Time to face it, guys, you desperately need training

We've got the 2010 FIFA World Cup looming and it would be good if the rest of the world could start reading good news stories coming out of SA, instead of "You sleep with all the men in your cabinet" and "We mean what we say and we say what we mean". We won't even go down the shower road...

Political leaders around the world hire the best media trainers around to coach them in how not to make a total fool of themselves in front of a microphone - well, maybe George Bush couldn't afford the best in town! But, seriously, it has made a great difference to many politicians who weren't blessed with the best media style.

Leading questions

After all, as journalists we're taught how to ask leading questions - we WANT politicians to say stupid things and, indeed, like nothing more than ‘no comment' but taking the country's interests into account, it's time our guys and gals became true professionals.

Overseas politicians don't balk at having public debates with their opposition. Why? Because they actually see this as a party political broadcast opportunity. Here they see it as entrapment.

And when it comes to being the subject of satire, they use their power and ban programmes such as Jonathan Shapiro's Z-News - modelled on British spoof TV series Splitting Image. Like its British counterpart, this show would feature puppets based on our favourite politicians - you can just see the showerhead, the botox and the Youth League leader complete with nappy and dummy... But the SABC said, "The South African public weren't ready for such a programme"...

Humour and humility

Our politicians have to develop a sense of humour and humility, which includes owning up to their lack of media skills. Although I guess a front page that says "Julius and Helen tell jokes over tea" really wouldn't sell too many papers.

So hey, guys, keep going with the mudslinging - it's good for business.