How quickly things change. The triumphant end of a successful World Cup, followed closely by the birthday of Nelson Mandela, brought a rare mood of united national pride and purpose. It extended even to politicians and the media, who seemed to be blowing on the same vuvuzela, so to speak.
In a heartbeat, it’s gone. Relations between the state and the fourth estate have soured quickly and dramatically, and the air is thick with the threat of media tribunals. Whatever happened?
What happened was a string of embarrassing stories and a scandal within journalism. Media reports highlighted problems in the dysfunctional presidency and said that ministers were spending rather more than absolutely necessary on fancy hotels in the Cape.
There has also been official irritation at reports of threatened xenophobic violence. The minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, has been particularly vocal. These stories are self-fulfilling prophecies by media who want South Africa to fail, he has said, and it’s all just about crime.
To the government’s credit, significant police and even military forces have been deployed in potential flash points and areas where violent incidents have targeted foreigners. It is not clear why this is being done if there is no threat, but perhaps the minister can be forgiven the illogicality if it saves some lives.
The Mail & Guardian contributed to the change in mood by reporting about the furore caused by a painting that depicts an autopsy being carried out on Mandela. What upset ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu in particular was that the paper ran the picture on its front page. Mthembu said the image amounted to an act of bewitchment in terms of African culture, was racist and violated Mandela’s dignity.
There’s no question it is a shocking image. South Africans do not like to be reminded that Mandela is mortal, particularly at the time of his 92nd birthday. The question is whether an artist should offend people in this way, whether a shopping centre should display the work and whether a newspaper should reproduce it.
Artists do have latitude to push the boundaries, it seems to me, and their contribution is sometimes precisely in the public discomfort they cause. For the newspaper, with its strong, long-standing interest in the arts, the story was a legitimate one. And it would have been difficult to report it without showing the image that caused the furore.
At the end of his statement, Mthembu revived the idea of a Media Appeals Tribunal, which was thought to have been laid to rest. The idea first surfaced during the ANC’s Polokwane conference. Although details are still sketchy, the tribunal would be a statutory body to discipline the media.
Mthembu slated the existing self-regulatory system — the Press Council and Ombudsman — as a ”recipe for disaster” that ”negates the core values we hold dear as the society as contained in our Constitution”.
Make no mistake: international best practice is for media self-regulation, because it is the only arrangement for media accountability that is in line with the fundamental right to media freedom. Establishing a tribunal would be resisted very strongly by the media, is certainly unconstitutional and would be seen as retrogressive by the outside world.
One other development has contributed to the souring of relations between media and the government, the so-called brown envelope saga in the Cape, in which a journalist admitted to taking money to assist one of the ANC factions through his political writing.
Any corrupt transaction involves two parties. It was an ANC premier who was accused of using public money to buy himself a tame journalist, which means the righteous tub-thumping by ANC politicians rings a little hollow.
But the media need to look closely at themselves, too. It is not at all clear that the full extent of payola in the current incident has been revealed. It would also be good to have a clearer sense of the extent to which political reporting was compromised.
Both the ANC and the Democratic Alliance have announced investigations, which would be welcome. But even if the parties are serious, they will undoubtedly be run as political exercises with obvious limitations.
The media might do well to find a mechanism to inquire further into the affair on its own behalf.
This weekend, the South African National Editors Forum will hold its AGM, and these issues will be on the agenda. It will be necessary to look closely at the structures of accountability, at codes and practices, to make sure they are clear on these issues. The media fraternity must send a very forceful signal that this kind of behaviour won’t be tolerated.
The Mail & Guardian’s ombud provides an independent view of the paper’s journalism. If you have any complaints you would like addressed, you can contact Franz Kruger at [email protected] or phone the paper on 011 250 7300 and leave a message. Kruger is also a member of the South African Press Appeals Panel.
