SANEF wants politics out of national broadcaster

At a function on Saturday evening with President Jacob Zuma as keynote speaker, the award-winning photographer Greg Marinovich was announced as the winner of the 2009 Nat Nakasa Award for courageous journalism. The SANEF-Wrottesley Award, a peer recognition award, was presented to Mathatha Tsedu, former editor of City Press and head of Media24's journalism academy, for extraordinary commitment to the achievement of SANEF's goals.

Expressing its deep concern about the ongoing crisis at the SABC, SANEF called on Parliament and Government to restore stability, credibility and sound financial capacity at the public broadcaster as a matter of great urgency. It appealed to the relevant role players to urgently put in place the appropriate governance and management structures and disciplines in order for the SABC to fulfil its mandate as public broadcaster. The organisation says it believes that the selection of SABC board members should be reviewed to avoid party political influences and ensure greater civil society participation.

“Another factor that needs to be reconsidered is the political ‘deployment' of executives to the SABC. SANEF furthermore lauded editors, journalists and other staff at the SABC who continue to do their jobs under extreme trying circumstances,” reads a press statement the organisation issued following its AGM.

Media accreditation demands ‘unacceptable'

Media accreditation demands from PR agencies, sport bodies and celebrity gatekeepers are also a matter of concern. SANEF says it regards this as “unacceptable” and it resolved to continue working with local and international partners to oppose what it terms “this unhealthy phenomenon”. The organisation says it regards this development as a threat to media freedom and the public's right to know.

SANEF restated its concern that Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni continues to refuse to allow photographers to take his picture at his press conferences, despite appeals to him in this regard. SANEF has resolved to ignore this refusal and says it is encouraging editors to continue sending photographers to the press conferences held by the Governor following the bank's monetary policy meetings.

Working to combat the crisis facing newspapers

At the AGM the press ombudsman Joe Thloloe called on editors to be more cautious about using unnamed sources and more fully embrace the prominent publication of apologies as ruled by his office. SANEF gave strong acknowledgement of the importance of his work to maintaining the credibility of the press.

The AGM debated the crisis facing newspapers all over the world, including South Africa. The SANEF statement says the organisation has resolved to work for the entrenchment of journalism in the face of the global financial crisis and the challenges of the rapidly advancing digital era.

It strongly condemned the violations of press freedom in the Gambia, Somalia and Eritrea.

The organisation has agreed to develop handbooks for multimedia reporting, coverage of Parliament, and the local government elections in 2011.

For more:

• IOL: Bang Bang journalist rewarded for courage… Greg Marinovich received the Nat Nakasa lifetime prize for courageous journalism.
  
• Politicsweb: SABC shouldn't be government mouthpiece - Jacob Zuma… Read the full text of Jacob Zuma's address to SANEF delegates.
  
• Twitte Searchr: Prof Guy Berger's SANEF tweets… A host of blow-by-blow tweets from the SANEF AGM.