Press Council hearings start with robust debate - but no ANC
18 Feb 2011
Having threatened to impose a statutory media appeals tribunal on South Africa - despite global condemnation and in the face of the Constitutional protection of a free media as President Jacob Zuma said in his State of the Nation address - the chief complainant, the ANC, failed even to attend the first hearings of the Press Council on Thursday, 17 February 2011.
The first of the Press Council hearings was held at Wits University in Johannesburg on Thursday. This kicks off a nationwide series of hearings the South African Press Council is undergoing in response to the ANC's call for a statutory media appeals tribunal. Many are hoping this review process will nullify the calls for a tribunal from the ruling party.
...But the fact remains, that whether or not the Press Council aims to appease the ANC, it seems to have been pushed into the loser's corner by the ANC, even before it has thrown its first punch.
Read the full full article on www.FreeAfricanMedia.com, a Daily Maverick initiative.
Download Media Monitoring Africa's @MediaMattersZA presentation to the Press Council at Resources - Submissions: Strengthening the Press Code.
Follow live tweets from the public hearings through the Bizcommunity #zamediafreedom Twitterfall or via Twitter Search (#presscouncilhearings OR #pcph or Press Council public hearings).
Last updated at 12.31pm on 18 February 2011.
Source: Free African Media
Free African Media is an initiative of The Daily Maverick team, in collaboration with journalists from all over Africa. With free, quality media and freedom of expression under attack from just about every corner of African reality, it's become more and more obvious that a concentrated, Africa-wide effort is needed to help the fight, and Free African Media aims to do just that. It will function as a platform dedicated to freedom of expression throughout the continent, as well to helping improve the overall quality of reporting, analysis and opinion Africa-wide. Like Free African Media on Facebook; follow on Twitter at @africanmedia and, to contribute, email moc.aidemnacirfaeerf@krow.
Go to: http://www.freeafricanmedia.com
About Julie Reid
Julie Reid is an academic and media analyst at the department of communication science at UNISA. She regularly tweets about media issues on @jbjreid.
