AUCKLAND PARK - 19 OCTOBER 1999
Issued by: Deputy President's Office
Master of Ceremonies, Mr Don Mattera
The General Secretary of the Forum for Black Journalists, Oupa
Ngwenya,
Chairperson of Human Rights, Dr Barney Pityana
Director of The Freedom Forum, Jerelyn Eddings
All Members of the Media, present tonight,
Distinguished Guests
Ladies & Gentlemen
Tonight we commemorate the dark events of the day, 22 years ago, when the apartheid government shut down 19 anti-apartheid organisations and publications. It was indeed a dark day for South Africa - not only for the media but for all its people in their entirety. This clamp down was an unprecedented attack on the struggle for liberation. Yet the resolve of our people to fight, not just for freedom in general, but for basic human rights, including press freedom, was greatly strengthened.
Ladies and gentlemen, the landscape has changed drastically since the days of Black October. Members of the media know that as a result of the attainment of freedom, they can virtually articulate their views without fear or favour. You are free to expose the injustices of society, to probe the activities of government, to criticise our actions and yourselves too. And you need not fear the appearance of the police - unless, of course, you haven't paid your taxes or have done something to offend the Scorpions!
This scenario is just one small example of how the South African media landscape has changed since the days of Black October. The SABC, in whose building we are gathered tonight, is no longer His Master's Voice. It is now a plublic broadcaster in the truest sense. Similar, South Africans now have hundreds of radio stations at their disposal thanks to the growth - facilitated by Government and the independent Broadcasting Authority - Of the community media.
The greatest change, of course, has been in the field of electronic publishing and the Internet. These changes can best be described as a revolution, as they are revolutionising how we work, how we relax, and how we engage with each other and with the rest of the world. But it is not just the media landscape which has changed.
There have been profound changes on the side of government. We now have a range of state institutions which safeguard and strengthen our democracy, such as the Public Protector, the Human Rights Commission and a commitment to the creation of a commission for the protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities, the Commission for Gender Equality, the Auditor-General and the Electoral Commission.
We have crafted a constitution which, through the Bill of Rights, guarantees the freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of the press. Soon, we will have in place the Open Democracy Act which will even further enhance public access to accurate information. It will enable the public to scrutinise and participate in government decision-making which affects them.
No-one can doubt that we have become a more open society, thanks to both the new society our people have crafted and to the impact of the new technology which has been developed.
It is these two developments - the growing openness of our society, and the information technology revolution which has taken place alongside it - which pose the two greatest challenges to the media in the millennium.
It is how the media uses the space provided by democracy and uses the technology made available through the information revolution which will determine its future. Both developments bring with them new responsibilities, and the media will need to keep redefining the way it responds to both these responsibilities if it is to survive and grow.
Firstly, we must be clear about the impact of the technological revolution which is sweeping across the world. It has the potential to fundamentally change the power relationships within society and to influence economies, political structures, civil society and corporate destinies. It poses major challenges to all of us - not least of all to those involved in the dissemination of information.
As more and more people get access to information, we have to ask ourselves: What will course through those new communications arteries? What content will run through those optic fibres? What agenda will be pursued?
A related question is: by what yardstick will we determine what is newsworthy and what is not? Indeed, who determines what is news? A classical example is the story told by the President of a senior journalist telling him "it is not my duty to report when you build a dam, but it is certainly my responsibility to report when you fail to build the dam."
As Government, we would obviously want to see an agenda which empowers the broad mass of South Africans by providing them with information they can use. This would include the promotion of socio-economic development, involving communities in development, facilitating internal and external trade, promoting collective self-determination and human rights, and so on.
We also would like to see a situation where the media uses this technology to adopt a more probing approach to the world we live in. For example, we believe the media has a critical role to play in using new technology to expose corrupt practices, wherever they are. Computers, electronic databases and the world-wide web allow journalists to more rigorously monitor and scrutinise the activities of those in power.
They are powerful resources in the hands of an investigative journalist, and we trust that the media profession is making maximum use of these resources - as well as training its members in how to use this technology to its maximum.
Secondly, there are challenges facing the media in this new open society of ours. With the dawn of the new millennium just over two months away, let us hope that the birth of a new century brings with it a new approach to journalism: A commitment to tell the truth. A commitment to balanced reportage, presenting all sides of the story before publication in fairness. A media which acknowledges its responsibility to ensure the deepening of democracy by being constructive, developmental, educational, transformative and generally positive about our future.
In the same vein, let us hope the dawn of new millennium marks the beginning of the end of poor journalism: An end to single-source reporting, sensationalism for the sake of it, the publication of untested allegations from faceless unnamed sources, the reliance on the same tired minority voices at the expense of the majority.
Let us express our hope that the dawn of the next millennium will bring with it an end to negative criticism based on the false notion that the relationship between government and the media is necessarily antagonistic. It was proper and correct for the media in the past to join hands with the people in the struggle against apartheid and its government. There needs now to be a paradigm shift in how we perceive the relationship between government and the media is necessarily antagonistic. It was proper and correct for the media in the past to join hands with the people in the struggle against apartheid and its government. There needs now to be a paradigm shift in how we perceive the relationship between the democratic government and the media.
