In the front of his book The Fourth Estate, ex-editor of the Sunday Times Joel Mervis quotes former British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, who in 1937 said: "What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility, a prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages".
Part of the ANC's resolution calling for debate on the Media Appeals Tribunal deals with accountability of the media.
Noting that "freedom of expression in society, including freedom of media, is located within the context of the Constitution of the Republic" and that the "media conducts itself in many instances to the detriment of the constitutional rights of others", the organisation argues that the media should contribute to the transformation of this new society and "be accountable for its actions".
What these quotes show is that the increasing exasperation felt by South Africans about media in general and the commercial press in particular, is not unique to South Africa. Of course here the dynamics are decidedly different from Britain in the 1930s, but the problem is the same a media that believes it is not subject to societal accountability. The most problematic fact about the South African media landscape is the lack of a diverse ownership profile, which in turn has an impact on the media products on offer from the commercial press.
Three large companies, Media 24, Independent Group and Johncom (the latter recently renamed Avuso), own virtually all the newspapers in this country. The vast majority publish only in English and Afrikaans. In the middle of last year, the ANC policy conference adopted the resolution cited above. It called for an investigation of the feasibility of establishing a Media Appeals Tribunal. This resolution was confirmed at the ANC's December conference in Polokwane. Not surprisingly, the commercial press is opposed to this idea. They argue that it is tantamount to interfering with the freedom of expression and freedom of media guaranteed under the Constitution.
The actual resolutions are interesting to read and should in fact be broadly circulated so that they can form the basis for public debate around the role of the media in a society in transition. Not surprisingly the print media has gone into attack mode and sensationalised the proposals as an attempt to control the media. What they fail to appreciate is that this is precisely the type of response that confirms to the public that the media is unwilling to introspect or acknowledge that there are problems.
On the whole, space is not provided for critical, independent-minded black people to air their views either about the media or matters that would upset white people. There are exceptions. When editor of The Star Moegsien Williams approached me in 2006 to write for the Independent Group, he stressed that he wished to make the opinion pages of more representative. City Press is also an exception. It is always possible to trivialise the ANC's concerns as an attempt to force the press to be less critical of it or the government. There is a far bigger body of public opinion that believes the commercial press does not reflect post-apartheid reality.
The resolution is a reflection of long and frustrating appeals to the media to respect the rights of all people and to try to be present in this democratic phase instead of being stuck in a default consciousness from our unequal past. If a referendum were to be to be held on the establishment of an Appeals Tribunal, it is probable most Africans who read the commercial press would say yes to the question of whether or not it should be established. The resolution reaffirms the ANC's commitment to media freedom, which it says is entrenched. It notes "that the ANC is faced with a major ideological offensive, largely driven by the opposition and factions in the mainstream media, whose key objective is the promotion of market fundamentalism, control of the media and the images it creates of a new democratic dispensation in order to retain old apartheid economic and social relations".
The ANC envisages the Tribunal to be a forum where the rights to freedom of expression can be balanced with other constitutional rights. It would adjudicate complaints by individuals against the print media in the same way as BCCSA and the Complaints and Compliance Committee of Icasa do in respect of the electronic media.
They believe that the Tribunal would not supplant, but strengthen the current Ombudsperson"s office. These are proposals for discussion. Despite my longstanding criticisms of the commercial press in this country, I have serious reservations about the desirability of such a Media Tribunal. While the motivation is persuasive, it is not likely to work in practice. It has the potential for acting as an editorial constraint, which is not at all what the intention is. The sense of responsibility and accountability that we seek as a nation, cannot be achieved through such a mechanism.
Other ways of ensuring representivity in the newsrooms and ownership is for Black business to either buy into existing media houses or set up their own. Also, all of us have a choice as to which newspapers to read. If papers do not reflect all perspectives, buy the one that does. Those who read poor quality newspapers out of habit, deserve to be aggravated. The key issue raised in the resolution is that as a matter of urgency the commercial press must be brought into the BEE charter processes.
The print media should give their readers an opportunity to debate the resolution by extracting it and giving a fair opportunity to ANC to explain to the public why they came to this conclusion. Scare tactics won't assist a balanced discussion of the implications. This is a chance for the commercial press to turn over a new leaf and to listen to the public. Humility can go a long way.
Source: IoL
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