Media Stories of 2010!

Posted: 15 December 2010 | News - Newsletter | Categories: Child trafficking, Gender, Children, Democracy and Governance, Policy Submissions, Media Freedom and Performance

A festive take on the year from MMA and the media’s coverage:

2010 Was dubbed the year South Africa would shine on the world stage since the country would be hosting the first FIFA World Cup to be held on African soil. However, like in previous years, the year didn’t go down without a few other headline-makers.

From controversial proposed legislation, to prominent trials and personalities, Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has compiled a list of stories and people that had the rest of us talking throughout 2010. We also came up with a top 5 list of good and bad stories, accompanied by who we have crowned our ultimate hero for the year.

 

People and Things that had us all talking

Personalities:

This year saw media highlight a string of infidelities committed by sport players, our own president Jacob Zuma and his wife MaNtuli, exposed in the media. Leading the pack was US golfer Tiger Woods followed by the sportsmen listed below:

  • Herschelle Gibbs.
  • English footballers Wayne Rooney and Ashley Cole.

In April, Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader Eugene Terreblanche was murdered. This was followed by an outcry from AWB members who claimed that Julius Malema - who had sung the “Kill the Boer” song a month earlier at a rally in a university campus – incited the act against Terreblanche. Enter AWB leader Andre Visagie and Chris Maroleng.

Maroleng, anchor of eNews programme Africa 360, held a discussion with Visagie and political analyst Lebohang Pheko on the issue. Things got a little sensitive when Visagie threatened Pheko, resulting in Maroleng holding his arm in attempts to restrain him. Visagie then called his bodyguards, ordering them to remove Maroleng’s hand. Maroleng, in warning the bodyguards not to touch him, then uttered one of the most famous quotes of this year – “Don’t touch me on my studio.”

In May, Black Sash stalwart Sheena Duncan passed away. Her death however was sadly overshadowed in the media by that of controversial Teazers boss Lolly Jackson.

Later on in the year, British supermodel Naomi Campbell had us all talking and wondering about her involvement in the Charles Taylor war crimes trial. The model allegedly received blood diamonds from Taylor as a gift. She claimed however, they were just “dirty looking pebbles.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutualso announced his retirement this year.

Disasters and accidents:

One of the biggest disasters reported on this year in the media was undoubtedly the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti in January. Media carried extensive coverage of the aftermath, and gave us a full picture of the destruction, inhumanity, survival and incredible compassion from around the world. 

In March rapper, Molemo Maarohanye better known as “Jub Jub” ruled the headlines when he and his co-accused Themba Tshabalala, reportedly ploughed into pupils walking back from school in Soweto during an alleged drag race. Tragically four children died, resulting in an uproar from the community.

Europeexperienced disruptions due to a volcanic ash cloud in April that also indirectly affected other parts of the world. The world also followed closely the story of 33 Chilean miners trapped below the ground for 69 days. They made some unusually good news headlines when they were successfully rescued in October.

Prominent court cases:

The following cases made headlines in 2010:

  • Eugene Terreblanche murder case - Chris Mahlangu and a 15-year-old the accused. MMA welcomed the decision to allow but limit media access in the trial, in order to ensure that the child was protected throughout the proceedings. However other elements of Judge Joseph Raulinga’s ruling gave MMA serious cause for concern as court proceedings involving children constitute a “child justice court,” which according to the new Child Justice Act, should only have present, those deemed necessary, during the proceedings.
  • Jackie Selebi corruption trial.
  • Glenn Agliotti in the Brett Kebble murder trial.
  • Jub Jub trial.

World Cup and Public Servants’ Strike.

On the 11th of June 2010, Simphiwe Tshabalala scored the opening goal of the first FIFA World Cup held on African soil. However, this wasn’t before a lot of scepticism was reported in international and at times national media regarding the readiness; safety – or lack thereof – of the country to host the event.

One such report came from e-tv’s primetime news in the beginning of the year, where criminals whose identities were hidden and who threatened to rob tourists during the World Cup were interviewed. This was met by outrage from both Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele who claimed the report threatened “national security”. Consequently, they intended on using Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act to force the journalist to reveal the identities of the criminals.

Section 205 is an outdated and controversial part of the legislation used in the past by the Apartheid government to force anyone to reveal information and sources deemed crucial by the state.

MMA’s was of the viewpoint that while e-tv did not display a clear justification for the report, it was unconstitutional for the Minister and Commissioner to revert to using Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which clearly threatens the confidentiality of sources. Furthermore, the claims that the report threatened national security were exaggerated.

