has
not only introduced a new dimension to politicians’
interactions with the masses but also brought speed
and extent to exposure in the public domain
unheard before. Politicians, individually and collect-
ively, continually provide input for creative spoofs.
Political satire fulfilled diversity of roles over time
(Heller and Anderson, 1992). Apart from mocking
politicians and aspiring politicians for centuries, it
has also changed public opinion, swayed inter-
national diplomacy, and provoked people to act.
Political cartoons represent a highly visible form of
satire used to entertain and provide alternative
views of reality. In this paper, atypical behaviours
of President Jacob Zuma, originally caricatured in
three printed media cartoons, are used to illustrate
the new lease of life that these cartoons gained in
social media.
The rest of this paper starts off with the objectives
of the paper. The objectives of the paper are
followed by a discussion of the transfer between/
complementarities of media and the growing
participation of individuals and communities in
social media. The methodologies applied in the

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


analyses and the cartoons studied are then attended
to. The presence of satire cartoons selected is then
discussed. The latter is followed by the extent of
Zuma’s exposure on social networks, specifically
with regard to the cartoons studied. The paper ends
with some conclusions, implications, and possible
future research directions.
The primary objective of this paper is to explain
how satirical cartoons of a politician that appeared
first in the printed media find their way to social
media. A further objective is to illustrate how social
media offer a new lease of life to such cartoons and
expand the size of the audience exposed to the
cartoons. The latter can be ascribed to the ability of
social media to enable communities and individuals
to create, share, modify, and discuss content and as
such become consumers as well as producers. Social
media has grown in stature, and politicians need to
be wary of the potential impact this media can have
and do with their behaviour and statements.
PRINTED SATIRICAL CARTOONS, SOCIAL
MEDIA AND INCREASED
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
Samuel Johnson, the great English lexicographer,
defined satire as ‘a piece of work in which wickedness
or folly is censured’ (Ethereal Chronicles, 2007). Satire,
defined in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary
(2002) as ‘the use of humour, irony, exaggeration, or
ridicule to expose and criticise people’s stupidity or
vices’ have been used to overcome or sidestep hurdles
that legally prevented criticism of political leaders or
governments. For instance, during the 18th century,
libel laws were used as means to prevent direct
criticism of the government, and this situation
encouraged satire (Kropf, 1977). The perception of
satire seems to be created by three independent
factors, namely an intention to change the perceiver’s
observation of a particular state of affairs, the form of
the satire possesses something similar with another
artefact and the perceiver must find the satire
humorous (Kuiper, 1984). The functionality of satire
has been justified by McDermott (1983) who argue
that as long as satire ‘encourage us to oppose evil and
uphold the good, we can thoroughly enjoy the
twisted logic’. Bal et al. (2009) describe caricature as
a ‘picture or description ludicrously exaggerating
peculiarities or defects in persons or things’.
Caricature as such is a subset of satire and can be
regarded as the visualization of satire—‘satire in
pictures, or a mix of words and pictures’ (Streicher,
1967). The combination of caricature and satire can be
deemed as graffiti, and a cartoon could therefore be
seen as sophisticated graffiti. As indicated earlier,
political cartoons have been around since 1360 BC and
have fulfilled diverse roles, ranging from mocking
politicians to changing public opinion (Heller and
Anderson, 1992; Danjoux, 2007). It has also been
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
You cannot run or hide from social media 157
observed that political cartoons are ‘windows on a
nation’s psyche’ (Hammett, 2010). The
ability of cartoons to undermine the legitimacy of
rulers, leaving an indelible stain on their public
image ……. remains one of their most potent and
feared attributes. Leaders are acutely aware that
what most people see is ……. their newspaper
caricatures (Duus, 2001).
Buell and Maus (1988) point out that ‘as long as
editorial cartoonists have caricatured politicians,
politicians have feared for their public image’.
Political cartoons are a barometer of a nation’s
consciousness at a particular time and could therefore
not be treated merely as comedy for entertainment
(Dodds, 2007; Hammett, 2010). Political cartoons are
not a recent phenomenon in South Africa. According
to Mason (2009) and Vernon (2000), satirical drawings
and caricatures have been published since the
mid‐19th century in South Africa.
Irrespective of whether satire in social media is an
article, a video, or a photograph, online satire is a
growing genre of new media (Culver, 2007). This
situation has developed because many people, in
particular younger audiences, use the Internet as
their primary source for political news and events to
inform as well as entertain (Pavlik, 1999; Watley,
2004). Once satire is put online, it develops into more
than entertainment; it also has the ‘power to educate,
inform, and influence readers’ (Culver, 2007). Online
satire has progressively more become an important
source for audiences that require a variety of view-
points and information. Receivers of an online
material have a range of options available to them
to deal with the content. They can consume it
individually, add to it and pass it on or co‐create a
very different message before spreading it online
again. A range of tools such as Inkscape and Kuler
are available to edit and transfer content to other
social media (Frick, 2010). At present, mobile and
Web‐based technologies enable social media to
generate highly interactive platforms. Such plat-
forms permit individuals and communities to share,
co‐create, discuss and modify user‐generated con-
tent (Kietzmann et al., 2011). Humour based on
politically relevant subject matter appeals to large
audiences. The aforementioned mobile and Web‐
based technologies could therefore enable online
