Date: 06/11/2003
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molefe: North West Exco and SANEF Indaba
ADDRESS BY NORTH WEST PREMIER DR POPO SIMON MOLEFE ON THE OCCASION OF THE EXCO/SANEF INDABA, SUN CITY, 6 NOVEMBER 2003
Programme Director,
MECs present,
The Executive Mayor of Rustenburg, Thabo Mabe,
The leadership of SANEF,
Editors of various newspapers,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am very pleased to be part of this historic Indaba between the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and ourselves as elected representatives of the people of the North West Province.
It is our view that a meeting of this nature is long overdue.
The failure on the part of government and the media to engage each other in a regular, frank and robust debate has contributed to the environment of mistrust and animosity that apparently exists between media organisations and government.
This gathering is therefore significant in that it will open channels of effective communication between the provincial government and media in the North West Province.
It is our expectation that, out of this gathering an even deeper understanding of the critical roles both the media and the democratic government play in the transformation process will emerge.
We wish to take this opportunity to applaud the role played by some sections of the media in advancing the struggle against racial oppression.
In this regard, we are reminded of one of South Africa's most renowned newspaper editors, Percy Qoboza who, despite all odds, ensured that The World newspaper became the voice of the oppressed.
We are also reminded of the work done by Nat Nakasa who used his position at the Rand Daily Mail in the 1960s to expose the injustices committed against the majority in our country.
In particular, we of the North West Province carry with us fond memories of the work done by that brilliant journalist, editor and human rights campaigner Solomon Tshekisho Platjee, who was once resident in our province.
We are encouraged by efforts from most media organisations to "transform their news rooms" in line with the broad transformation agenda of our county.
We have no doubt that this will make a massive contribution towards ensuring that our media tells the true South African story.
As South Africans, we have a lot to tell. We can tell the story of how, as a nation, we were able to break with our unhappy past in a manner described by many as "miracle". We can tell of our accomplishments in the past ten years of democracy in building, for ourselves, a better country and a country of our dreams. We can tell of the massive progress we made since 1994 in broadening access to basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation.
In the North West Province, our people are working hard to improve the quality of their lives. On a daily basis we are seeing them in places such as Kganyesa, Moruleng, Motla and Ottosdal taking charge of their lives and seizing opportunities created by our democratic order. Sadly though, these stories do not find their way into our mainstream media.
The problem in our province is worsened by the fact that ours is largely a rural province. It appears that most media organisations have difficulty in sending journalists to events in the remote parts of our province, because of the sheer effort involved. It seems to us that it is not fashionable for journalists to travel long distances, under the scorching sun, on a dirt road to cover an event in some rural area. Journalists seem to prefer the comfort of covering events in major cities where accessibility is not a problem.
Collectively, we have a responsibility to ensure that we stop this trend. The voices of all our people, including those in the remote parts of our country and province, need to be heard.
Media has a responsibility to reflect on the progress made in bringing sustainable development in rural areas such as Makgabetlwana. It must reflect how the rural women of Kgalagadi are working hard to improve the quality of their lives and that of their communities.
Consistent with the Way Forward agreed upon at the Cabinet/SANEF Indaba, we must move with speed towards the strategic objective of extending media coverage of rural areas. We must also extend the reach of our media into rural areas.
As government we have already made an undertaking that we will give the media reasonable notice of events taking place in rural areas that need coverage.
In addition, we will continue to place emphasis on building strong community-based media as a way of expanding the reach of media into rural areas.
We are doing all these things so that we can give a voice to our rural communities. This is one of the major challenges facing the media particularly in the North West Province.
Our experience both as a province and generally in the country shows us that; in their drive to secure exclusive stories, journalists tend to overlook or fail to confirm certain facts.
The leads to the publication of sensationalist stories marked by a major departure from the journalistic values of fair and objective reporting. Some of these stories later turn out to be an embarrassment, as they have no logical basis.
Even more disturbing, is that these stories tend to perpetuate false and negative stereotypes about our country and its leaders. They also cause untold emotional harm to the people involved and their families.
This clearly cannot continue unabated. Like true witnesses, journalists have a responsibility to report accurately and without bias. They must understand that they wield enormous power in shaping public opinion. They must use this power responsibly.
We are confident that, current efforts aimed at "transforming the news rooms" will seriously look at the important issue of building capacity among our journalist to uphold the values that have, for many years, been the trademark of this profession.
We are also humbled by efforts by media organisations to strengthen self-regulation within the industry, as this will go a long way in improving the quality of our reporting.
As government, we understand that communication is a two way process. While calling on the media to do certain things in order to improve the flow of information, we have simultaneously undertaken the task of improving our communication machinery.
We have accepted the need for us to improve the ability of government communicators to spread our message.
In the North West Province, we have established a Government Communicators Forum whose task is to ensure that we continue to improve the way we communicate with our people.
We are also engaged in the task of improving the quality of information we give to the media organisations.
All of these efforts are aimed at ensuring that the we continue to tell the true story of our country. This is a story of a country that has overcome major hurdlers, a country that has embarked on an irreversible path to prosperity for all.
