The new-look SABC TV News has come in for a lot of flak. Joe Thloloe answers some of the criticisms
SOME institutions in this country are thrashing about in the throes of transformation away from the public glare. Others, like the SABC and its Television News, are scrutinised and everybody throws in comment and advice.
It is easy to understand this fascination: Television News (TVN) is more than a public institution. For decades the National Party used it to control the thoughts of South Africans.
The first post-apartheid board of the SABC committed itself to transforming the corporation from a state broadcaster, accountable to the government, to a public service broadcaster, accountable to all South Africans. For TVN, this meant a new way of looking at news, current affairs and information programming. It meant the end of propaganda and the beginning of good journalism. It is a slow process, but we are getting there.
In the last year alone TVN journalists have won prestigious awards or been finalists in competitions: Freek Robinson, Karien van der Merwe, Jessica Pitchford, David van der Sandt, Max du Preez, Jacques Pauw and Anne Hutchison have produced work that was acknowledged by other professionals around the world.
Research done by Market Research Africa for us in November-December last year shows that 34% of the population relies on TVN as their main source of news. We are second only to radio. Newspapers win a tiny 8% of the population.
In the week of May 5 to 11, for example, an average of four million people watched our bulletins every night.
Eighty-one percent of viewers believe we are fulfilling our role: 29% say we are doing this extremely well, 33% very well and 19% fairly well. Only 10% of the public rated us “not very well” and “not at all well”.
Ninety-three percent of the people who watch TV say our news is believable: 50% find us extremely believable; another 25%, very believable; and 18%, fairly believable. A quarter of our viewers rate us as extremely fair, 38% as very fair and 23% as fairly fair.
We still have a problem with depth: 56% of our viewers believe our reporting is superficial. (This probably stems from a misunderstanding of the difference between current affairs programmes and news bulletins.)
It’s not an easy process, trying to replace the body of a plane while it flies. It is the dilemma of all of South Africa’s institutions – from educational institutions to judges of the high court.
The transformation of TVN means a change of culture and a change of personnel without losing indispensable skills.
New people were appointed to key positions and those who were retained were retained because of their contribution to the new SABC. People like planning editor Dave Viljoen, acting head of regions Izak Minnaar and head of production Rob Stevenson have been rendering outstanding work in TVN since I came here. I’m proud to have them on my team.
I was appointed from outside in 1994 – at the time as news input editor and last May as editor-in-chief. The head of news, Ivan Fynn, is a respected black journalist who was on his way to take up the position of deputy editor of the Pretoria News when we intercepted him and brought him on board. Sarah Crowe has made a name for herself as a print and TV journalist here and abroad.
Not only did we satisfy our affirmative programme with the appointments, we also got valuable skills. There have been other strategic appointments among the ranks. Between January 1996 and the end of April, for example, we have put more than 350 people through training courses ranging from basic reporting skills to senior management.
The “Berlin wall” that divided the black newsroom from the white newsroom has come down. The executive producers of the various bulletins now sit in one large office so they can discuss stories throughout the day.
The death of physical apartheid is leading to the death of mental apartheid. We have leapt away from the old CCV and TV1 days when we had black news and white news, with black news as a stepchild. We now have a news agenda for the day, broadcast in 11 languages.
Fynn was the driving force behind the writing of the Guide for SABC TV News Journalists, which spells out our new philosophy and standardises practices.
Now the dramatic outward gestures have been made and we are working on the slower process of lifting the quality. The systems are in place for the transformation to run its full course.
Current Affairs is a different story. First we had a long search to find the right person – we succeeded only in September last year. Although Crowe came on the eve of the McKinsey process where there was uncertainty about the future of this portfolio of programmes, she has been able to give the unit the direction it lacked in the absence of a leader.
It is not all smooth sailing. In the past there was apartheid in staff development. Those who were left behind expect instant solutions. They expect to be trained and promoted to senior positions in short spaces of time. They resent what they see as outsiders coming in at senior levels.
They resent the continued presence of white colleagues who were doing well under the old regime and continue to do well under the new. They find it difficult to understand the delicate balance management has to keep between satisfying affirmative action and keeping our standards high through the help of skilled people.
Are we unique? Ask the minister of education, the minister of justice, the minister of safety and security, etc. They face the same dilemmas as they try to transform this country. We are a microcosm of South Africa.
— Joe Thloloe is editor-in-chief of Television News and Current Affairs