satire to grow in influence.
In 2004, Dutta‐Bergman (2004) proposed the
complementarity framework that states that people
who consume specific information (such as political
news or comments) through one medium are likely
to consume topical information in other media as
well. The theoretical premise of complementarity is
that users access various media formats because of
their interest in information about particular areas.
In terms of the complementarity framework, newer
media such as social media and established media
such as printed cartoons rather complement than
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DOI: 10.1002/pa
158 N. S. Terblanche
compete with one another. Essentially, this means
that particular ‘information user segments’ will
search various media for news on the same topic.
Another interesting angle to the consumption of
particular information by segments is the statement
by Danjoux that cartoonists are using the Internet
more and more to bypass the editors that do not agree
with their views and publish cartoons refused by their
papers on the Internet (2007). Kushin and Yamamoto
(2009) found that the complementarity framework
explained young adults’ gathering of political cam-
paign information. Kushin and Yamamoto (2009) also
ascertained that the theoretical reasoning underlying
complementarity extends further than the relation-
ship between traditional and Internet media and
incorporates the relationship among the Internet and
social media as well as the relationships ‘among
multiple forms of new media’. It can thus be expected
that cartoons published in print media have the
possibility to find extended lifetimes in various social
media formats.
Satirical cartoons in printed media usually end up
as waste. The opposite is possible to happen to online
political satire because it has the infrastructure to
continue to live forever and ever—‘ad infinitum’. A
politician can thus be, theoretically speaking,
tarnished daily for 24 h online. Social media have
grown into an influential apparatus for the electorate
to take revenge on politicians. Then again, social
media can be valuable to politicians as aptly
illustrated during the Obama presidential campaign.
Social media let ‘its users to be producers as well as
consumers’ (Flew, 2002). As a result, audiences can
actively take part in the process to construct
meaning. Social media is characterised by its wealth
of information, diverse sources and absence of
government controls. These characteristics promote
the interactive capabilities and make it possible for
consumers to be producers as well. The potential of
dual consumer/producer online roles have given
rise to competition for the maximum attention in
social media. Content generators are now targeting
those individuals who are perceived as influential
because of their large number of followers (Romero
et al., 2010). The two‐step flow of communication
theory developed by Katz (1957) and Katz and
Lazarsfeld (1955) is also useful to explain the
dissemination of information in the social media.
The theory proposes that a few opinion leaders
function ‘as intermediaries between the mass media
and the majority of society’ (Elsner et al., 2010).
Because consumers can now also be producers who
can co‐create, discuss and modify content, it is
possible that certain members of the social media
audience will become the intermediaries who
disseminate information in the social media. The
traditional ‘opinion leader’ is usually linked to the
particular sphere in which an opinion leader is
influential. These roles in communication exchange
are not yet clear in social media, and it could be
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
expected that those influenced will be close to the
leader because of their level of interest and access to
information sources. Furthermore, the opinion
leader and opinion follower may exchange roles
depending on the issue. The numerous opportunities
created by the vast number of relationships expected
to stem from the interaction between traditional
media, Internet media and the multiple forms of
new media will undoubtedly lead to an immea-
surable dissemination of information in all the
aforementioned media.
METHODOLOGY
Two methodologies are applied in this paper. The first
methodology of analysis followed is to establish
whether the selected cartoons meet the three necessary
characteristics to be a plausibly cartooned, namely
sympathy, gap and differentiation (Bal et al., 2009).
This methodology is similar to that followed by Bal
et al. in 2009, where three essential features for a person
to be believably cartooned were identified and applied
to a particular cartoon. A cartoon is analysed to
determine whether all three features are present. The
features of sympathy, gap and differentiation are
discussed in turn. Sympathy refers to an audience
relating to the object of the satire. The gap element is
the gap that exists between image and reality in order
to satire about. The differentiation element is a unique
attribute that the object of the satire possesses and
that distinguishes the objects from other objects.
The second methodology applied attends to how
social media such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and
others spawn commentaries and distributes the Zuma
cartoons and the commentaries flowing from the satire
displayed by the Zuma cartoons. In the discussion of
the social media effect, the three cartoons as well as
other Zuma behaviour reported in social media are
discussed. It is important to note that the application of
the second methodology is not limited to the three
cartoons analysed in the first methodology. Content
from other various social media sites such as YouTube,
blogs, and the like are commented on.
THE CARTOONS STUDIED
Three cartoons that are deemed as particularly
relevant to illustrate Zuma’s behaviour were selected
for this study. These cartoons were selected for their
message content and the reactions of many indivi-
duals and groups to the particular cartoons. The
selected three cartoons start with the now well‐known
shower that Zuma had after intercourse with a lady
who was HIV positive. The second cartoon is about
Zuma’s rape of the justice system. In the third cartoon,
Zuma is portrayed as Bart Simpson surfing the
Internet for pornographic material whilst one of his
offspring attacks the press. These cartoons all contain
J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/pa

