News
- Public editor ‘would give SABC a credible face’
Broadcaster could benefit from new appointment as more interaction with the public is required. THE SABC could address its crisis of credibility through the appointment of a public editor.
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- A year of Malemaphobia, mediaphobia and xenophobia
As the year 2008 slowly but surely disappears, it is time for the media to do some critical retrospection to see if it’s correctly fulfilled its role of a Fourth Estate and respected its ethical codes. These two sets of self-examination are compulsory if the press wants to be trusted by communities in which it serves and continues to be seen as playing a vital role in a democratic and free society.
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- MMP rebrands to Media Monitoring Africa
The Media Monitoring Project has rebranded to become Media Monitoring Africa and relaunched their website, all this coinciding with its 15-year anniversary. The name change represents a realignment of their corporate identity to be more in-line with the work they do.
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- Daily Sun, MMP smoke peace pipe
The long-running and bitter dispute between South Africa’s fast-selling newspaper, Daily Sun, and the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) over the tabloid’s labelling of foreigners as ‘aliens’ and its alleged xenophobic reporting has finally been settled amicably.
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- MMP wins a great victory over the word ‘alien’
The Media Monitoring Project has succeeded in their bid to prevent the Daily Sun from using the word ‘alien’ in their stories after appealing against the initial finding of the Press Ombudsman.
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- Broadcasting Amendment Bill unworkable if certain key clauses not amended
Today the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications will again be deliberating on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill. The ‘Save our SABC’ Coalition is sending a letter to the Chair of the Committee, Ismail Vadi to object to certain proposals to amend the Bill suggested by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
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- Broadcasting Amendment Bill ‘still unworkable’
The battle to ‘save’ the SABC’s soul continues unabated and has entered a crucial phase. Towards the end of last week, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) held its deliberations on the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, which could be soon adopted by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Kgalema Motlanthe. Yet the ‘Save our SABC’ coalition believes that the bill is still unworkable.
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- MMP, civil society submission on Broadcasting Bill
The Broadcasting Amendment Bill will be debated in the Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Labour today. The Bill was adopted by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications on 13 August 2008. It was then adopted by the National Assembly on 19 August and then immediately referred to the National Council of Provinces. The Bill deals in the main with the removal of individual SABC Board members and the Board as a collective.
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- Capturing a tragedy
Violent events are an everyday feature for the media in SA. It may be argued that certain horrific visuals are necessary to report the reality of violent events, such as the recent xenophobic attacks.
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- Dead bodies in media: gruesome or your right?
In a problematic society such as South Africa, where the media have their hands full in reporting on violent crime, it is not surprising to see gruesome visuals of dead bodies in media, to the dismay of sensitive viewers and readers. While editors argue that their audiences have the right to see and to be ‘fully informed’, the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) this week says ethical considerations should guide the use of visuals of dead bodies in media.
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