Jacquie Golding-Duffy provides a first taste of Comtask’s findings on the South African Communications Services and the print industry
Deputy president thabo Mbeki’s task group on government communications — Comtask — will recommend that the South African Communications Services (Sacs) be dissolved and replaced with a new and much leaner government structure.
This will allow for a “more streamlined professional body” to disseminate information concerning the government, says Comtask convenor Mandla Langa.
The four major print conglomerates — Nasionale Pers, Perskor, Independent Newspapers and Times Media Limited (TML) — will also be scrutinised when the operations conducted by these print stables are brought to the attention of the Competition Board. The board works under the auspices of the Department of Trade and Industry, which is considering drawing up new competition legislation, possibly anti-trust.
In an interview with some Comtask members, the Mail & Guardian got an idea of what the group’s findings will be. The report promises to be a heavyweight compilation of impressions, recommendations and alternatives offered by members of the team, as well as the input and concerns of stakeholders.
Comtask believes the Competition Board, or the committee reviewing competition legislation, could assist the team with its brief on foreign ownership and diversity in the media by placing the spotlight on those print stables believed to have unlimited clout and an unfair advantage in the press industry.
The task group was commissioned by Mbeki earlier this year to investigate the relationship between the media and government and the effect foreign ownership has had on the diversity of local media.
It is understood that Comtask is concerned about the stranglehold held by, among others, Independent Newspapers and TML. Comtask members are concerned with the distribution bases of the print stables. Langa says Comtask’s findings will be referred to the Competition Board in an effort to flag the state of the print industry.
Depending on the legislation drafted, legal measures could possibly be taken against those print groups believed to be in control of the print and publishing arena, but this route may be a last resort.
However, he cautioned that the recommendations regarding Sacs and the print stables had to be “discussed further”, and possibly amended, once all the responses are gathered and studied at Comtask’s colloquium in the first week in October. The colloquium involves getting feedback from various stakeholders, government departments and several broadcasting and print groups.
The responses to Comtask’s findings will be debated again, before the report is finalised and handed over to Mbeki in mid-October.
The operations of the four major print groups involve the publishing, printing and distribution of newspapers. Concern is mounting that it is only a handful of large newspaper houses which appear to dominate and control all three practices.
Comtask is focusing its attention on distribution and who is responsible for this task. The team found that in the English press the dominant player in printing and distribution is Independent Newspapers. The stable has its publishing done by Allied Publishing, a company partly owned by TML.
As one task team member put it: “The reason we are interested in distribution is because it can so easily be a controlling mechanism. Distribution can be seen as a gateway to the dissemination of material. Diversity in the print media is not possible unless the gateway of distributing dailies and weeklies is not vested in the hands of a select few players.
“Having a hold over distribution is having effective control of who comes into the newspaper arena and what material goes out and where that material goes.”
The current publishing and distribution practices carried out by the four print houses could possibly be tested when the new competition legislation is drafted.
However, the finer details of when the findings will be referred to the board still have to be thrashed out. Langa stressed that no formal relationship will be developed with the board, but that the intention of the task group is merely to draw the board’s attention to the situation prevailing in the media.
Independent group deputy chief executive Ivan Fallon says the “stranglehold theory is absolute crap peddled by the Mail & Guardian”.
Fallon argues that the group does not have as many printing presses as other stables and that Allied Publishing is a not a money-making mechanism, but a necessary operation which is costly and complex and in line with international press operations. Independent owns five printing presses in Gauteng, three in Durban and three in Cape Town.
Langa says Comtask members are aware that the control of distribution goes hand-in-hand with having the economic clout and can only work on a “co-operative basis”, but who wields the economic clout has to be examined.
He says although Comtask was aware that some newspapers’ holding companies were offshore, it also recognised that some stables were at the forefront of black empowerment. “Although some groups push black frontiers, they have to at the same time take cognisance of a need for equity”.
Print media is also “far too white”, which created a “disturbing picture” as newspapers catered for multitudes of people, the majority of whom are black in South Africa, says Langa. This imbalance would be addressed in Comtask’s report.
As concerns Sacs, the idea is to streamline with more professionals on board — the expertise, if necessary, drawn from talented people outside of the government, Langa says.
The perception of one task team member is that Sacs consisted of “hangers-on”.
“There was considerable debate on the future of Sacs as it was found that in most instances there was duplication of tasks. Expertise is also needed at Sacs as most of the people employed are not sufficiently trained to be doing the job that they are doing.”
There is apparantly an insecurity prevailing among Sacs staffers who have the option to resign and accept a package — if they do, they are prohibited by law from working for the government again. Staffers can choose to remain at Sacs and be part of the transformation, but it is believed that the positions they currently hold are not guaranteed. Staffers will have to reapply for their jobs.
Langa says Comtask investigated internationally and locally the pros and cons of having a ministry of information directly linked to the government and concluded that “it will not be proper for South Africa”. He says international trends indicated that bulky departments of information are no longer operational.
“The trend is towards much smaller communications structures [with competent people],” he says, adding that government departments and various ministries had to buck-up and become more efficient with less bureaucracy. “We have to develop streamlined communication facilities to be in line internationally,” he says.
The attitude of the media also had to be addressed, says Langa. “Age-old fossilised thinking” apparent in most reports published in local dailies and weeklies has to be seriously addressed.
The media, he says, tends to quote mostly white people, developing a situation of “unrecognised disempowerment”. This, Langa explains, is when reporters consciously or sub-consiously choose to illustrate the points of white people in senior positions rather than those opinions of black people.
” A rethink of our own attitudes has to take place,” he says.
A partnership, Langa argues, has to develop between the government and the media. However, this did not mean that the press has to “jump into bed with the government and consummate its relationship.
“No, no, no. It means that the relationship, if not amicable, has to be one of accurately informing the public of what is happening. The media can no longer operate from a premise of false assumptions, but will have to ensure that it carries well-researched articles based on fact.
“The government has to ensure that its responses to media inquiries are more timeous, while the press has to strive towards producing more analytical material that is well-informed.”