elements of poor judgement in respect of sexual
activities and lack of attention to official matters.
In 2006, Zuma testified in a rape trial that he took a
shower to prevent him from getting AIDS after he
had sex with an HIV‐positive lady friend of the
family. The rape trial attended to whether Zuma
raped the particular lady. The court dismissed the
charges brought against Zuma and concluded that
the sexual act was consensual. Zuma’s statement
about the shower was condemned by the presiding
judge, health experts, AIDS activists and the public
in general (Evans and Wolmarans, 2011). The
cartoonist Zapiro reacted to Zuma’s statement by
depicting him taking a shower and holding a
message board stating ‘I took a shower to minimize
the Aids risk’. This cartoon was published in the Mail
& Guardian on 11 May 2006. Zuma later on also
stated that he believed that the possibility of getting
HIV from a woman was small for a healthy man.
Henceforth, Zuma is depicted with a showerhead
attached to his head in all of Zapiro’s Zuma cartoons.
The international and social media responded
vigorously after Zuma’s shower statement. At the
time when Zuma made the shower statement, he
served as the chairman of the South African National
Aids Council and was patron of South Africa’s Moral
Regeneration Movement—these roles of him prob-
ably triggered many of these responses. Three years
after the cartoon was published for the first time,
a new piece of satire mocking Zuma’s shower
head appeared on the Internet. On 9 March 2009,
i‐Namibia.com (2009) announced that China has
transplanted a bionic showerhead on Zuma. In the
satirical message, it was stated that the transplant is a
token of gratitude to the South African government’s
decision to refuse the Dalai Lama a visa and the
support of China’s policy to oppose the independ-
ence of Tibet. This ridicule on the Internet illustrates
how a particular statement by a politician not only
gets an unpredictable lifespan but also the ability to
be linked with a seemingly unrelated incident
because of satire.
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
You cannot run or hide from social media 159
The second cartoon appeared in The Sunday Times
on 8 September 2008. This cartoon originated from
Zuma and his followers’ efforts to try and manipu-
late the courts to exonerate Zuma. In the cartoon,
Zuma is (with the shower head in place) shown to
be unbuttoning his trousers in preparation to rape
Lady Justice. A blindfolded Lady Justice is held
down by four men to assist Zuma in his rape
attempt. The four men are all passionate supporters
of Zuma. The men in the cartoon are, from left to
right, the leader of the African National Congress
(ANC) Youth League (Julius Malema), the Secretary
General of the ANC (Gwede Mantashe), the
General Secretary of South African Communist
Party (Blade Nzimande) and the General Secretary
of the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(Zwelinzima Vavi). The South African Communist
Party and Congress of South African Trade Unions
form, with the ANC, the tri‐party Government of
National Unity that governs South Africa. The four
men ‘in frog‐like crouching positions’ have both
their arms priming down the arms of Lady Justice
to prevent her from frustrating Zuma’s intended
misconduct (Bal et al., 2009: 234). The most senior
member of the four men holding Lady Justice
down, namely the leader of the ANC is urging
Zuma to ‘Go for it, boss!’ Lady Justice presses her
legs together and turns her head away in her
struggle to get away.
The central theme of the cartoon is the intimida-
tion of the justice system (Mail & Guardian, 2008).
The other people in the cartoon have promised to go
a long way for Zuma. Malema threatened to kill for
Zuma if corruption charges against Zuma were
going ahead. Vavi supported Malema’s promise, and
Mantashe assured that there would be anarchy if
Zuma’s case went ahead, and he also called the
judges of the Constitutional Court of acting as
‘counter revolutionary’. The ANC sued Zapiro in
September 2009 for 7 million rand (US$1m), alleging
that the cartoon portrayed Zuma as a rapist—a crime
that Zuma was acquitted from in 2006 (Swart, 2008).
Other perspectives of the cartoon is that Zuma is
J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
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160 N. S. Terblanche
standing upright above Lady Justice and the other
four men, signifying that he is above the law;
furthermore, the shower head signifies a halo that
makes Zuma a celestial being and separates him
from lay people (Bal et al., 2009: 234).
In the third cartoon, published in the Mail &
Guardian on 11 March 2010, President Jacob Zuma is
portrayed as ‘Bart’ Simpson. Bart Simpson is a family
member of the animated television series family, The
Simpsons. Bart is the eldest son, and at 10 years of age,
his most well‐known character traits are mischie-
vousness, rebellion and disrespect for any authority—
something Zuma has been accused of on various
occasions. Bart’s name is indeed an anagram of the
word ‘brat’ (Groening, 1993).
Zuma as Bart in Zapiro’s cartoon is looking at
pornographic websites while his staff members are
calling out for his attention on various matters:
budget scandals, budget spending for presidential
wives, cronyism, Zuma’s children and Zuma’s
leadership. Zuma’s attention is on his computer
(viewing pornographic material or a site known to
attract those with some or other unusual appetite)
with several of his offspring crawling around his
desk. The ‘in’ tray on his desk is overflowing, whereas
his ‘out’ tray remains empty. On the left‐hand side of
the cartoon, the ANC Youth League leader, Julius
Malema, kicks at Zuma’s staff members in a typical
Table 1 Summary of the satire characteristics analysis
Cartoon 1
Shower Rape
Sympathy Public pity for Zuma’s inability to do things
Zuma’s intelligence on his own
Gap Shower cures AIDS Above the law—court forced
versus medical reality to acquit Zuma
Differentiation Belief that shower Above the law
cures AIDS
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bart Simpson gesture. This suggests that Zuma as
Bart pays no attention to authorities but simply
continues to focus on his own pleasures resulting in
only more illegitimate offspring.
PRESENCE OF SATIRE IN THE
CARTOONS SELECTED
The first methodology of analysis followed was to
establish whether satire is present in the cartoons
selected. This process is similar to that followed by Bal
et al. and which is discussed in the methodology
paragraph (2009). In this paper, three cartoons dealing
with particular Zuma behaviours are analysed with
reference to the three necessary characteristics for a
person or a thing to be a plausibly cartooned, namely
sympathy, gap and differentiation. Sympathy refers
to an audience relating to the object of the satire. The
audience might not understand the point of the joke if
they are unable to identify with the object of it. The
audience should have an affect towards the object, be
that affection love, hate or mistrust (Bal et al., 2009).
The gap element is the gap that exists between image
and reality in order to satire about. The gap may be a
truth known by the audience or could exist in the
imagination of the satirist as a type of alternative
reality. The third element, differentiation, is a unique
attribute that the object of the satire possesses and that
distinguishes the objects from other objects. The
attribute may be physical or ideological. A physical
attribute could be any material characteristic about
the object’s physique, whereas an ideological attri-
bute would be intangible characteristics such as
values, beliefs, intelligence and the like. Zuma’s
showerhead is an example of an ideological attribute
that differentiates him from his peers and is used by
Zapiro to illustrate his belief that taking a shower can
cure AIDS as Zuma testified in court.
Table 1 provides an analysis of how the three
elements create satire in the three cartoons.
An analysis of the selected cartoons illustrates the
existence of the three satire elements. One can now
turn to the extent of publicity that these cartoons
and other Zuma behaviour received in selected
social media.
Cartoon 2 Cartoon 3
Bart
Zuma’s inability to distinguish
between things that really matter
Not focusing on ruling the
country but on own selfish desires
Unintelligent, selfish and shallow
J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/pa

