News
- Blanket Boycott of Media 24 will leave citizens out in the cold
The media has come under increasing attack in recent times with the latest being a call for a boycott on Media 24 issued by the ANCYL in Limpopo.
Clearly any media that fails to convey or present news fairly and accurately is doing a disservice not only to its readers but to democracy as well. Many valid critiques of our media can be made in terms of their accuracy, quality, balance and speaking to all South Africans. Specifically the voices of the poor and marginalised are seldom heard or their needs catered for by the mainstream media.
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- Sowetan sies no wrong in “public interest” porn-like pic
Thousands of readers salivated indignantly over the Sowetan’s recent shocking but salacious front page, featuring a man and woman in correctional services and police uniforms –in a rather compromising position. William Bird from Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) joined in the outrage but in a more considered way. He listed in his statement the usual social and economic problems in South Africa and contrasted them with the “disturbing” fact that the Sowetan chose to “lead with a story featuring sexually explicit material”.
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- Sowetan’s “Sies!” against all better judgement
While South Africa is grappling with high unemployment; poor quality education; poorly located and inadequate infrastructure; unsustainable growth path; unequal distribution of resources; ailing public health system; poor service delivery; corruption; and racism, it is disturbing that the Sowetan 15/08/2011 chose to lead with a story featuring sexually explicit material.
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- Avusa Media needs to be Accountable
The decision by the editorial team of Sowetan to publish a column by Eric Miyeni that not only perpetuated racial stereotypes but was also potentially defamatory and offensive needs to be questioned. Ordinarily such a piece should not have passed through editorial scrutiny especially given that on the surface, it appears to violate Avusa’s own editorial policies as well as the South African Press Code. Media Monitoring Africa calls on Avusa to explain how they intend to hold those responsible, accountable for the piece being published.
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