South Africain the end hosted a tournament, hailed one of the best by the world. Suddenly all wanted to support BaGhana BaGhana.  The euphoria seemed to fade soon afterwards though, thanks to a public servants’ strike that followed and questions around the sustainability of the stadiums which MMA felt were a bit delayed.

Human trafficking

“Human Trafficking – the Cup crisis that never was.” This is an example of a news article published by a newspaper shortly after the World Cup ended.

Many links were drawn between human trafficking and the World Cup, on many occasions by the media. Before the World Cup, scores of people were reportedly going to be trafficked into South Africa mostly to do sex work during the tournament. However, stories that were reported after the event, like the example above, claimed that human trafficking was a crisis that did not occur.

Through its Child Protection and Trafficking project (CPT), MMA found that often the wrong messages about human trafficking were distributed about this issue in the media, resulting in an inaccurate picture and understanding of the subject.

Again, the challenge is for media to work on sending out the right message and tell the stories about this modern form of slavery, which happened before the World Cup and is still happening after. See www.mediamonitoringafrica.org/cpt for more ideas.

SABC

The crisis at the SABC dragged through from 2009 and tragically continued throughout the year, with dramatic events that unfolded including the resignation of four board members. MMA and the SOS (Support Public Broadcasting) Coalition were of the view that, serious corporate governance breaches have taken place throughout 2010.

These include breaches of corporate governance around:

  • the appointment of the Head of News,
  • a decision to employ an external candidate to the Acting CEO position despite the fact that the SABC’s Articles of Association disallow this (the decision was later reversed),
  • the Chair of the Board’s refusal to sign the delegation of authority document as regards the appointment of Acting CEO, Robin Nicholson, creating a legal crisis where the SABC was effectively operating without a CEO; and
  • the Chair’s unilateral decision to announce on SABC TV and radio that there were problems with the appointment of an Acting CEO and that he hoped to bring back suspended CEO, Solly Mokoetle.

We hope that 2011 will see SABC begin its true turn around. It is in all our interests that it does.

The New Age takes time to dawn:

The New Age finally saw the day of its print launch on the 06th of December after a few postponements and five senior staff members walked out of its offices. The paper had people already talking especially about its political links to the ANC considering it’s owned by the Gupta brothers who have strong links to the party. Let’s see what 2011 hold for the new publication.

Children:

Below is a list of some of the stories involving children that made headlines in 2010:

  • Molemo Maarohanye “Jub Jub” drag racing accident and trial.
  • Racism in schools – Roosevelt High in Johannesburg.
  • Baby deaths at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital.
  • Education: Teacher’s strike, Matrics, Scrapping of Outcomes Based Education (OBE).
  • Baby dumpings.
  • Baby renting exposé’s in Pretoria.
  • Child porn revelations

These stories are a clear indication that South Africa needs to prioritise children’s safety and well-being. The media – through reporting on issues affecting this group of the population more frequently - are without doubt, one of the tools that can be used to put the pressure on the government to heed this call.

MMA published two reports assessing the media’s performance when it came to reporting on children this year. The findings of the first report published in August revealed that children are significantly under-represented in the media with only 11.4% of all stories reported featuring children.

The report claimed that this is a considerably low percentage considering that children “make up 1/3rd of the [South African] population – 39%.”

Furthermore, children were quoted (directly or indirectly) in only 14% of these stories. This was a clear indication that children’s voices are still undermined and absent in the media.  

Not much has changed it seems as the latest report findings published in December, revealed that children were featured in only 12.7% of all stories published in the media but they were only quoted (directly or indirectly) in only 13% of these stories.

This is a decrease from an already low 14% reported in the August report.  “This means that “we are only hearing children’s voices in 2% of all stories (in the media). This must be urgently addressed,” the report stated.

In terms of children’s rights in the media, the report revealed that 7% of all stories monitored violated the rights of the children reported on, by for example, identifying a child witness to a crime or an abused child.

Proposed legislation and implications for independence, media freedom and access to information

This year sparked debates around contentious proposed legislation and a tribunal in the form of the Media Appeals Tribunal, Public Service Broadcasting Bill, ICASA Amendment Bill, and the Protection of Information Bill. While extensive media coverage was afforded to some aspects of these Bills some of the key policy issues were not addressed. 

As an organization that aims to promote the development of a free, fair and ethical media culture, MMA was often at the forefront of the debate, with the following viewpoints.

