Media Matters Monday Bulletin

Posted: 7 March 2011 | News - Newsletter | Categories:

What is on offer this Media Monday:

  • SABC Live Election Debate: Lessons (un)learnt?
  • Where does public life end and private life begin? Manyi drawing lines for journos
  • Hogging the headlines: Jimmy, Trevor and Kuli
  • And introducing our newest MMC!

 

SABC kicks off its series of Live Election Debate programmes

With the date for the Local Government Elections proclaimed, we were delighted to see that despite the crises at our public broadcaster – some have been beavering away in order to try and meet their elections mandate.

The programme debuted this past Sunday (March 5, 2010) on SABC 1 live from Durban, and featured representatives from political parties and academics. “Will the 2011 Municipal Elections be free of intimidation and violence?” was the topic of discussion?

Parties concerned started off by trying to allay any fears of violence and intimidation from their part to the voter, citing active engagement among themselves as parties and leaders, and preaching democracy and tolerance as some of the ways to avoid any flare-ups of violence and intimidation. But, it was not long until the parties began going having a go at each other, and then the mudslinging took over…

Now, having watched the full debate, apart from the mudslinging, we as Media Matters still remain as clear as, well mud, terms of what the parties will do to ensure that no cases of violence and intimidation are reported ahead of and during the elections.  There is, of course, a good chance that we could have been watching a different show from the one you were watching. In which case, we would like you to please feel free to tell us what you learnt from the debate.

Was the hosting of the programme well-executed enough to have the main points and strategies clearly come through? Were the right questions asked by the host? Or is the media just being used as a platform for mudslinging and political intolerance? As the voter, were your fears of possible violence and intimidation and political intolerance addressed and put to bed? And are you convinced that the elections will be free and fair? Hit us up, we would like to hear your views…

Just how far can and should journalists go?

According to IOL, The Sunday Times had last week reported that a revolt was brewing in the ANC and its alliance partners against the influence of the Gupta family (a family that owns a number of businesses in SA including computer giant, Sahara) over President Jacob Zuma and his government. The newspaper said it understood that the Guptas' role in influencing the appointment of CEOs and chairmen in key state-owned enterprises was recently raised at an ANC National Working Committee meeting and would be formerly discussed at its next gathering in a week.

The Sunday Times also reported that some ANC deployment committee members revealed that new Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, believed to be favoured by the Guptas, had been appointed by the Cabinet without their say. Getting a sniff of this, newshounds got on the trail and started making enquiries about Cabinet ministers’ alleged and possible allegiances to the Guptas. According to government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi, certain ministers' offices had received media enquiries asking whether their ministers had been to the Gupta family's house or knew of any ministers who had been. Needless to say that that this “fishing expedition” as Manyi called it, did not sit well with him.

Mt Manyi was reported to have strongly condemned the media, saying that their actions amounted to violation of the privacy of the ministers, and that it was beyond the scope of the media's role to monitor the private movement of ministers. “The violation of the right to privacy and freedom of association because of the urge by some media to publish any hearsay as news and scandalize innocent relationships as corrupt is, in our view, devoid of ethical journalism,” he said according to a news website, IOL.

We think as long as media are fair and accurate and balanced, we would like to know which parties our ministers are spending time with?  Doe sit mean they have less privacy? Maybe it does, but then not everyone gets to determine the strategic vision for crucial areas of our country as Ministers do.  We would like to hear your views and opinions on the following issues: In light of the accusations and condemnation, what should the media’s boundaries be in their investigation of government officials? Given that Cabinet ministers are public figures; does the notion of ‘public interest’ override the Ministers right to privacy? And given the Guptas’ business interest in South Africa, is the public not entitled to know what sort of ties and possible influences they have with our government and leaders? Is government justified in its condemnation of journalists’ “fishing expedition” in this case, and what implication does this “fishing expedition” have on journalistic ethics as Manyi suggested?  We know where My Manyi stands how about you?