In this context, there is a disturbing body of opinion which suggests that black journalists negatively criticise government to earn themselves "positions of authority" in the industry. We need to correct this perception, for if it is true, it belittles the contributions of generations of black writers who have made an enormous contribution to this profession.
The dawn of the next millennium provides an opportunity for a new beginning, and we would encourage the media to commemorate this by itself embarking on a series of "Millennium Projects" which could ensure that it meets the demands of the new century.
These projects could take various forms - for example, projects within newsrooms to find new sources of information and expertise. The Commission on Gender Equality has done excellent work in developing a Gender Directory, which helps journalists to gather and propagate the views of women, but we are still not seeing equality in the presentation of the views of women - particularly on issues such as the economy, which remains almost immune to the views of women commentators. We believe a concerted effort is needed to change this, to ensure the broadening of the base of information.
Other millennium projects could include a conscious campaign to involve the people of South Africa in a debate around their understanding of media freedom. We understand organisations such as the South African Editors' Forum have been discussing this for some time, but would like to see this project take on real meaning in the next century. It is critical debate, and one which should involve the practitioners, the industry and society at large. We would like to hear how ordinary South Africans feel about the freedom of the media, and how they perceive its role in the next century.
Of course, the challenges facing the media are not only confined to those who practice as journalists. The owners of media institutions face even greater challenges as the deal with declining readerships and audiences in many sectors, and as they struggle to come to terms with the proliferation of new sources and channels of news. We believe that, to some extent, the solution lies in the industry's own hands.
For a start, it would probably benefit the media to make a conscious, clearly speltout commitment to the training and development of journalists. This is one of the greatest challenges facing the media right now - to train and retain skilled people from various backgrounds, to ensure the highest quality journalism on radio and television, in our newspapers and magazines, and on the growing numbers of news websites on the Internet.
A Millennium Project to ensure this would make an invaluable contribution not just to the media, but to society at large. Such a project would require the commitment of resources and expertise on an unprecedented scale, and would need a genuine commitment to ensure the empowerment of staff. It would require input from staff themselves, and co-determination on the objectives and outcomes. Similarly, the media needs to play a leading role in bringing about greater diversity in the Industry. Granted, we have seen some unbundling and rebundling of media houses, but there needs to be accelerated change in ownership structures. New ways need to be found to ensure the survival of emerging media, such as the myriad of fledgling community media stations.
But an even greater challenge is to facilitate the birth of new media initiatives, particularly those which bring women and the youth into the mainstream of the media and the media industry.
The Media Development and Diversity Agency which is being explored by Government will go some way to ensuring this, but perhaps the industry should be considering its own Millennium Projects to ensure the establishment of new voices for the marginalised, which would greatly enrich our society. It should be taking a lead in diverting its experience and resources into these initiatives - again, both for the sake of the industry and for society at large.
There are the challenges facing the organised sectors of the industry, such as unions and professional bodies such as the Forum Of Black Journalists and the South African National Editors' Forum. Theirs is a huge challenge - to fight for the livelihood of their members during a period of globalisation, rightsizing and attacks of their resources. At the same time, these organisations are expected to campaign for better journalism and for improvements in quality which can only be brought about with increases resources.
Perhaps these organisations require a Millennium Project of their own to ensure their survival. This could take the form of a joint or collective approach to the challenges facing the media which have been outlined above: interventions, for example, into training, diversity, public debate and ownership.
Finally, the challenge for black journalists in general and Africans in particular remains the need to articulate and promote the concept of the rebirth of Africa as a continent and the creation of a better life for all its people. They need to do this not as mere spectators, critics and commentators - but as an integral part of a broader movement for the realisation of the African renaissance.
This will be a fitting tribute to sacrifices of such stalwarts as George Mbele, Juby Mayet, Percy Qoboza, Nat Nakasa, Can Themba, Dan Tloome, Ruth First, Joe Gqabi, Sol Plaatjie and John Tengo Jabavu, whose invaluable contribution to objective and investigative journalism and patriotism sits proudly in the annals of the history of our struggle, and rightly so. Ladies and gentlemen, journalists have a proud tradition in South Africa. We express our hope that our current writers and those who, in future, will aspire to be writers in a democratic South Africa will emulate this proud tradition.
We trust they will not fail!
Yet, it is also important to correctly locate the media as an industry steeped in the traditions of the private sector whose motive force is the market.
There is therefore a need for those who work in this industry to ensure a balance between their social responsibility of informing the people, playing their watchdog role and the economic interests of its shareholders.
I hope the future will mean that we, as government, the media and all other sectors can co-operate and form a strong partnerships around strengthening our democracy and inculcating a culture of right and responsibilities, a new morality, a new patriotism, a new bond and take forward the spirit of our constitution.
This is the challenge for all of us as we grapple and reflect on the issues at hand. Our prosperous future is certain, together, with your co-operation and support we can move forward with confidence to ensure that never again shall the state machinery be used to suppress freedom of expression and other aspirations of the people!
I thank you