News

PRESS FREEDOM

A free media inspires confidence which facilitates economic growth, what South Africa currently needs to better the lives of its people of whom 10, 7 million lives on less than R500 per month. Press freedom is also critical for national cohesion as evidenced when the media, among other institutions, welded the national together to generate the national euphoria over the 2010 World Cup that led to the success the success of the tournament.

The Black Business Executive Circle (BBEC) is thus concerned that the ANC is contemplating the possibility of a media tribunal. Such a move would impact on the integrity of our democracy and, the worldwide respect the ANC currently enjoys as Africa’s beacon of hope and a bastion for human rights on the continent would start to evaporate.

It must be pointed out that equating the ANC's intentions on the media to those of the past apartheid government is not only shallow, downright ludicrous and misplaced; it also misses the point that our media, valiant as it has been in the past, simply does not enjoy the moral high ground it did in the heyday of apartheid.

Post 1994 journalism and news organisations are in relative terms starkly different from the pioneering corps and media of the seventies and eighties, and even before. These, from the days of the New Age thru to the World including the alternate media of the eighties projected the dignity of humanity and the oppressed masses and hence their significant contribution to the struggle for democracy.

Latter day journalists fuel confrontation between themselves the ruling party and government on the misguided notion that such tensions are natural and, in the process, seek stories to reinforce this. They miss the boat in being developmental in outlook and build on the pioneering work of their forbears of the seventies and eighties. After all South Africa now needs a journalism that facilitates development and deepens democracy, and this does not in way condone corruption. Furthermore, news content is defined and packaged in Eurocentric terms projecting the view that what is African is inferior, primitive or barbaric; perpetuating the stereotyping of indigenous as locked in witchcraft, the preternatural and highly sexed.

There is no doubt that the "juniorisation" of newsrooms and failure by news organisation to invest heavily in professionalism and quality media, and continually assess their relevance to society is at the root. This unleashed a cadre of journalists that hardly hesitates to savage reputations and, worse still, becomes players in sectional battles in political parties and social organisation. At times the media simply becomes the opposition party and exposes society to the worst bias in our media history. BBEC is not talking in absolute terms and notes that there has been a certain degree of responsible journalism. Regrettably, this was drowned in a sea of recklessness by ill equipped journalists.

Regardless of the shortcoming described above, the baby must not be thrown out with the dirty bath water. Instead, deeper thought should be given to cleaning the stable, restoring its credibility of the media so that it once more enjoys public faith. This is no simple task as news is not, like regular goods and services, formulae driven. It reflects what the messenger purports to have seen or heard or what the receiver belies to hear or see.

Thus, it is directly affected by the sender or receivers view of view of life; and this is heavily influenced by the cultural, racial, class, religious or gender contradictions fraught in any society. This must be factored in when seeking solutions. Hence, BBEC also records the fact that the views of its members on the media tribunal vary from one extreme to the other and, on the whole, this article is a synthesis of some of these sentiments.

Notwithstanding, our members are agreed that the situation cannot be allowed to continue as is and, to add to this, the current system of an ombudsman and appeal is woefully inadequate.

While the commitment and professionalism of the various ombudsmen who have held this position is not in question, but a system in which the referee and player is the same person cannot enjoy the confidence of the people. BBEC does not support a media tribunal except as a last resort. Secondly, a media tribunal established and controlled by government or Parliament would simply not be acceptable. Government and media are conflicted and cannot be the arbiters.

Press Freedom is the right of society to a media that ensures the flow of credible information not influenced by various stakeholders and it is not the media's right to be an institution unto itself. Society has a right to a system that will protect the media from vested interests, including government and business; and at the same time protect broader society from abuse by the media.

The BBEC recommends the following:

• The retention of the Ombudsman for the speedy resolution of disputes;
• However, complainants must not be forced to renounce their right to go to a court of law; and,
• A national conference convened by the Human Rights Commission to interrogate the relevance of our media to our changing society, and how media can be made more effective as a mirror of society and the protector of civil liberties.

Finally, should push comes to shove, an independent mechanism must be set up to be chaired by a retired judge assisted by an agreed number of commissioners representing the legal profession, religious institutions, cultural institutions, government and schools of journalism. It should be housed in the SA Human Rights Commission but have its own commissioners and administration; and be empowered to levy penalties.