ANC NGC sends softer, cuddlier media appeals tribunal to Parliament

27 Sep 2010

One feature of the ANC's bottom-up decision making is that bodies like its NGC have all the say, in theory. So now that the NGC has had its say on the media appeals tribunal, everything said by ANC leaders up to this point becomes null and void, and the NGC's view reigns supreme for at least a couple of years. And what the NGC had to say about government regulation of media is almost entirely unlike everything ANC leaders have said to date.

ANC NGC sends softer, cuddlier media appeals tribunal to Parliament

There were some remarkable scenes in the media ghetto on the outskirts of the ANC's national general council meeting in Durban on Thursday night, 23 September 2010, and early Friday morning, as journalists were finally briefed on the outcome of discussions in the media committee.

Despite the late hour, old hand Pallo Jordan cheerfully took on journalists in defending the ANC's track record on media freedom, declaring the local media landscape to have fundamental problems and dismissing concerns about media restrictions as hysterical.

That is a scene that has played itself out many times in recent months, at various debates and discussions and seminars around the country. This time, though, it was different. With Jordan in charge the whole thing had the atmosphere of debating club rather than mortal combat. Perhaps that was because Jordan had a trick up his sleeve. He presented a resolution which included the media appeals tribunal, but did not make it central - and contains some provisions that makes the body seem almost benign.

Continue reading the full story at www.thedailymaverick.co.za.

For more:

Bizcommunity special section: special focus on media freedom
Bizcommunity Twitterfall: #ZAmediafreedom
Press Council of South Africa: Help make journalism in South Africa better
Right2Know petition: www.right2know.org.za
Avaaz.org petition: South Africa: democracy at risk
MediaMattersZA: www.Facebook.com/MediaMattersZa and @MediaMattersZA
Keep South Africa's Media Free: Facebook and @safreemedia
SANEF: Media Freedom
Freedomhouse.org: Freedom in the world
Google News Search: Protection of Information Bill media appeals tribunal
Twitter Search: ZAmediafreedom
Google Blog Search: Protection of Information Bill media appeals tribunal

Source: Daily Maverick

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About Phillip de Wet & Stephen Grootes

Phillip de Wet is the deputy editor of The Daily Maverick (www.dailymaverick.co.za), as well as its live-tweeting specialist (@phillipdewet, @dailymaverick) and the editor of First Thing, the morning email from The Daily Maverick. Stephen Grootes (@StephenGrootes) is an Eyewitness News reporter (www.ewn.co.za) who also writes for The Daily Maverick.