THE EXTENT OF ZUMA’S EXPOSURE ON
SOCIAL NETWORKS WITH EMPHASIS ON
THE CARTOONS SELECTED
This section attends to public reactions to Zuma’s
actions over time that are online and in social
media. Public blog posts, YouTube video posts and
comments to these posts by visitors contribute to
the dissemination of political satires and cartoons
about Zuma online. An exploratory study was
conducted to gauge the extent and prevalence of
public creation, commentary and dissemination of
Zuma parodies online through social media. Google
Trends, YouTube and blogs were searched for online
activity by the publicity produced by Zuma’s
statements, beliefs and actions.
Google Trends
The first objective was to investigate whether
Zuma’s actions or even possibly Zapiro cartoon
satires about Zuma elicited searches online by the
public. Google is the most used search engine
globally and has an 85% share of the search engine
market (Search engine market share, 2010). Google
Trends is a website that computes the search volume
index for specific terms searched on the Google
search engine by calculating how many searches for
that specific term were undertaken on Google in
relation to the total number of searches done over
time. To estimate these trends, Google Trends
analyses a portion of Google Web searches (Google
Trends, 2010). The trend of searches over time for a
particular term is displayed as a graph with peaks
where searches rose during a specific time.
To establish whether Zuma’s actions elicited
online searches by the public on Google, we searched
the keyword ‘Jacob Zuma’ in Google Trends. Results
(Figure 1) showed that the term ‘Jacob Zuma’ was
searched by the public with increases in search
volume at particular newsworthy events in time, for
Figure 1 Zuma on Google Trends. A: Affable Zuma has wide appeal among South Africans Seattle Times—20 Sep 2008. B: Zuma can
face corruption trial: court Sydney Morning Herald—12 Jan 2009. C: South African prosecutors drop charges against Zuma
Los Angeles Times—6 Apr 2009. D: South Africa won’t fail under Zuma: Manuel Vancouver Sun—22 Apr 2009. E: Zuma sworn in as
South Africa’s president msnbc.com—9 May 2009. F: Zuma opens 2010 World Cup News24—11 Jun 2010
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
You cannot run or hide from social media 161
example, Zuma sworn in as president of South
Africa in 2009 and the opening of the International
Federation of Association Football Soccer World Cup
2010. A spike in search volume index in early 2006
indicates public interest in Zuma at the time
surrounding his rape trial.
In order to establish whether cartoons about
Zuma were searched by the public online, the
keyword ‘Zuma cartoon’ was entered in Google
Trends. Figure 2 shows the trend for ‘Zuma cartoon’
as searched on the Google search engine worldwide
between 2004 and 2010 (Google Trends, 2010).
Google Trends shows three peaks in online
searches for ‘Zuma cartoon’. Peak A is caused by
a controversy surrounding Cartoon 2: the rape of
the justice system. The peak is labelled with an
article headline appearing in the Mail & Guardian on
9 September 2008, Zuma cartoon: Worth a thousand
words? (Mail & Guardian Online, 2008). Google
Trends labels a peak in search volume with the
headline from a Google News article at the time of
the peak (Google Trends, 2010). The publishing
paper of the offending cartoon, The Sunday Times,
was attacked at the time for allowing the cartoon to
be published (Google Trends, 2010).
In December 2008, the decision of the ANC to sue
Zapiro for ZAR 7 million (US$1m) for publishing
the cartoon was again fully covered by South
African media and a slight peak may be detected
on the search volume index. The ANC alleged that
Zuma is portrayed as a rapist by Zapiro in ref-
erence to his 2006 rape trial (Swart, 2008). A third
peak, Peak B is seen around April 2009 as news
about the ANC prosecuting reached the interna-
tional media. Besides news of the prosecution, the
period April/May 2009 is significant as the peak
also refers to the election in which Jacob Zuma was
elected as president of South Africa (Flak and
Chaudhry, 2009).
The amount of interest generate by Zuma’s
activities, is also illustrated by the number of results
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162 N. S. Terblanche