Manyi vs. Manuel: media as the referee?

Media over the past week was abuzz after Minister in The Presidency Trevor Manuel wrote an open letter to government spokesperson Jimmy Manyi, following Manyi’s comments about coloured people in the Western Cape. Manyi said there was an over-supply of coloured people in Western Cape, which prompted Manuel to write a letter to him, in which he labelled Manyi “…a racist in the mould of HF Verwoerd.”

The Democratic Alliance joined in on the saga, and released a recording in which Manyi is heard making a comment about the number of Indian people occupying top managerial positions in South Africa. Manyi is heard in the audio clip saying that “Indians have bargained their way to the top”. The ANC also jumped on the bandwagon and denounced any backing of Trevor Manuel and his open letter, basically saying Manuel acted on his own.

One of the most interesting aspects to this saga is that, the ANC said something about this matter.  But what about commenting on other matters like police commissioner Bheki Cele and The Public Protector’s investigation and findings? What about the alleged ‘raid’ by the police at The Public Protector’s offices? And, and, and…

Anyway, what seems clear is that there is no clarity on why these allegations have come to the fore now, and why the debate is quite so publicly vehement.  Are these parties getting involved for political reasons, because of their views on race and racism, or simply because it is that time of the year when anything goes as long as it secures the vote? And what is the media’s role in all this? Is the media merely playing referee or spectator? Is the media swaying this hotly contested issue into the direction of finding solutions for racism, or is it just offering itself as the battleground for racism and racial slurs? You tell us…

And oh, Manyi still refuses to speak about the alleged racist comments he made, Manuel’s letter, and the DA’s released recording of him saying the ‘what-nots’ about Indians. Some say his option of no comment and hiding his head will mean it will come back to bite him.  This was an approach our previous President tried and learned the hard way, doesn’t work.  There will be a new crisis to knock his down the agenda, but it leaves a bad taste.  Should he apologise? Should he say anything? Comment or no comment, does it have any implications to dealing with crises and to government communications in general?

Also refusing to be put out is the Kuli Roberts fire. Right until the end of last week, articles and opinion and analysis pieces were still popping up regarding the issue. Kuli Roberts apologised for her column, peculiarly, not to the readers whom she offended in the Sunday World but on television. Her apology for her comments about Coloured women was aired on her show on Mnet’s Mzansi Magic. By the way, Mnet is the same company that axed former Springboks captain and then-presenter Joost van der Westhuisen, after he admitted that he starred in a sex video which showed him snorting drugs.

From a moral and role model point of view, maybe Mnet had valid grounds to axe Joost van der Westhuisen the presenter. What about Kuli though? As far as we know, Kuli only apologised for the column and any harm caused, but not for her racist and sexist comments made, and yet she was given the platform by Mnet to issue out an apology and carry on with her show! Okay, my name is Kuli Roberts and I apologise, and let’s move right along…So cheat on your wife and take recreational drugs – you get fired, but make racist and sexist comments and you pull a bigger audience? It sounds rather sad to us if this is the case.  Our question is Mnet justified in making money off it though? How apologetic was her apology, we ask? The editor of the Sunday World in his Editorial is not so sure, but credit to him for owning up and accepting some responsibility, for his error.  We wait in eager anticipation to hear what steps Avusa will take to ensure yet another event doesn’t happen again. Or have we heard this all before, David Bullard, anyone?

Our new MMC with passion for education and access to information!

And finally we at Media MattersZa would like to congratulate our newest MMC, Aneshree Naidoo. Aneshree is an irreverent tweeter on social issues ranging from gender dynamics to motherhood and media. She is a writer, editor and budding corporate communications specialist who believes that education and access to information are the keys to successful living.

For your views and thoughts, debates and discussions, ideas and opinions on today’s Media Monday Bulletin or any media issues, find us on Facebook and Twitter, and tell your friends! We welcome any constructive criticism and would love to hear from you.