BEE represents a huge opportunity for print and electronic media in the area of business coverage, says Prince Booi, EmpowerLogic's Business Development Manager.
"Unfortunately, many sections of the media have yet to catch up with the dynamics of the BEE era," he adds, "and the opportunity is missed."
In EmpowerLogic's view the current media focus tends to fall on BEE transactions, BEE charters and controversies around targets and implementation. The role of BEE rating agencies in measuring transformation and successes achieved by go-ahead companies receive little attention.
Often, companies are described solely in terms of market capitalisation, profit or turnover while a company's BEE status or record as a jobs creator is rarely given.
Prince Booi notes: "Traditional descriptors around market 'cap' etc are important as they obviously indicate company stature. However, it is vital the public is also told a company's record as a BEE player and jobs creator.
"In macro terms, the biggest ongoing stories in South African business are jobs and transformation.
"Yet we never see a company described as a net-creator of this or that number of jobs nor do we see - as a standard description - that such and such group is an independently rated 'BEE-influenced company' or whatever.
"If the media don't tell the public the facts around jobs and BEE status, the real heroes of our economy do not get the recognition they deserve - and the big heroes are those who grow jobs as well as wealth and create empowerment initiatives as well as profits."
Booi believes traditional measures of company performance such as return on assets employed, profits, share price and capitalisation remain as vital as ever. However, an additional dimension now exists in business measurement - the scores given for BEE progress by empowerment agencies - and this often goes unrecognised nearly two years after these assessments were introduced.
He adds: "I'm not knocking the media. I'm merely trying to alert them to a wonderful opportunity.
"When a business leader presents a set of results, a reporter can ask all the usual questions about turn-over and shareholder earnings. But here in South Africa it should also be an automatic instinct to ask how many jobs the company created or destroyed, whether an independent agency has given the group a BEE rating and what is it.
"By putting the spotlight so firmly on jobs growth and the development of people within an organisation, the business media will underline their relevance and take on a wider role. Business stories will hit the front pages more often and ordinary readers from Soweto as well as Sandton will realise just how important corporate developments are.
"The future of our country hangs on jobs and transformation. So let's widen the thrust of business reportage and give BEE progress the prominence it deserves."