provided by Google when the name Zuma is
combined with particular words. Table 2 contains
the number of results when particular words are
combined with Zuma for a search on Google.
Although one would concur that not all these
results are directly related to Zuma’s escapades
discussed earlier, the sheer volume linked to his
name illustrates the interest in the man and
how far and wide people know about his extra‐
parliamentary activities.
Blogs
Blogs are online journals hosted by an individual or
groups containing entries or ‘posts’ that include
written thoughts, links, pictures and/or videos (Li
and Bernoff, 2008). Social media like blogs and
YouTube enable interactivity between the creator
and the viewer by allowing viewers to comment on
content that have been posted. Apart from comment-
ing, one can also cite and link his or her blog to other
blogs and may even embed YouTube videos. The
links between different blog posts in the blogosphere
as they are linked by blog authors cause posts to rise
in the Google search rankings (Li and Bernoff, 2008).
To estimate the impact of Zuma’s actions on the
blogosphere, we conducted a blog search in the
Google search engine using the keyword ‘Jacob
Zuma’. The search returned 168 966 hits for ‘Jacob
Zuma’ in 0.14 s. The majority of the hits pertained to
newspaper blogs containing official newspaper arti-
cles also to be found in the print version of the various
newspapers. These newspaper articles were ignored
because the objective of the study was not to
investigate what the press thinks about Zuma’s antics
but to determine the scope of the public’s view of
Zuma’s actions. Thus, the first 10 personal (individual
or group based) blogs found on the Google hit list
were entered into Table 3 and analysed.
To gauge the extent of dissemination of these blog
entries, we reported the number of times the blogs’
link was tweeted, the number of comments left by
visitors and the number of people who indicated
that they ‘like’ the blog entry. To estimate the
influence sphere of the blog in which the entry was
posted, we take into account the number of people
following the blog on Twitter and the number of
people subscribing to the blog’s Real Simple
Syndication (RSS) feeds. Where applicable, the
aforementioned information was entered in Table 3.
The first and second hits for the keyword ‘Jacob
Zuma’ on the Google ranked hit list (including
newspaper articles) were for two respective blogs
posts, ‘Jacob Zuma’s reshuffled cabinet’ and ‘The
Jacob Zuma Controversy’, as seen in Table 3.
The number one ranked blog post, ‘Jacob Zuma’s
reshuffled cabinet’, on the hit list corresponds with
President Jacob Zuma’s announcement in the media

