News
- Media on the MAT
The contentious “T” word - transformation - has reared its head again in the media sector and this time it’s civil society pushing for progress.
The self-regulating print media have consistently come under fire over the years, mainly from political parties, who accuse them of being unrepresentative of the society in which they operate. It’s also been alleged that the print media report on issues of gender, inequality and race in a stereotypical way.
- Xenophobic violence: one year on - newsroom lessons
South Africa will this month commemorate the first anniversary of the xenophobic violence, a deadly ‘ethnic cleansing’ directed against African immigrants that made headlines in local and international media last year. The violence prompted some media watchdogs to take a critical look at local media’s ‘xenophobic reporting’ that allegedly might have played a role in the violence.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- MMP/Daily Sun settlement
In response to the settlement agreement between Daily Sun and MMP, the Daily Sun today printed the following:
“The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) lodged a complaint against Daily Sun concerning its use of the word “aliens” to describe foreigners…
- 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.
- South Africas Leading Newspaper Disputes Allegations of Reporting Irresponsibly on Xenophobia
On 29 May 2008 the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) and its partner, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), filed an official complaint with the press ombudsman Joe Thloloe and the South African Human Rights Commission against the country’s leading daily newspaper, the Daily Sun. The newspaper, which has a readership base of 4.8 million people or a quarter of the adult population in the country, has been accused of having an anti-immigrant bias that has exacerbated tensions between normally friendly ethnic groups.
- Media Monitoring Project submits complaint about Daily Sun reporting on xenophobia
After much speculation about the media’s influence on the recent outbreaks of xenophobic violence, Daily Sun is now subject of an official complaint about their coverage of non-nationals. The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) and its partner Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA) submitted a complaint with Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHCR) today.