Media Monday - hot topics and topics that make us hopping mad! 9 May 2011

Posted: 9 May 2011 | News - Newsletter | Categories: Gender, Media Freedom and Performance

Here is what’s on offer this Media Monday:

  • Gender: An Election Issue? Join the last elections’ tweet-up and launch of Election Accountability Pack
  • Press Ombud dismisses Shiceka complaint against M&G
  • SABC: the ups and downs!
  • Orbituary: RIP Mr. Kgomotso Sebetso
  • And our newest MMC!

Getting to the crux of real issues: the last in a series of three #MMAEAP tweet-ups is on – Gender: An Election Issue? 

With just nine days left before the South African masses exercise their democratic right and cast their vote in the 2011 local government elections, political parties are firing on all cylinders in an effort to gain that last minute support just in time for the May 18 polls. Promises, accusations, name-calling, mudslinging and finger-pointing all appear fair game, but where are the real issues? And most importantly, what is the media’s role in ensuring that the citizens and voters get the right messages?

The voter depends on the media for information and insight into what parties promise in terms of how they plan to deal with issues affecting them. The onus is on the media then to get to the crux of the issues by asking the right questions in relation to problem areas. What are political parties saying regarding gender equality, gender representation, gender-based violence, and gender issues in general? Is media asking gender-related questions? But before we get to that, we first need to know: is gender an elections issue? The answer may lie in the following pieces of information:

During the last national elections in 2009, Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) research showed that gender issues featured in just 1% of election stories. Yet take a look at these statistical pointers:

  • Women make up 51% of the population
  • 400 in every 100,000 women will die in child birth or from pregnancy related complications
  • 1 in 5 women aged 15-49 are HIV positive – double the national average
  • Interpol ranks South Africa as the world leader in rape
  • Lesbian activist Noxolo Nogwaza was stoned, raped and killed on Easter Sunday; and last Thursday a 13 year old lesbian girl was raped in Pretoria.

To top it all, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) called for a quota system to improve women’s representation on elections’ candidates lists and achieve the sought gender equality. The call was made because women, who make up 54% of voters, are poorly represented on the local government elections candidate’s list. Out of 53 000 candidates only 37% are women, IEC reportedly said.

Considering the above stats and information, the question of whether gender is an elections issue will be put on the table as MMA together with its partners Open Society Foundation, The Daily Maverick, Freyintermedia and GenderMattersZA team up with the Commission on Gender Equality and Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre to launch the last of a series of three “Piercing the Promises: Election Accountability Pack” for journalists. This pack aims to arm media with crucial questions on gender that will allow the electorate to hold local election candidates accountable.

On Wednesday 11th May 2011 at 12pm Janine Hicks (Commission on Gender Equality) and Lisa Vetten (Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre) will make the case for why gender should be an issue in the looming local elections. Yours truly, Media Matters will also be there, and you are also invited!

Join us in person or on twitter for this, the last #MMAEAP tweet-up!
 
Location:Frayintermedia, Suite252, second floor Dunkeld West Centre, corner of Jan Smuts Avenue and Bompas Road, Dunkeld, Johannesburg.
Time: 12pm – 1pm
Date: Wednesday 11th May 2011
Hashtag: #MMAEAP
Follow: @gendermattersza and @mediamattersza

Mail and Guardian’s story on Sicelo Shiceka’s misspending of public funds justified, says Ombudsman! 

On Friday the Press Ombudsman’s office dismissed Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shickeka’s complaint against the Mail and Guardian, over the paper’s reports last year November about the minister’s alleged misspending of public funds.   Deputy Press Ombudsman, Johan Retief, ruled that the newspaper was justified in its reportage.

The newspaper’s story was based on an internal audit report that lists Shiceka's alleged irregular expenditure. The newspaper was let off the hook by the Ombudsman because the report was based on the audit from start to finish, and nowhere did the newspaper itself state it as fact that Shiceka had indeed misspent the funds.

He also found that the public had the right to know about the minister’s expenditure and the contents of the internal audit report. This led to the Deputy Press Ombudsman’s entire dismissal of Shiceka’s complaint.

Does this prove the effectiveness of the press ombudsman’s office? Or does it prove the office’s bias towards the media’s side as has been claimed by some political sections? Does this, or any other rulings, have any implications for the self regulatory system, its effectiveness or lack thereof? Share your views with us and our media matters enthusiasts!

SABC turnaround strategy: the bad…and the bad! 

Good news: the public broadcaster, SABC, is trying to turn around its losses in a number of ways. City Press reported that

that “The broadcaster expects a loss of over R200 million for the 2010/11 financial year,” That’s a hunk of change, but its still a massive improvement on the R500 million lost last year and R910 million the year before. How are they going to execute this brilliant plan you ask?

And now for the bad news…

The SABC plans on asking the Communications Minister to increase TV licences again, on top of the 11% hike implemented less than two years ago. Also, as part of this brilliant plan, the SABC plans on cutting 20% of its staff in the next three years. The aim is to make sure that it only has a staff headcount of 3 000 by 2014, this on top of the jobs the broadcaster has already been cutting since December 2007 to cut staff to 3 700 by last February.

Could this be because the broadcaster’s planned cash-cow, a 24-hour news channel that it planned on launch on April 1, has missed its launch date? The channel was reportedly the  key component of SABC’s turnaround financial plan when it officially presented its strategy before Parliament last year. The channel is now reportedly delayed to launch later this year, in October to be specific.

Tribute to a fallen hero! 

We were deeply sorry to learn of the death of a senior SABC reporter, Kgomotso Sebetso, in the early hours today, Monday 9 May 2011. Mr. Sebetso was regarded by many as a “highly skilled and well-travelled… political journalist of high calibre who covered many important political assignments here and abroad with utmost distinction.” Mr. Sebetso reportedly died after his car crashed into a truck.

We at Media Matters would like to send our condolences to the Sebetso family, the SABC and the media industry in general. It is such a great loss, and we hope Mr. Sebetso will always be remembered for the brilliant work he has done. Rest In Peace Mr. Kgomotso Sebetso!

And our newest MMC with keen interest in news and analysis! 

And this week’s newest MMC is Mzukisi K-Gwata, a 36-year old civil servant and a Climate Change Adaptation practitioner in local government by profession, with keen interest in news and news analysis. Join in the discussions on our facebook and twitter pages, and add your voice to our media debates, who knows, the next person to be awarded the Media Matters Commentator status could be you!