  • ICASA Amendment Bill– This bill grants powers to the Minister of Communications at ICASA that are both unconstitutional and illogical. There is no evidence or rational presented to substantiate the proposed amendments. ICASA has constitutionally enshrined “independence” and is the regulator for television, radio, including the SABC which broadcasts to the largest audience of the South African public. The new powers proposed include, the Minister may direct the ICASA Council Chairperson to perform functions as the Minister may see as necessary.
  • Protection of Information Bill (POI) –The POI will regulate the classification of information but poses many threats for the public’s right to receive information, access to information as well as the media’s right to freedom. For example, there is an absence of a “public interest” defence meaning where there could be a legitimate public interest defence for media to publicise and fulfil their watchdog role, going ahead and publishing could mean a minimum jail sentence of three years and a maximum of five years each, for both the whistle-blower and the media.
  • TheStatutory Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) was proposed in the middle of this year by the ANC. It proposes allowing Parliament to establish a new statutory appeals body to  regulate the print media. This is currently being investigated. MMA is concerned that it would pose severe implications for the free flow of information and could ultimately censor content.
  • ThePublic Service Broadcasting Billwas released in October 2009 but has recently been withdrawn for more re-drafting, public consultation and research. The original Bill would have seen the SABC, community media and ICASA move toward greater risk of undue government control and Ministerial influence.

MMA would like to see more discussion on these bills in 2011, inclusive of all members of society.

Politics, corruption and crime:

As is often the case with South African politics, 2010 was another big year in political media coverage.

2010 saw a merger being formed between the ID and the DA; COPE tangled up in more of its internal affairs - mostly squabbles between its two leaders Mbazima Shilowa and Mosiuoa Lekota. Is there any hope for COPE?

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi repeatedly took strong stands against corruption and the “political hyenas”, despite the criticism from the other members of the alliance.

Sunday Times journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika was arrested by the Hawks in what many described as an effort to intimidate the media.  The allegations leveled in the middle of the year focused on his involvement in a faked letter of resignation from Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza. Cosatu came out strongly requesting investigations into the arrest of the journalist. The case was thrown out of court later this year.

The ANC’s National General Council (NGC) Meeting held in August this year grabbed the country’s attention due to pertinent issues that President Jacob Zuma needed to address like the contentious topic of Nationalisation of the Mines and the Public Servant’s Strike. Despite the extensive reporting, the ANC was marked by a relative low number of key issues being leaked to the media.   

Schabir Shaikcaused a stir when it was reported that the presidency had received an application for his pardon early this year.

The crime statistics released by the South African Police Service (SAPS) also came out later this year, reporting a decline in major crimes like murders and hijackings. These were met by a lot of criticism from analysts who argued that they were inaccurate. We understand that the SAPS has since launched an investigation into their statistics.

Reports of corruption and financial mismanagement also persisted throughout the year, with the Auditor General unhappy with how certain departments in government were performing.

Gender:

During the month of August (National Women’s Month), MMA analysed media coverage of women and issues affecting them. The report findings revealed that in spite of “media (holding) the responsibility to reflect pressing social issues as well as having the authority and ability to shape public opinion and perception and influence policy…there has been some gender fatigue plaguing South Africa’s media, which arguably is reflective of the gender fatigue present in South Africa’s society.”

MMA puts this forward as a challenge to be addressed by the media next year.

 

After an unscientific vote by MMA staff we agreed on the following:

Top 5 feel good stories of the year:

  • South Africa’s successful hosting of the World Cup.
  • Successful rescue of the Chilean miners.
  • Government withdrawing the Public Service Broadcasting Bill for review and re-drafting.
  • The Children’s Act coming into full effect.
  • Rugby Super-14 final hosted in Soweto.

Top 5 depressing stories of the year:

  • Crisis at the SABC.
  • Threat to media freedom and access to information: Media Appeals Tribunal, Protection of Information Bill etc.
  • Arrest of Sunday Times journalist Mzilakazi Wa-Afrika.
  • Ongoing Strikes.
  • Corruption in South Africa.

Hero of the year:

  • Ghana’s national soccer team otherwise known as “BaGhana BaGhana” for carrying the hopes of millions of Africans as the last standing team in the World Cup.

 

In closing:

There is no doubt that in 2010, the media in South Africa faced a lot of threats regarding freedom and regulation. Hopefully, with this came a lot of self-evaluation guided by the criticism it has received.

We look forward to an improved media in 2011 and the events the year will bring.

The team at MMA wishes all South Africans a very festive season and a Happy New Year.

 

By Ayabulela Poro.