NEWSWATCH: ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu claims there is 'overwhelming support' throughout the country for the establishment of a media appeals tribunal (MAT), reports Mail & Guardian. Meanwhile, press ombudsman Joe Thloloe says the media should not be forced to co-operate in its own 'rape', reports IOL, which also reports that the huge amount of comment published in The Daily News on the subject of the Protection of Information Bill has been overwhelmingly critical of the ANC's proposals - so to be fair the paper has published the ANC's point of view in an edited extract from the media discussion document.
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Mail & Guardian: ANC: 'Overwhelming support' for tribunal... Surprise, surprise... Of course the ANC branches would support any bill proposed by the ANC hierarchy; if they didn't, they'd be in trouble, right?
IOL: Thloloe joins media freedom debate... The Press Ombudsman objects to the manner in which the ANC has 'put a gun' to the media in an effort to force it to co-operate in its own 'rape'.
IOL: 'Our priceless freedom is being abused'... Well, you can't say The Daily News isn't being fair - it has published an edited extract from the ANC's discussion document on the media - Media Transformation, Ownership and Diversity. In it, the ANC says 'A cursory scan of the print media reveals an astonishing degree of dishonesty, lack of professional integrity and lack of independence.' Many would reckon that description could also be applied to a number of ANC appointees in the public and private sectors. So, amongst other instances of suspected corruption and crime that are not related to the ruling party, the media has been reporting on alleged corruption and greed on the part of some of the party faithful, and the ANC doesn't seem to like that. But, a question... If the print media is so chock-a-block with dishonest reporting (i.e. lies) as the ANC claims, then why aren't the courts chock-a-block with civil cases?
