Shared concerns have persuaded South Africa’s editors to unite in one body, writes Anton Harber
WHEN Tribute magazine editor S’bu Mngadi told the editors’ unity conference last weekend that the media industry was still racist, it brought a moment of rare silence from the more than 80 senior journalists present.
Mngadi’s passionate outburst against those who wanted to water down the conference’s declaration on affirmative action was a defining moment at the climax of the two-day meeting. He brushed aside the polite and diplomatic talk which had characterised the discussion until then and expressed a strong sentiment which had been bubbling below the surface.
The editors and senior journalists were united by their common concern for media freedom. On this there was no need for debate as there was a shared worry that the historical divisions among editors could be used by a future government to compromise their freedom.
Affirmative action was a much tougher issue.
The proposal on the table, strongly supported by the Black Editors’ Forum (BEF), was that the new South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) publish an annual report on affirmative action progress in the industry.
Some editors feared that this could bring undue interference into their newsrooms, or that a quota system would start to interfere with their right to employ the journalists of their choice. And they noted that affirmative action can be complicated in a highly specialised industry, particularly one which has not done much training in recent years.
Financial Mail editor Nigel Bruce and Business Day’s Jim Jones feared the new organisation wanted to be a regulatory body of the sort journalists had resisted for so long.
But Mngadi was making it clear that affirmative action was a non-negotiable issue for black editors. If the organisation did not commit itself to tough and far-reaching action to transform the industry, BEF members would not feel at home.
It is a measure of the success of the weekend gathering that an organisation was formed which included both Mngadi and Bruce.
There were two other moments of note in the meeting. At one, Sunday Independent editor John Battersby apologised to “our black brothers and sisters for the collective involvement of white journalists in the system”.
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki addressed the meeting and his now-standard criticism of the media was notably absent. He did, however, take a subtle dig at the editors when he pointed out what the government had achieved in the 30 months since they came to power – the time it took the editors to form a new organisation.
And he said the new body would have to be “more than just a non-racial tea party” if it were to play its proper role.
Sanef agreed to produce and publish an annual report on affirmative action, and promised strong action on media freedom and the promotion of diversity. It will also draw up a charter of editorial independence and ask the government, political parties and media owners to endorse it.
And it will investigate an involvement in media education and training.
Statements were issued on four matters of immediate concern: closed hearings by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, recent remarks on the limitations of press freedom by Constitutional Court President Arthur Chaskalson, a sweeping attack by President Nelson Mandela on “black journalists”, and government threats to Zambian editor Fred M’Membe.
The editors formed a “government of national unity” structure for a year: a council made up of representatives of each founding group, to be replaced by a more democratic structure at a later date. Both the Black Editors’ Forum and the Conference of Editors were asked to dissolve in favour of the new organisation.
Ironically, it probably won’t be unity between black and white that will be the long-term test of the new organisation but the link between broadcasting and print as Sanef also brings together, for the first time, editors from these two industries. This is a most unusual step, since in most countries the differences between these two branches of the same industry are seen as so vast and complex that journalists have traditionally been organised into separate bodies.
Circumstances and a range of shared concerns have brought them together in South Africa – but it will be a precedent if they can be held together in one body.
— Anton Harber is chairman of the Conference of Editors and co-chaired the unity meeting