Figure 2 Search volume for ‘Zuma cartoon’ Source: Google Trends, 2010

Table 2 Google results produced for Zuma surname combined with specific words related to his activities. Accessed on
5 November 2010 at 2100 h

Combined words Results Combined words Results

Jacob Zuma AIDS 580 000 Zuma AIDS 1 520 000

Jacob Zuma children 546 000 Zuma children 2 470 000
Jacob Zuma HIV 536 000 Zuma HIV 2 250 000
Jacob Zuma rape 172 000 Zuma rape 673 000
Jacob Zuma shower 38 400 Zuma shower 438 000
Jacob Zuma shower AIDS 17 300 Zuma shower AIDS 73 600
Jacob Zuma shower head 56 700 Zuma shower head 56 700

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/pa
 Table 3 Blog search for ‘Jacob Zuma’

Blog entry URL Comments Tweets Twitter RSS feed Facebook ‘like’
followers subscribers
of blog

Jacob Zuma’s reshuffled http://jeremynell.com/jacob‐zumas‐reshuffled‐cabinet/ 44 990 followers of Cartoon about Zuma’s new
cabinet (1st ranked) the blog’s author cabinet

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Jacob Zuma Controversy
(2nd ranked)
Gareth Cliff’s letter to Jacob
Zuma (9th ranked)
Rape, polygamy, lovechildren:
Jacob Zuma is bad for women
Nando’s take swing at Jacob
Zuma in new ad
Jacob Zuma’s HIV status
Malema and Zuma back
together again
It is not so easy to be Jacob
Zuma
S. Africa PM Jacob Zuma now
faces another family scandal
photo
Open letter to President Jacob
Zuma
http://polygamy411.com/2010/02/10/the‐jacob‐zuma‐ 14
controversy/
http://www.smous.co.za/blog/2010/10/24/gareth‐cliff‐ 5 120 like blog on Facebook67
se‐brief‐aan‐jacob‐zuma/ people like blog post
http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2010/02/17/rape‐ 2 7 3044 follow
polygamy‐a‐lovechild‐jacob‐zuma‐is‐bad‐for‐women/ blog on twitter
http://lifeissavage.com/nandos‐takes‐a‐swing‐at‐jacob‐ 0 191 followers
zuma‐in‐new‐ad‐video/
http://www.wonkie.com/2010/04/30/zuma‐aids‐policy/ 69 57 followers 11 350 feed 4103 people like this (the
readers blog)
http://www.therightperspective.org/2010/10/31/malema‐ 4 1 tweet
and‐zuma‐back‐together‐again/
http://boerboel1.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/it‐is‐not‐so‐ 11
easy‐to‐be‐jacob‐zuma/
http://www.gossone.com/worlds/s‐africa‐pm‐jacob‐ 0 235 feed 0
zuma‐now‐faces‐another‐family‐scandal‐photo readers
http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/readerblog/2010/11/01/ 21 8
open‐letter‐to‐president‐jacob‐zuma/
You cannot run or hide from social media

J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)

