Gagging the Press

http://www.news24.com/Columnists/ChrisMoerdyk/Blaming-media-is-admitting-failure-20100823


Blaming media is admitting failure

I have absolutely no doubt that 99% of all media revelations of political intrigue, corruption, fraud and whatever sensational dirty dealings you care to mention are not initiated by nosey investigative journalists.

They are started by people within Cabinet, government departments, parastatals, public and private companies, religious organisations and sports bodies leaking information to the media.

It is human nature that whenever people get together to take a decision and one of them doesn't agree, something will be leaked to the media, shareholders or to staff.

Not only do they leak often extremely confidential information to the media but the more they don't get their way, the more annoyed they are, the more their egos are damaged, the more they sensationalise the information they are divulging.

So, when the ANC, Communist Party or anyone else call for media tribunals and protection of information acts, all it really means is that they have finally given up trying to keep control of their own people.

Then, as a last resort, they turn to shooting the messenger in an effort to save themselves.

However, I am not suggesting for a minute that the media doesn't get things wrong. Of course they do.

And yes, of course, the media is a business in which profit is a priority.

Press freedom like pregnancy

But, any media boss with half a brain will know that one sensational story or even a string of sensational stories will not result in any long term increase in sales.

Making money out of a news medium is about giving advertisers real, sustainable long term value. It takes a lot more than sensational content to build a quality audience. Quality content is what builds audiences.

But, getting back to restricting the media - the problem really is that press freedom is like pregnancy. Either you are or you aren't.

But, even so, South African media are not completely free to just do what they like without any recourse.

They are governed by self-regulation and whether or not one feels that this is sufficient is another story and maybe the media does need to look at its own rules.

The press is also governed by South African law.

Anyone who feels that the media has been misleading or libellous can sue the daylights out of them.

But, what amazes me is the number of politicians and business leaders here in South Africa who huff and puff in denial and threaten to sue the media, but then, when a push comes to a shove, they hardly ever do.

Very few actually go through with it and one cannot help but wonder why? The only logical answer seems to be because the press was right and they were wrong.

Another problem with things like the protection of information bill and media tribunals is that South African media consumption is no longer something that just emanates from South Africa.

Dozens have tried

News and information is being disseminated on the internet via social media as well as by massive global organisations like CNN, Sky and the BBC.

The South African government will very quickly find that they won't be able to stop any of these stories that are bothering them, through legislation. Because I suspect that the BBC, SKY, CNN and most of all Google, Twitter, FaceBook and others, won't actually give a hoot about any media restrictions we may have.

Dozens of countries have tried it and all of them have failed to keep the lid on.

Quite frankly, if our government goes ahead with the media tribunal or protection of Information Act, they might as well consider banning the internet, cellphones, satellite television and the importation of foreign newspapers and magazines.

Because that's the only way they will be able to stop the media from doing what it is doing right now. Like it or not, technology has effectively made the media untouchable.

It is, I firmly believe, better for a country to have an imperfect free press than no free press.

Comments by Dani Moolman:

The ANC has been fundamental in the free democracy we hold today. South Africa was deemed the shining light of the African continent and the ANC stood strong in its moral beliefs in freedom and equality.

This seems to be a far cry from where we are today; heading fast and furious back to our pre apartheid traditions of hiding information behind the façade of protection of information bills and media tribunals. Surely this is just the kind of offence ANC fought to abolish!

As a nation belted out our national anthem at this year’s 2010 FIFA World Cup it really dawned on me that we as a generation perhaps for the first time and maybe for the last sang our anthem loud and true. “As we live and strive for freedom in South Africa our land”