A complaint against the Daily Sun‘s reporting on the recent xenophobic attacks in Gauteng was submitted to the press ombudsman and the South African Human Rights Commission on Thursday.
The Media Monitoring Project (MMP) and the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa submitted the complaint saying that the Daily Sun‘s reporting had the effect of supporting the violence by perpetuating stereotypes of foreigners.
One of the major issues was the use of the term ”aliens” for immigrants by the newspaper, which also printed alien logos and headlines such as ”War on aliens”.
The use of such terms was inappropriate and discriminatory, the MMP said. The Daily Sun had failed to condemn the violence clearly, had offered no non-violent alternatives and had been biased and limited in its representation of government, it said.
This was particularly of concern because the newspaper’s large market in areas where the xenophobic violence had erupted.
”The coverage of non-nationals by the Daily Sun during this period is not in line with its responsibility to fair, balanced, accurate and non-discriminatory reporting, contravening several fundamental clauses of the South African Press Code,” the MMP said in a statement.
It was of ”vital importance” that the Daily Sun changed this trend in its coverage, it added.
Daily Sun publisher Deon du Plessis did not want to respond to the allegations.
”It’s like talking about a court case out of court,” he said. ”If the complaint is submitted to the ombudsman, I will deal with the ombudsman.” — Sapa