Building on solid foundations – Joe Thloloe

However, many observers believe that the job of press ombudsman will become more challenging as Thloloe is now at the helm of the newly-launched Press Council, which replaces the ‘not-so-proactive' Press Founding Bodies Committee.

And, as winds of change continue to batter the current press environment, many believe that the former SABC News and e.tv news editor-in-chief will need more than his vast and brilliant experience to restore the trust of the media vis-à-vis of the public, which believes that journalists have become ‘great witchhunters'.

Experience will help

He says: “My experience in developing and using ethical codes in the various newspapers, magazines and television channels I have been associated with over the years will help me in adjudicating on the Press Council's Code of Conduct for print media.

“Of course, the extent in which the present code is applied is different from the days when I started out in journalism. We now operate in an environment where press freedom and freedom of speech are guaranteed in the Constitution.”

Many see the position of press ombudsman as a policeman who needs to crack a whip on the buttock of journalists to stop them from ‘infuriating' and ‘hurting' people through some ‘nasty' reporting. Some say the ombudsman is like a High Court judge who hands down heavy sentences to ‘punish' the media for ‘going too far'.

Thloloe outrightly rejects both roles, saying: “The objective of the Press Council in adopting the code and creating a mediating and adjudicating structure is to ‘ensure adherence to high standards in newspaper reporting.

“Uphold high standards”

“I thus don't see my role as that of a policeman but rather as one of assisting the press to uphold these high standards.

“We don't hand down ‘heavy sentences'; the list of possible sanctions is available on our website and includes caution and reprimand, direct that a correction, retraction, or explanation and, where appropriate, an apology and/or the findings be published by the respondent.

“Editors would rather get it right the first time than to have to correct and apologise after the story is published. It is a matter of pride in the industry.”

The former deputy editor of Sowetan adds: “So far the ombudsman has been getting around 200 complaints a year from all sectors of our society – high profile and low profile – and the cases have been dealt fairly.

Appeal Panel

“If any complainant or respondent is not satisfied with the findings of the ombudsman, he or she can take the decision on review by the Appeal Panel, which is headed by Judge Ralph Zulman, a retired judge of the Appeal Court of Bloemfontein.

“The system aims at ‘speedy and cost effective adjudication.”

For the first time in the history of SA media's self-regulatory affairs, members of the public have been incorporated in the new Press Council, to the delight of ordinary citizens in the community, who believe that now the media will have to watch its back before making any ‘sordid' move.

Thloloe explains this new move: “The reason for the bigger role for the public in the Press Council is to have a greater interface between the media and the public.

“The council will be the ombudsman's office. Its main aim is to promote the concept of self-regulation as important for press freedom, which disappears once regulation is imposed by an outside entity.

“The media have always had to uphold the highest codes of practice and ethics and this has not changed. They don't suddenly have to ‘watch their backs'.”