SA media 'bungles' elections coverage says MMA

“Yes, this is pretty much the key message. In essence, if you were to go by media coverage it wouldn't seem that poverty is too much of a big issue in South Africa in general and the elections in particular,” MMA director William Bird told Bizcommunity.com today, Tuesday 7 April 2009.

Despite its status as an emerging market, as Africa's economic powerhouse and as a member of G20, SA still has a long way to go to shake off the demons of poverty and social inequality as statistics shows that 48% of its households still live below the poverty line.

The MMA believes that media might have missed the boat in not assisting citizens to understand how the various political parties and would-be members of parliament should be tackling these problems.

“If you were to gauge what issues are of concern to South Africans through the coverage of elections, then you could be forgiven for thinking that poverty is no longer an issue for the country, and public service delivery is well on the way to meeting citizens' expectations,” the MMA said in one of its numerous election reports.

The report, released today, Tuesday 7 April 2009, and titled No Big Deal - Poverty, Service Delivery and Elections Coverage, was compiled by volunteer research officer Tanya Owen.

“If political parties are not addressing these issues in their campaigning activities, and to all indications this is the case, then it primarily falls to media to assist citizens in this way, [which is] reporting and providing analysis on election and political parties in relation to issues that are of critical importance to South Africans and the future of South Africa,” the report stated.

Asked if that was enough to educate and sensitise voters on the topic, Bird replied: “Yes analysis isn't sufficient, but it is critical that citizens have access to the information so that they can make an informed decision [when they vote] on April 22.”

Asked what could be the causes of the media's disregard and bungling surrounding such a vital topic at the height of what is seen as the country's most vigorously contested elections since the demise of apartheid, Bird said: “I think poverty, because it is an "issue" as opposed to a series of events, [which] often makes it difficult to cover in traditional news terms. It also requires media to adopt original and different approaches to covering these key issues.”

While praising The Daily Sun for printing many such stories, he however regretted that the newspaper misses the mark in drawing the clear political line to the stories of failed service delivery and successes to the individuals on which the stories focus.

“We see similar trends in coverage of other issues, which we have noted is also minimal. Another reason is perhaps that there is too much focus on the campaigning as though these were American-style elections, and focus on politicians going to places to speak. The focus on the event is often detrimental to coverage of issues. I think editors should be asked this question,” says Bird.