Govt funding a threat to community media's editorial integrity?

The conference, hosted jointly by the Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) and the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF), aimed to expose critical questions confronting media projects in South Africa and facilitate a dialogue among leaders and various stakeholders in the industry.

“I am afraid that Government may use its consistent financial support to subdue community media's editorial integrity and starts dictating what should be said or written,” Mazibuko Jara,a former board member of Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), said.

Urged not to succumb to pressure

While Jara acknowledged that public funding of community media in SA is a joke, he however urged community media not to succumb to that pressure, but instead work as a partner with Government in the quest of telling stories in the way that reinforces social mobilisation in society.

In a continent plagued by media repressive laws, regular crackdown on ‘counter-revolutionary' journalists and resentment of independent media, there has been a huge increase of cases whereby governments and powerful private companies have withdrawn their advertising from press organisations seen as highly critical of their policies.

Melissa Moore, of the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), said, “In the current hostile media environment where censorship is now the name of the game and an attempt is being made to force journalists to reveal their sources, government and private sector's advertising to press in return for good coverage is going to be a big issue.”

Noma Rangana, programme manager at Citizen Journalism in Africa, said, “Community media must create space for public debate, and I am of the view that public debate is dying in this country.

“Threatens democracy”

“We depend on media to tell us the truth about what is going on in society. When a government withdraws advertising from a certain press, it threatens democracy.

“Look at what is happening in South Africa. When it is elections time, the Government tends to be over-zealous and all of sudden it realises that community media exists and starts advertising intensively in community newspapers, radio and TV.”

Rangana added, “We don't have issues with Government. They need to be concerned about how they can solve the problems but not why, or how did the press expose the issues.”

Not only public funding

Karen Thorne, Cape Town TV station manager, said that community media funding should not only lie in public funding, but in a mixed economy - Government, sponsors, and corporate social investments.

Mark Weinberg of AIDC said: “Community media outlets need to diversify their sources of incomes and have many advertisers to avoid descending into crisis if one advertiser pulls out because of an editorial disagreement.

“We must ensure that if there is corruption in the local government we should be able to expose it regardless.”

For more, go to www.ncrf.org.za and www.aidc.org.za.