Writer of this month’s lead article Andy Davis sent through a biting piece of American cultural satire for possible inclusion alongside his story. It’s called “Message From Our Sponsor”, by Jello Biafria, and it’s better placed in the editorial: “We interrupt this program to bring you a special bulletin. America is now under martial law… Shut up! Do not attempt to think or depression may occur… Remain calm. Do not panic. The number one enemy of progress is questions. National Security is more important than individual will. All sports broadcasts will proceed as normal— Shut up! Be happy. Obey all orders without question. Remain calm. The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory. At last everything is done for you.”
Like Davis, we include this quote despite the fact that we’re sports fans. As the ARs on some of the major sports channels show, there are millions in the country with us. Collectively we’re a “bankable captive audience” and we drive ad revenues and sponsorships to yearly ten-figure values (see page 15). But Graeme Addison writes that politics, corruption and crime are ruled out of sports coverage in South Africa, that our sports journalism is as bad (if not worse) than it’s ever been, and he’s backed on the point by sports editors at some of the country’s leading newspapers (page 21). So does our fanaticism make us socially and politically numb? Are we as bad as America? Do we give a toss? Since we at The Media be watching the game on Saturday, we’ll leave the questions open.
Another tough one this month is posed by Mbuyisi Mgibisa (page 40), who asks how reporters at community radio stations across the country will ever stop doubling as marketers and sales reps if they don’t get paid. It’s a piece that’s juxtaposed against the analysis of mainstream radio news (page 27), which argues that this sector exhibits some old school news values in a media universe increasingly dominated by sensationalism, scandal and smut.