SANEF's Jovial Rantao rises to the challenge

“As the country's resource for editors and journalists, SANEF's objective is to campaign for the elimination of legislation and commercial pressure that restrict media,” Rantao tells Bizcommunity.com.

“And to support the establishment of, and take part in, editors' foray in the region and the continent. This is the plan that SANEF's management committee, supported by structures and members, will pursue with vigour in the next few months.”

Outspoken

As SA's freedom of expression is on the knife-edge, many observers believe that outspoken media practitioners are headed for a series of uphill battles to consolidate their independence. And all eyes are on SANEF, which they see as their defence shield against any unpredictable ‘alien' attack.

Rantao says: “Media freedom is critically important to SANEF. The organisation has done some work in the past to highlight and eliminate obstacles to freedom in SA.

“We have, for instance, embarked on a project ‘Media Freedom is Your Freedom' designed to educate the public about the importance of this freedom.

“SANEF plans to use the 30th anniversary of Media Freedom Day – October 19 – to again drive this important message home. We have also reiterated our call to government to remove from our statute books, pieces of legislation which are inimical to press freedom.”

Rantao emphasises that through the Africa Editors Forum, SANEF continues to campaign against the removal in various African countries of laws used to limit media freedom and jail journalists critical of governments and heads of states.

Certain quarters accuse the media of becoming more and more ‘critically irresponsible' and ‘unethically sensational' in their reporting – something they say could be attributed to lack of journalistic discipline and efficient training.

Challenges

Some however argue that SA media faces a crisis of skills as the ‘good, old and facts-checking reporting' is replaced by a wave of ‘rush-hour' and ‘hearsay journalism'. These are just some of the tough challenges Rantao is set to face during his ‘presidency'.

“The media industry has been badly affected by the shortage of skills that the country is experiencing,” Rantao admits.

“However, different media houses are reporting impressive progress in the training of journalists to enhance and maintain professional standards. In addition, SANEF has published a number of manuals to help reporters deal with their everyday challenges. These include dealing with anonymous sources and covering the courts.

“SANEF will do whatever it can to help maintain and improve the standards of journalism in our country.

“We have to do this because credibility of the media is of utmost importance. People using the media to communicate have to be comfortable with the quality and credibility of the medium they use, and have to depend on us knowing that we, at all times, tell the truth.”

Friction

Many government top officials allege that SA media – as the country's Fourth Estate – lack patriotism as it fails to report comprehensively on matters related to national building and social upliftment, focusing instead on the state's faux-pas and shortcomings. This is said to create friction between the government and the media.

Nevertheless, despite these allegations Rantao insists that government-media relationship is as robust and cordial as ever.

He explains: “SANEF and government are indispensable to the national project of democratic change. We are capable of meeting our own goals by maintaining a respectful distance and independence from each other, and continue to engage in activities designed to help us understand each other's roles.”

Furthermore, in this era of globalisation, technological advances and information age, Rantao challenges his fellow editors to, among others, cater for a changing readership, listenership and viewership.

“Consumers of media are hugely mobile and have, at any given time, a cellphone in one hand, an iPod in the other and laptop in front of them. To cater for them we are adapting continuously.”

Rantao is assisted by Die Burger editor Henry Jeffreys as SANEF deputy chair; secretary general Mary Pappaya, head of Sowetan's KZN bureau; and treasurer Juanita Williams, Independent Online editor.

This collective is supported by a council of 23 members, who include chairpersons of special committees, and the organisation's office is run by Femida Mehtar.

About Jovial Rantao

Rantao is currently the editor of The Sunday Independent and deputy editor of The Star. Born in Naledi, Soweto, 43 years ago, he is married with two children. He spent much of his journalistic career at The Star, where he has held the posts of content and executive editor, news editor, political editor and political correspondent. He co-authored a book called Life and Times of Thabo Mbeki with Adrian Hadland, the former political editor of Cape Argus.