ANC gets what it deserves in Independent Newspapers

He said it was obvious that the young journalist wanted to get a particular quote to suit a predetermined angle and, then, after my friend didn't give the journalist what he wanted, the reporter phoned back later the same day to try again (clearly at the behest of the news editor).

Tale of borderline ethics

I shuddered when I heard this tale of borderline ethics... There, I've been telling the ANC in previous columns to back off with their proposed media appeals tribunal and pp www.bizcommunity.com/Search/196/11/sm-3/i-11/r-196/s-Secrecy+Bill.html Secrecy Bill]] because, I believe, journalists are the best judges of journalism and the South African press do try their best to be ethical, accurate and fair to all parties.

I've personally never come across a journalist doggedly trying to fit the facts to an angle in the newsrooms I have worked in - and I've never worked for a news editor or editor who has asked me to do that.

When journalists talk about "angles", everyone understands that it's not set in stone at the story-conception stage. Where I come from - and tellingly, it's not Independent Newspapers - the story is what it is. If the angle changes or is blown out the water when you interview people, then you follow the facts, even if it means the story is dropped. You win some, you lose some - and you live to write another story the next day.

If ANC politicians are encountering the same dodgy practice that my friend did, then it's little wonder that they are so critical of the press.

Might be happening more often

Sadly, I rather suspect that it might be happening more often than we would like to believe at Independent Newspapers, which also happens to be the biggest newspaper owner in this country with titles such as The Star, Cape Times, The Mercury, Pretoria News and The Sunday Independent in its stable.

The Sunday Independent April 2011

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One only has to look at what passes for a splash in The Sunday Independent or The Star to see how easily these papers are pulled around by the nose by people with political agendas. I established in a column for journalism.co.za a few months back that a document claiming there was a Tokyo Sexwale-led coup to unseat President Jacob Zuma as ANC leader was hawked around town for a couple of weeks before the Indy took the bait and ran it as a front-page story under the very sexy headline: "ZUMA PALACE REVOLT".

More judicious editors - the Mail & Guardian's Nic Dawes and the Sunday Times' Ray Hartley - also had the report but felt it needed more investigation and corroboration before they would consider publishing a story about it.

Any seasoned hack will tell you that just because a document says "top secret" doesn't mean it's accurate and it could even be a hoax.

Recent media storm

The Star July 2011

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Recently we had a media storm over public protector Thuli Madonsela after The Star broke a story citing unnamed sources and undisclosed documentation, claiming the police were poised to arrest her on fraud and corruption charges. It turned out that a possible conflict of interest had been investigated by the government but that Madonsela had been cleared.

At best, The Star came away with egg on its face, looking like it was manipulated by those with a political agenda against Madonsela. At worst questions have been raised - most notably by the Daily Maverick in a column by Chris Vick - over whether the paper was party to or even actively promoting this agenda [ and a response from Selby Bokaba, also published by the Daily Maverick - managing ed]].

The sad truth at the heart of this clumsy journalism is that Independent Newspapers has been decimated by more than a decade of ruthless cost-cutting and retrenchments so that it just doesn't have enough skilled, thoughtful journalists who can navigate the minefield of spooks and red herrings that the ANC government has become.

Plagued by weak news editing

The titles are plagued by weak news editing and low morale, and do not have enough seasoned staff to guide younger staff in paying attention to the detail, in striving for balance and accuracy, and to keep the moral compass pointed north (let's not forget the scandal that surfaced last year at Independent Newspapers' Cape Argus when the paper's political reporter admitting to taking kickbacks for spinning his writing in support of the former Western Cape premier, Ebrahim Rasool) .

Everyone in the business has heard horror stories from buddies at Independent Newspapers over the years since Tony O'Reilly's Irish-based Independent News & Media bought into SA in 1995: the boerewors stand in the basement that was passed off as a Christmas party, the newsroom with one Internet terminal, the quarterly profit reviews at which managers must account for their units' profits and slash staff or resources if they aren't making the targets.

So who is to blame for this deplorable state of affairs?

There is no doubt that the Irish are ruthless - and will not reinvest in their SA newspapers at the expense of their profit margins. We all know they really mean it when they say, rather chillingly in the 2010 annual results, that the operating margin of 21.1% (up from 19.6% in 2009) was "assisted by the positive impact of strict cost containment".

ANC played a key role

We must never forget, though, that in the mid-1990s the ANC played a key role in smoothing the path for the Irish to acquire the majority of SA's English newspapers. Most unfortunately, for the good people of Durban and Cape Town, this meant both the cities' leading dailies - once fierce competitors - were snapped up by O'Reilly (The Mercury and Daily News in Durban and Cape Times and Cape Argus in Cape Town).

O'Reilly publicly courted approval from the ANC under Nelson Mandela for his acquisitions and many journalists suspected at the time that he contributed handsomely to the party's coffers.

To the end of the 1990s and the early part of the Noughties, O'Reilly continued to count on top ANC bigwigs turning up for his sumptuous annual company dinners in Cape Town - and would show it off in the photographs of his own newspapers.

Talk about Rupert Murdoch going through the back door at No. 10! The British PMs at least understood that shots of themselves being jolly with a newspaper baron would be unpalatable to the public - our lot had far less shame.

Clearly the cosy relationship has fizzled

Clearly the cosy relationship between O'Reilly and the ANC has fizzled - possibly because O'Reilly's attention was focused on bigger issues as the recession took hold and his fight with hostile shareholder Denis O'Brien hotted up. (O'Brien, by the way, is now the biggest shareholder of the company - with 22%. He paid close to €600 million for the shares and then saw their value plunge to a tenth of that!)

When it comes to the fall in the quality of journalism at Independent Newspapers, maybe the ANC is getting just what it deserves - although weak newsdesks do also present the tantalising opportunity for manipulation for political ends and wayward splashes such as the recent Madonsela one helps the ANC in its fight to limit media freedom in this country.

Maybe, Independent Newspapers and the ANC are both getting what they deserve. It's a damn shame the rest of us are being punished for it, too.

For more:

• Business Day: No plan to end print deal with Avusa - Independent, July 2011
  
• Mail & Guardian: Madonsela vs the world, July 2011
  
• The Guardian: Why O'Brien has spent millions to buy into the O'Reillys' company, June 2011
  
• The Guardian: Could Denis O'Brien's Caribbean success fuel INM takeover?, June 2011
  
• Bizcommunity: Guide to proposed Media Appeals Tribunal and Secrecy Bill, August 2010