'Broken Spear'?

NEWSWATCH: Not content with having City Press and the Goodman Gallery remove "The Spear" from website and public view, the SACP's Blade Nzimande wants it destroyed, reports Times Live. Meanwhile, the DA's Dene Smuts says the FPB's efforts to classify the painting "hark back to Nazi Germany", reports Politicsweb, and Eye Witness News reports that the ANC and the Goodman Gallery are holding a joint news conference today and will "tell all". 30 May 2012 08:23

Sanef: ANC boycott call 'abuse of power'

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has issued the following statement after call by the ANC and senior governing party leaders for a boycott of City Press newspaper. The forum says the call is "tantamount to intimidation and abuse of power". 25 May 2012 07:47

IFP MP: POIB as 'worse than apartheid'

NEWSWATCH: According to IOL, an IFP MP, Albert Mncwango, said yesterday that the proposed Protection of State Information Bill is worse than apartheid - so he should have an interesting week. Meanwhile, north of the border, a New Zealand photojournalist has been released after 25 days of "hell" after being arrested in Zimbabwe, reports Mail & Guardian. 14 May 2012 07:45

POIB: ANC seeing sense?

NEWSWATCH: You see? It does pay to make a noise... According to reports in Times Live and IOL, the governing party has bowed to pressure from a whole range of groups and individuals and proposed a raft of changes to the contentious bill. Meanwhile, the Sunday Independent has been ordered to print an apology to Julius Malema for some inaccurate reporting, and Times Live reports that, thanks to smartphones, our use of the internet has risen. 11 May 2012 06:22

Press Freedom Commission, ANC and the little guy

[Dr Julie Reid] Against the backdrop of a shameful fall in South Africa's media freedom rating worldwide, the report of the Press Freedom Commission - the second media freedom review process following the ANC's calls for a media appeals tribunal - was published last week. 2 May 2012 11:18

Freedom Week - support press freedom

The Right2Know campaign calls on society to mark 27 April (Freedom Day), 1 May (Worker's Day) and 3 May (World Press Freedom Day), as opportunities to recognise and celebrate hard-fought battles and hard-won victories in the struggle to realise these rights and to reflect on the challenges that lie ahead. 30 Apr 2012 09:44

Mitigating risks to report safely, CPJ launches Journalist Security Guide

NEW YORK, US: As hundreds of journalists are attacked, jailed, threatened, or placed under surveillance each year, the Committee to Protect Journalists has launched a new Journalist Security Guide to help reporters assess and deter risk. 30 Apr 2012 07:24

[2012 trends] Media industry encountering unprecedented challenges

[Angela Quintal] The fragmentation of the media and the mind-boggling range of sources of information available to readers, from Wikipedia to Google and the social networks, have conspired to cause publishers of print media to re-evaluate their roles, much as the horse-drawn carriage industry was forced to with the arrival of the internal combustion engine. 27 Jan 2012 14:28

Press freedom in South Africa and why self-regulation is best

[Dr Julie Reid] Forget all the emotive arguments for and against self-regulation of the media. The numbers alone paint a clear picture: 70% of the top 50 countries in the Reporters Without Borders and Freedom House press-freedom rankings practice self-regulation. 27 Jan 2012 12:03

Non-censoring of weather reporting welcomed by SANEF

The statement by Water and Environmental Affairs Portfolio Committee chair Johnny de Lange that amendments to the South African Weather Services Amendment Bill will not result in the media being censored by the Weather Service, has been welcomed by the SA National Editors' Forum (SANEF). 27 Jan 2012 07:07

MPs to engage South Africans on Info Bill

[Francis Hweshe] Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee looking into the Protection of State Information Bill has adopted what it believes to be an ambitious public hearing drive aimed at getting maximum input from as many South Africans as possible. 18 Jan 2012 12:30

Listening to SA Campaign launched

The Press Freedom Commission (PFC), which has received over 190 written submissions from political parties, trade unions, academics, civil society, individual members of South African society, religious organisations, media houses and Chapter 9 institutions, has embarked on its 'Listening to SA Campaign'. 18 Jan 2012 09:26

Media conference on press freedom today in Joburg

The launch of 'Listening to SA Campaign' will take place today, Monday 16 January 2012 in Melville, Johannesburg at 2pm. The media conference, chaired by justice Pius Langa, chairperson of the Press Freedom Commission (PFC), invites the media and interested members of the public to attend. 16 Jan 2012 11:10