Avoid sensationalism in these trying times, media told

Jacob Ntshangase, executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ), expressed his concern about the media's approach in dealing with the new political developments. He told Bizcommunity.com earlier this week, “It looks like the newsrooms got too excited about the new party hype. And in the process, they failed the audiences in terms of critical analysis of what the ‘Shikota' party is likely to bring for the voters.

“Shallow analysis”

“In essence, there has been a shallow analysis on the policy issue that this ‘Shikota' party is likely to tackle for the electorate. I also feel that the interim leadership has not been robustly engaged in terms of what they mean by the ANC veering off the Freedom Charter (as claimed by Lekota).”

Ntshangase also accused the media of double standards for failing to take Lekota to task for his statement that his people are prepared to spill blood for democracy. “I was worried when editorials and the news stories did not raise the alarm about that alleged statement, having [only] chastised Malema for his ‘kill for Zuma' utterances. This could be very inciting, given the current political turmoil,” he said.

“The media and analysts should condemn any form of incitement ahead of the launch of the ‘Shikota' party, as well as the 2009 elections.”

The African continent has a ‘golden history' of armed conflicts and civil wars, mostly fomented by political anger, abuse of power, economic self-enrichment, internal power struggles and party rebellion - as is now the case in SA. And research shows that, in most of these confrontations, local media have used its power and influence to fuel the fire through printing or broadcasting sensationally bitter-sweet, incriminating, hostile and provocative propaganda material.

Perfect examples

Kenya, Rwanda, DRC, Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and Cote d'Ivoire, to name only a few, are the perfect examples.

But Ntshangase warned the SA media not to follow that route, saying the country, which is still recovering from the senseless xenophobic attacks, cannot afford to spill another drop of blood of a fellow African. “In any war and conflict situation, the media should report with sensitivity and avoid sensational and inciting headlines,” he said.

“This is not to say that South Africans are at war right now because of the political dramas but, if events such as these are not carefully reported, the situation is likely to generate into chaos.”

For more information about IAJ, go to www.iaj.org.za.