Rumours of tension in the Financial Mail newsroom had begun to circulate some months before Caroline Southey announced she would be stepping down as editor. The strain, one heard, was to some extent a matter of editorial direction — the young black staffers keen to steer down a certain course, and the older white staffers used to steering down another.
Whatever the agendas of those supposedly in the know, when the financial weekly’s columnist Duma Gqubule published a piece in the Mail & Guardian under the header ”Maria’s ‘convenient crisis”’ — which argued that the ”Transnet CEO manufactured a problem so that she could get rid of the former board”, an angle wholly opposed to that of the Financial Mail in their own coverage of Ramos’s September shakeup — it looked as if there may have been something to all the talk.
The only relevant interpretation of these internal discord problems (exaggerated or not) is that they were reflective of the transformation challenges facing the country in general — the business sector, after all, is where all the ”sensitive” empowerment deals happen.
Still, arguably connected to the Financial Mail‘s newsroom strain was the issue of its failing commercial health. Copy sales for the period January to June 2004 had come in at 25Â 405, notably off the 30Â 000 average that had been the benchmark for much of the title’s history, and annual adpsend, while up on the previous two years, was still only tracking at 1999/2000 levels.
So Southey’s decision last October to step down into the role of deputy editor — by all accounts a brave (and practically unprecedented) move — left no doubt that both she and publishers BDFM knew what was needed. ”After a long search I had failed to find a black deputy editor,” Southey wrote in the editor’s note explaining the decision. ”This was because all the best candidates were themselves editing titles. The door is now open for the appointment of a black editor.”
One month later it was announced that Barney Mthombothi, at the time editor of the Sunday Tribune, would be filling the top post from January 2005. The attendant press release included the following revealing endorsement by BDFM managing director Mzimkulu Malunga: ”[Mthombothi] is certainly one of the best journalists in South Africa—he is the right person to help us make the magazine a strong financial publication that reflects the true picture of the South African business scene.”
For his part, Mthombothi would rather not be drawn into specifics on how ”true” Financial Mail‘s portrayal of the local business scene has been in the recent past. But he does drop some clues as to what the agenda will be going forward. ”Things are changing,” he says. ”The publication needs to reflect these changes in the country. I don’t think we as South Africans realise what is happening. It’s almost like a revolution. All of us need to transform in a way that doesn’t leave others behind. I was at the SABC when we changed SAfm, for instance, and we ended up in no-man’s land.”
It goes without saying that Mthombothi doesn’t envisage a similar fate for the Financial Mail. In this sense, if he is to draw in new black readers without alienating the title’s white readership base, his editorial stance on empowerment will be critical. ”I think we need to be very careful that the way BEE is carried out does not undermine its good intentions. We need to be clear that it can’t benefit a few people who are politically connected. The policy of political freedoms without economic benefits is not sustainable. The point is about common sense, what is good for the country. I see the Financial Mail as batting for business, and if business works the country works.”
Given Mthombothi’s long track record of speaking and writing his mind, his views on empowerment are anything but a veiled attempt at appeasement. As just one example of his capacity for bluntness, in February last year he was berated by government communications CEO Joel Netshitenzhe for, amongst other things, giving President Mbeki the epithet ”Mugabe’s nanny”. There are also the circumstances of his resignations from two stints at the SABC to consider.
In his own words, Mthombothi left the public broadcaster the first time (after serving as head of radio news from 1994 to 1999) because Enoch Sithole was appointed chief executive. ”I didn’t think that was the right appointment,” he says matter-of-factly. He resigned the second time in 2001 (from the position of chief executive of SABC news) because of similar interference difficulties. ”I discovered what they were looking for was a poodle. I am not four-legged.”
Of course criticising the government and its institutions is one thing. As Mthombothi readily concedes, ”freedom of expression is enshrined in our constitution, it gives us the space to say whatever we want, as long we don’t defame.” But what does he make of the more subtle forms of censorship, the threat of the lost advertising rand and the endless freebies?
”There’s a need to look at the ethical conduct of journalists. A lot of journalists form allegiances and become friends with those they write about. We also get invited to too many dinners and lunches. There are no free lunches. Washington Post does not allow reporters to take them, and I think that’s a good policy.”
Ultimately, however, Mthombothi will not be measured by how well he keeps his reporters from the feeding trough. What BDFM will be watching is whether he can get the circulation up, and whether that will help the sales team get a bigger slice of the advertising cake. On this point he harbours no illusions.
”Financial Mail remains a strong brand, but obviously the circulation is not where it should be. That, in a nutshell, is my challenge. The publication doesn’t belong at 25Â 000. When I was there previously [from 1999 to 2000 as editor-at-large and columnist] it was in the 30Â 000s. It is doable. It has some of the best writers and is well-resourced. It’s a publication that should succeed.
”The problem is that when Financial Mail was established you really had Business Times as the only competition. Right now you have a few more dedicated weeklies, daily business publications, and information available on the hour on the internet. You are also dealing with a very informed audience, and you have to give them a good reason to choose your brand.”
So how will ”must read” status be achieved?
Mthombothi says he will be consulting his journalists at the rock face and coming up with the relevant ”hooks”. That said, his own vision seems clear enough. ”This is a publication that should be catering for the leaders. It is mostly about business, but it covers politics and labour — the information that business leaders need to do their jobs better. And it should be about changes in the country. The black elite are our future readership.”