It is this story that this Indaba must assist us to spread.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
6 November 2003
Source: North West Provincial Government
Title: Molefe: North West Exco and SANEF Indaba
ADDRESS BY NORTH WEST PREMIER DR POPO SIMON MOLEFE ON THE OCCASION OF THE EXCO/SANEF INDABA, SUN CITY, 6 NOVEMBER 2003
Programme Director,
MECs present,
The Executive Mayor of Rustenburg, Thabo Mabe,
The leadership of SANEF,
Editors of various newspapers,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am very pleased to be part of this historic Indaba between the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) and ourselves as elected representatives of the people of the North West Province.
It is our view that a meeting of this nature is long overdue.
The failure on the part of government and the media to engage each other in a regular, frank and robust debate has contributed to the environment of mistrust and animosity that apparently exists between media organisations and government.
This gathering is therefore significant in that it will open channels of effective communication between the provincial government and media in the North West Province.
It is our expectation that, out of this gathering an even deeper understanding of the critical roles both the media and the democratic government play in the transformation process will emerge.
We wish to take this opportunity to applaud the role played by some sections of the media in advancing the struggle against racial oppression.
In this regard, we are reminded of one of South Africa's most renowned newspaper editors, Percy Qoboza who, despite all odds, ensured that The World newspaper became the voice of the oppressed.
We are also reminded of the work done by Nat Nakasa who used his position at the Rand Daily Mail in the 1960s to expose the injustices committed against the majority in our country.
In particular, we of the North West Province carry with us fond memories of the work done by that brilliant journalist, editor and human rights campaigner Solomon Tshekisho Platjee, who was once resident in our province.
We are encouraged by efforts from most media organisations to "transform their news rooms" in line with the broad transformation agenda of our county.
We have no doubt that this will make a massive contribution towards ensuring that our media tells the true South African story.
As South Africans, we have a lot to tell. We can tell the story of how, as a nation, we were able to break with our unhappy past in a manner described by many as "miracle". We can tell of our accomplishments in the past ten years of democracy in building, for ourselves, a better country and a country of our dreams. We can tell of the massive progress we made since 1994 in broadening access to basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation.
In the North West Province, our people are working hard to improve the quality of their lives. On a daily basis we are seeing them in places such as Kganyesa, Moruleng, Motla and Ottosdal taking charge of their lives and seizing opportunities created by our democratic order. Sadly though, these stories do not find their way into our mainstream media.
The problem in our province is worsened by the fact that ours is largely a rural province. It appears that most media organisations have difficulty in sending journalists to events in the remote parts of our province, because of the sheer effort involved. It seems to us that it is not fashionable for journalists to travel long distances, under the scorching sun, on a dirt road to cover an event in some rural area. Journalists seem to prefer the comfort of covering events in major cities where accessibility is not a problem.
Collectively, we have a responsibility to ensure that we stop this trend. The voices of all our people, including those in the remote parts of our country and province, need to be heard.
Media has a responsibility to reflect on the progress made in bringing sustainable development in rural areas such as Makgabetlwana. It must reflect how the rural women of Kgalagadi are working hard to improve the quality of their lives and that of their communities.
Consistent with the Way Forward agreed upon at the Cabinet/SANEF Indaba, we must move with speed towards the strategic objective of extending media coverage of rural areas. We must also extend the reach of our media into rural areas.
As government we have already made an undertaking that we will give the media reasonable notice of events taking place in rural areas that need coverage.
In addition, we will continue to place emphasis on building strong community-based media as a way of expanding the reach of media into rural areas.
We are doing all these things so that we can give a voice to our rural communities. This is one of the major challenges facing the media particularly in the North West Province.
Our experience both as a province and generally in the country shows us that; in their drive to secure exclusive stories, journalists tend to overlook or fail to confirm certain facts.
The leads to the publication of sensationalist stories marked by a major departure from the journalistic values of fair and objective reporting. Some of these stories later turn out to be an embarrassment, as they have no logical basis.
Even more disturbing, is that these stories tend to perpetuate false and negative stereotypes about our country and its leaders. They also cause untold emotional harm to the people involved and their families.
This clearly cannot continue unabated. Like true witnesses, journalists have a responsibility to report accurately and without bias. They must understand that they wield enormous power in shaping public opinion. They must use this power responsibly.
We are confident that, current efforts aimed at "transforming the news rooms" will seriously look at the important issue of building capacity among our journalist to uphold the values that have, for many years, been the trademark of this profession.
We are also humbled by efforts by media organisations to strengthen self-regulation within the industry, as this will go a long way in improving the quality of our reporting.
As government, we understand that communication is a two way process. While calling on the media to do certain things in order to improve the flow of information, we have simultaneously undertaken the task of improving our communication machinery.
We have accepted the need for us to improve the ability of government communicators to spread our message.
In the North West Province, we have established a Government Communicators Forum whose task is to ensure that we continue to improve the way we communicate with our people.
We are also engaged in the task of improving the quality of information we give to the media organisations.
All of these efforts are aimed at ensuring that the we continue to tell the true story of our country. This is a story of a country that has overcome major hurdlers, a country that has embarked on an irreversible path to prosperity for all.
It is this story that this Indaba must assist us to spread.
I wish you well in your deliberations.
I thank you!
Issued by: Office of the Premier, North West Provincial Government
6 November 2003
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