163

DOI: 10.1002/pa
164 N. S. Terblanche
regarding changes to his cabinet at the time this
study was undertaken. The second ranked hit, ‘The
Jacob Zuma Controversy’, however, refers to the
controversy surrounding Zuma’s several wives and
was published in a blog devoted to discussions on
polygamy—a topic not given attention to in tra-
ditional media at the time of the study.
When looking at the 10 blogs posts, it was clear that
the topics concerning Zuma that were of interest to
blog authors seemed interested in, is centred around
the following themes: Zuma’s several wives, his HIV
status, corruption, Zuma and Malema’s relationship,
and lack of leadership, illegitimate children. This
suggests that actions taken by politicians in real life
are not forgotten by the public and although coverage
in traditional media may be fleeting, e.g. a news
programme on television, reactions online is perpet-
ual. The themes emerging from analysis of these ten
blogs i.e. the issues concerning Zuma that the
bloggers chose to blog about, seems pretty much
identical to those highlighted by the three Zapiro
cartoons investigated in the first half of this article.
Blog posts are disseminated through various
methods. Through the microblogging website Twitter,
a blog author may announce that a new blog post has
been created for his or her blog (Poynter, 2010). Many
blogs allow visitors who are Twitter users to ‘retweet’
the blog’s link to the visitor’s followers on Twitter by
clicking on a retweet button. The same is true for
Facebook users. Many blog authors have a related
Facebook page, and visitors to the blog can indicate
that they ‘like’ the blog post or that they ‘like’ the
blog’s page on Facebook, indicating their support to
the blog. Some blogs allow their readers to subscribe
to their blog and then receive updates when a new
blog post has been posted. Similarly, a blog reader can
subscribe to a blog’s RSS feeds. Rather than the reader
visiting the blog to read updates, new information are
packaged and sent to the reader’s RSS feeder (Stokes,
2008). The blog post ‘Jacob Zuma’s HIV status’
received the most comments from visitors: 69. This
number might seem small but the blog has 11 350 RSS
feed readers, and 4103 people indicated that they ‘like’
blog on Facebook.
For example, the blog post ‘Gareth Cliff’s letter to
Jacob Zuma’ only received five comments, but 67
visitors indicated that they ‘like’ the blog post. The
blog post ‘Rape, Polygamy, Lovechildren’ received
two comments, but seven people tweeted the blog
post’s link to others, and the blog has over 3000
followers via Twitter.
YouTube
YouTube makes it possible for consumers to create
home videos about any topic or object of interest to
them. The videos may range from poor, low quality
amateur videos to highly advanced videos produced
by professionals. Television advertisements can be
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
posted, and spoofs of specific advertisements are a
frequent sight on the website. Not only does
YouTube allow for video content to be created, but
viewers are also able to rate, comment, share a video
via email or make another video in response to the
video post viewed.
A YouTube search was conducted for the terms
‘Jacob Zuma’ to find out whether any video satire
posts about Zuma exists. Spoof videos found on
websites such as YouTube allow the general public to
play an integral part in the image management of a
politician, and videos and comments may shape
how the public views a particular politician (Bal et al.,
2010). The search hit list for ‘Jacob Zuma’ on
YouTube was sorted by the number of times viewed
by visitors. News videos about Zuma were ignored
because this study aims to investigate the extent to
which particular behaviours of Zuma led to public
commentary on online and social media. All the
videos posted by the public that were viewed by
visitors more than 10 000 times were included
in Table 4 with the exception of ‘JZ as “Zhrek”
the conqueror’.
When comparing the number of comments to the
number of times a video was viewed, it becomes
clear that the number of comments does not
necessarily correlate with the views of the video.
The video ‘Jacob Zuma: “No whites allowed” ’
received almost triple the comments (1473) than
the video that received the highest amount of views
by visitors‚‘Jacob Zuma sings Umshini Wam’ (519
comments). The video ‘Jacob Zuma sings Umshini
Wam’ is a video clip from an ANC rally where Jacob
Zuma is filmed singing the controversial song
‘Umshini Wam’, which means ‘My Machine Gun’
(YouTube, 2010). The video ‘Jacob Zuma: “No whites
allowed” ’ is a home video by a white South African
student explaining that Jacob Zuma is a racist on
grounds of an incident that he claims to have
happened. White journalists were allegedly chased
out of a meeting where Zuma gave a speech as the
student explains in the video. The ‘No whites
allowed’ video thus generated far greater reaction
from viewers than the ‘Umshini Wam’ video.
Quality seems not to play the biggest role in
visitors’ decision to view or comment about a video.
The ‘Nando’s’ video is a satirical television advertise-
ment posted on YouTube and thus of an above
average production quality and was viewed 13 781
times by November 2010. On the other hand, the
home video, ‘No whites allowed’, generated 37 581
views, and 422 visitors indicated that they like the
video, which could suggest that visitors were more
interested in content than quality.
Only the last six videos in Table 4 can be regarded
as satirical videos: ‘Jacob Zuma Song’, ‘Whackhead
takes on Zuma’, ‘Zuma Ringtone—Proudly South
African’, ‘Broke Black Mountain—Zuma and
Shaik’, ‘Nando’s advert, Jacob Zuma’ and ‘JZ as
“Zhrek” the conqueror’.
J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/pa
 You cannot run or hide from social media 165

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

on 3 Nov 2010
Times viewed
FOR POLITICIANS

1268
78 267
66 884
55 565

45 691
37 581
29 807
28 386
24 410
16 719
13 781
The paper attended to the transfer of satirical
cartoons in the print media that found their way to
social media. It was also illustrated how social media
Like Dislike Comments

extended the life of such cartoons and how it

1473

0
0
519
616
634

178

51
45
17
80
expanded the size of the audience exposed to the
cartoons. The growing audience sizes result from the
ability of social media to empower communities and
individuals to create, share, modify and discuss
4

6
2
4
3
1
0
28
17
10

42
content. Usually, cartoons in printed media have a
8 limited lifespan and generally end up as waste.
7
5
1
422
74
59
40

17

55
40
When these cartoons get an online live, they can live
forever and ever—‘ad infinitum’. Social media has
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4WseO3BMA&feature=related

become a powerful mechanism for the electorate and

the opposition to take revenge or taint a politician.
04 September 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKAS6zQW‐kM&feature=fvst

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STcJqRg‐lj8&feature=related

The political power of social media was exemplified

in the political uprisings that took place in Tunisia,
Egypt and Libya in the early part of 2011. Then again,
social media can be beneficial to politicians as aptly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBxMQZggXPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=−−BzoMSxRSQ

illustrated during the Obama presidential campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBc1n5HqXxs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK7vI_UrP8o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38xBihimIB4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_Bnp72Tft8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lof6XJ8b1SU

Two theories, namely the complementarity frame-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Rjkxjs‐Jxc
YouTube search for ‘Jacob Zuma’

work and the two‐step flow of communication theory

help us explain some of the interaction between print
media and social media and the possibilities of an
URL

extended life created by social media for print media.

