Press censorship looms again

Allegations of media bias around the investigation and trial of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, convicted last month on corruption charges, is the first of these.

The second is the revelation by former Cape Argus political journalist Ashley Smith that he received payment for writing favourably slanted reports about Ebrahim Rasool, then premier of the Western Cape Province.

Public outrage at an artist's depiction of former president Nelson Mandela as a corpse, reported in last week's Mail & Guardian newspaper, and labelled as 'racist' by an ANC spokesperson, is the third.

SABC repeating itself

The FXI is gravely concerned that political interference in the South African media landscape seems to be increasing. On the one hand, there have been calls from various political actors for a media tribunal to be established. On the other, allegations of political interference in the editorial policy of the public broadcaster, denied by the SABC itself, have been raised in last weekend's newspaper.

Given the right to a free press enshrined in the South African constitution, both developments appear to signal a disturbing trend towards greater political control of the news media and merit public scrutiny and debate. This is particularly true given that the new controversy at the SABC has similarities with the notorious blacklisting saga of 2006/07.

In 2007, the Sisulu Commission of Enquiry into the blacklisting of certain political commentators perceived to be biased against then-president Thabo Mbeki found that they "had been excluded from news and current affairs programmes on grounds that that were not objectively defensible".

The FXI lodged a complaint to the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on the SABC's failure to implement the recommendations of the Sisulu Commission. ICASA's unsatisfactory ruling in 2009 that it has no jurisdiction over internal journalistic policy, prompted the FXI to take the matter under review to the High Court, and it is currently awaiting the finalisation of a court date.

While the FXI welcomes the SABC board's promise to fully investigate the new allegations that acting head of news, Phil Molefe, banned senior news executives from using interviews with Mbeki, these developments appear to indicate that censorship continues to be a problem at the public broadcaster.

The SABC has a mandate to represent the full spectrum of South African society, in a manner that is free from political or other bias. To ensure that the public broadcaster does not become diluted into a state organ subject to the whims of those in political power, it is critical that the SABC withstands pressures that may result in censorship and that the board strongly defend the broadcaster's independence.

Media tribunal

The concept of a media tribunal to adjudicate complaints from citizens about media reports was first proposed at the ANC's 2007 elective conference in Polokwane.

The ruling party's perception that the major media companies in the country were 'hostile' towards it and that the self-regulation of the media via the office of the Press Ombudsman was insufficient, prompted the ANC proposal, which was slated by some media practitioners as being a move towards state intervention and control of the media.

However, in March 2009 the ANC's Jessie Duarte noted that the ruling party's view had shifted towards the need to strengthen what it viewed as a weak Press Ombudsman.

Press independence paramount

It must be noted here that neither journalists nor politicians can operate without accountability and that neither group is above the law. The activities of both need to be scrutinised closely in matters such as those described above.

In the wake of Smith's damaging revelations, media practitioners cannot afford to further hurt the profession by sanctimoniously assuming that the media is always above scrutiny.

The two suggestions - of strengthening the existing Press Ombudsman's office and of establishing a truly independent media tribunal respectively - both merit consideration and public debate. In either case, independence must be safeguarded by ensuring that there is no direct regulation by the state or the commercial media.