All Resources
- Showing Due Care
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The death of 43 people at a soccer match on Wednesday this week has, by and large, been dealt with with due sensitivity to those killed.
- “...in Every Matter Concerning the Child”
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The case of Nadia Neethling is exceptional, and has presented the media with particularly difficult choices in reporting. She was first named and shown in the media over a week ago, after being abducted while walking home. She was, thankfully, found a few days later and at the time was said to be in good health and that she had not been abused. Recent events saw the arrest and charging of two people in connection with her abduction. It has also subsequently come to light that the two people arrested have been charged with indecent assault. While some media have been extremely careful in their reporting of the case, others have displayed a flagrant disregard for the privacy of the child.
- In the Best Interests of the Child
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The last few weeks have seen considerable coverage of issues related to children in our media both print and broadcast. Cases concerning abuse, abduction and negligence have received prominent coverage. The media are to be commended in this regard. Two stories however, in today’s Mail & Guardian and the Citizen illustrate some of the problems in covering children in the media and suggest that the rights of the children concerned were violated.
- e News: Closer, but Better?
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In spite of it being heralded by a highly problematic disrespectful advert (see MMP comment of 06/02/01) last week Monday (05/02/01) e-tv launched its daily hour-long news programme during prime time. The decision to have an hour-long bulletin is a positive one and has the potential to present issues in an in-depth and critical manner. MMP’s monitoring of the first weeks of bulletins has revealed an increased number of items in the report and while visual changes were evident coverage was not substantially different.
- The Way Advertising News Should Not Be
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Last night e-tv launched their new one hour news programme. There were many positive elements and changes to the programme for which e-tv are to be commended. Unfortunately the launch was heralded with a highly problematic print media advert depicting dead bodies. The advert makes use of what would conventionally be viewed as a news photograph. The image used depicts a disaster scene. This advert contravenes principles for ethical reporting.
- Blind Justice – The JSC’s Decision to prevent e-tv from Broadcasting the Hearings
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The JSC’s Decision to prevent e-tv from Broadcasting the Hearings Towards the end of last week e-tv reported that they had launched an application to allow the station to broadcast hearings of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC). The hearings concerned interviews for a variety of judicial positions. e-tv are to be commended for lodging the application and for challenging the JSC. Their commitment to public service principles is also extremely positive. e-tv’s application was heard this morning and was rejected by the JSC. The JSC argued that the current procedure was to allow the media access to the hearings but to deny television broadcasts of the proceedings. The JSC decided not to deviate from the current position. The decision is a disappointing one indeed and raises issues surrounding access to information and transparency of the judicial process.
- LGE2K: An Analysis of Media Coverage of the 2000 Local Government Elections
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On the 5th of December 2000 South Africans voted for the second time in the Local Government Elections. Unlike the 1995 LGE which were preceded by the euphoria of the first national democratic elections and doubt as to whether the LGE would take place, the 2000 LGE, although delayed against the background of the opposition parties uniting to oppose the ANC took place uneventfully. There were a variety of candidates who stood as independents. In addition to this it was expected that as people had already voted for local government in 1995 that there would be greater knowledge of the process and consequently greater capacity for change at local levels. Overall the coverage by the media was low compared to previous elections, this was in line with the general attitude of political parties who appeared to express minimal interest in the process. While it was true that people had greater knowledge of the system the IEC had to deal with the number of municipalities being reduced from over 800 to around 224. The concomitant changes in the voting system as well as the complexities involved were poorly represented in the media.
- The News in Black and White: An Investigation into Racial Stereotyping in the Media
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The methodology used in this study was deliberately chosen to achieve two main ends: first and foremost to reveal the extent to which racial stereotypes occur in the South African media. But secondly to act as a constructive critique of the media rather than pose a threat to its independence.
The monitoring revealed some interesting results which over the six week period suggested certain significant patterns of reporting. In many cases as with reporting of crime and of Africa, the negativity we have found associated with them seemed obvious and yet the racial element of many of these reports has needed to be recognised so that it can be challenged.
- A Snapshot Survey of Women’s Representation in the South African Media at the end of the Millenium
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In our country discrimination against women and sexism continues despite a new constitution which guarantees all South Africans freedom and equality. The media plays a role in this. The extent to which the media allows and opens our eyes and minds to the rights and roles of women in our society, helps to shape public perceptions and the attitudes of people in our country to the rights of women and against discrimination.
However the media can also prevent or limit our understanding. This project aims to evaluate just how limiting or open the media is being about women and the roles women occupy in our society. It is fitting, at the close of the millennium, to evaluate where women feature in our media and to reflect on the message that their status in the media sends to the society in which we live.
- So What’s News in the Elections? Events Not Issues: An Analysis of Media Coverage of the 1999 Elections
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In 1994 the Media Monitoring Project (MMP) monitored the media coverage of the first democratic elections. In our final analysis we found that the media’s reporting of the “liberation election” was characterised by a justified and important emphasis on the historic nature of the event and by balanced reporting. But while the reporting was balanced it was not informative. The reporting of the election was more about liberation than about policies and political issues.
For the 1999 elections things were very different. The goodwill and euphoria had been replaced by rigorous politicking, and the bread and butter issues of our society were expected to feature prominently in all the parties’ campaigns. Consequently the demands on the media would be significantly different and more difficult. The media would have to play a bigger role in giving the citizens of our country information, about parties and their policies, about the critical issues faced by our society and the solutions and proposals which the various parties offer. The media would have to play the role of equipping South Africans to make informed decisions at the polls rather than celebrating their freedom as they did in 1994. This would be the role of the media in a free, democratic society.
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