The complementarity framework explains how newer
media such as social media and established media
such as printed cartoons rather complement than
compete with one another. Particular segments of
information seekers are therefore likely to access a
variety media types for news on a particular topic. It
can thus be argued, in line with the theoretical
reasoning underlying complementarity, that the
Table 4

extended relationships between traditional and Inter-

net media, relationships among the Internet and social
media as well as the relationships among multiple
forms of new media can result in astonishing extents
September 2006

of impact and lifespan of cartoons that started life in

February 2008
February 2008
February 2008

the print media. It is thus possible that cartoons

Date posted

March 2010
04 April 2009

published in print media have the possibility to find

03 May 2009

May 2009

May 2007

June 2009

extended lifetimes in various social media formats

that are totally beyond our grasp today. The two‐step
flow of communication theory is useful to explain the
03
25
08
08
14
25
29
18

dissemination of information in the social media by

Broke Black Mountain—Zuma and Shaik

opinion leaders. Consumers’ ability to be producers

Zuma Ringtone—Proudly South African
Jacob Zuma: Afrikaners the only white

who can co‐create, discuss and modify content en-

ables them to become intermediaries who disseminate
Jacob Zuma: ‘No whites allowed’
Jacob Zuma sings Umshini Wam

information in the social media. Internet media that

Nando’s advert, Jacob Zuma

allow participation have obvious advantages over

Jacob Zuma can truly dance

JZ as ‘Zhrek’ the conqueror

Whackhead takes on Zuma
Jacob Zuma—South Africa

traditional passive media. Mobile phones allow online

connections and a fast spread of newsworthy items,
and it is possible that this ability to stay connected will
Jacob Zuma Song

be extended to other mobile devices as well.

Internet‐based social networking sites have be-
African tribe

come popular sources of information on politics. In

this regard, Danjoux mentions that cartoonists are
Name

using the Internet more and more to bypass ‘editorial

controls and publish cartoons rejected by their

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Public Affairs 11, 156–167 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/pa
166 N. S. Terblanche
papers’ (2007). Indications are that the audiences of
social media are more interested in content than
quality. With the growth of co‐creation and modifi-
cation of content on social media, it is possible that
‘initial’ content could be improved and even have
more impact in its later appearance. An example in
this regard is a cartoon in the printed media in which
Zuma was portrayed as Shrek. The cartoon served as
input for new content in new media, namely a video
on YouTube.
Tomaselli and Teer‐Tomaselli (2008) stated that
after 1994, the print media became extremely judge-
mental of the South African government. In reaction
to the aforementioned criticism, the national broad-
caster (South African Broadcasting Corporation)
became a voice of the South African government.
The print media and the social media now reveal
abuses by politicians swiftly to citizens and interested
global networks. The extent to which Zuma’s
behaviour had inspired cartoonists and the social
media to portray him in some or other light is
illustrated in the earlier parts of this paper. In the same
breath, it also needs to be pointed out that disre-
spectful and satirical political cartoons can spark off
fervent and fanatical responses. The latter was well
illustrated by the Danish newspaper Jyllands‐
Posten’s cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad (Dodds,
2007; Müller and Özcan, 2007; Müller, Özcan and
Seizov, 2009).
Firms and politicians no longer have exclusive
control over messages. Politicians therefore have to
be sure that they say the right things when they
open their mouths because the social media is all set
to disseminate their calamities.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE
RESEARCH POSSIBILITIES
In this paper, the focus was mainly on the interaction
of printed media and the transfer thereof to particular
social media. The reverse is, of course, also possible. A
limitation of the paper is the absence of complemen-
tarities between the different formats of social media.
The complementarities amongst the different social
media formats might enable us to understand the
development of the processes underlying the transfer
between different media formats. The motivation
behind accessing various media formats for informa-
tion on the same topic might also be a worthwhile
avenue to explore further because this could shed
some light on the extent to which particular informa-
tion user segments will go to access information. The
sequence in which information is accessed and the
time spent in a particular media format could also
provide insight into preferences and choice amongst
different media formats.
The application of the complementarity theory by
diverse groups such as academics and media
planners might result in an enhanced understanding
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
of how news is consumed. A further avenue with
potential for future analysis comes from the ‘supply
side’, namely which social media is most suitable for
politicians to communicate with their electorate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their
guidance and helpful comments. Their comments pro-
vided very valuable input to sculpt the article for
publication.
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