Speaking in private means nothing these days

Anyone who feels that the media in this country has misquoted them can lay complaints at the press ombudsman (www.presscouncil.org.za) and Broadcasting Complaints Commission (www.bccsa.co.za. But, with news reporting now involving anyone with a cellphone and subsequent posting of content on websites such as YouTube or Facebook, not only will high profile people not be able to get any sort of recourse, they won't even be able to identify who posted controversial content on global websites.

And because of the sheer volume, even though many of these sites have moderators keeping an eye out for nasty postings, they simply would not have the ability to act quickly enough to delete something said by someone in far away South Africa.

Markgraaf

The simple rule for anyone tempted to speak his or her mind is that no matter how private the conversation is, it will get out. Andre Markgraaf will attest to that when a private telephone conversation he had got him fired from his job as Springbok coach.

The same applies to boardroom decisions. No matter how directors might decide to keep something quiet, they forget that someone has to type up minutes and distribute them to PAs , secretaries and others in the company. Which effectively means that there are very rarely such things as boardroom secrets.

Equally, in politics, any newspaper editor will tell you that no matter how secret a political party or cabinet meeting, it only takes one dissident to spread the word and the first thing he or she does is tip off the media.

In essence, the golden rule today is that if you don't want anyone to report what you say, just don't say it.