THE Conference of Editors was started some two decades ago as a bold attempt to bridge the gap between English and Afrikaans editors of mainstream newspapers.
Its structures reflected that narrow goal, appropriate only to the strange politics of the time: in order to avoid conflict between these two disparate groups, it was a body which did or said nothing without consensus. This meant it did or said little.
It did, however, draw these editors together and create a platform for them to negotiate their way through the repressive conditions of the 1980s. They did this by reaching agreements with the purveyors of censorship — the military, prisons and police — which set out the parameters of media coverage. They argued that this allowed them at least to report a little without going to prison; others argued that these agreements were pacts with the devil which symbolised an acceptance of
In the 1990s, like all such bodies, the conference went through change, moving to widen its representivity to take in new newspapers such as the Mail & Guardian. The conference also became more muscular, throwing out the need for consensus on every issue, ditching the agreements with the authorities and beginning to speak out more strongly on issues of free expression.
This week, the conference effectively died, with the resignation of chairman Khulu Sibiya, editor of City Press. A few weeks ago, the editor of the country’s biggest newspaper, the Sunday Times’ Ken Owen,
Racial polarisation lies behind the collapse — with most editors finding themselves caught between a small band of conservative white editors, arguing against the need for major change in media ownership and control, and the racial ghetto of the Black Editors’ Forum (BEF). The divisions of the past are carried into the present, distorting the debate about the state of this country’s media.
The editor of the M&G is withdrawing from the now- moribund conference. One option would be to apply to the BEF for membership; he may just pass the pencil test, but was classified white under the previous government and this would make it a provocative and probably unproductive move.
Editors need a forum to speak with one voice on the many important issues facing the media. When there is a broadly representative one, which is able to rise above the current and hopefully temporary racial dynamics, this newspaper will associate itself with it.