On his retirement, former New York Times chief of staff John Swainton told colleagues: “The business of a journalist now is to destroy the truth, to — fall at the feet of Mammon — We are tools — of rich men behind the scenes — We are intellectual prostitutes.”
Last year, veteran Tanzanian journalist Gabby Mgaya wrote that “in the quest for increased sales, some newspapers have jumped over the wall and sensationalised beyond wisdom or limits”.
Last week’s Mail & Guardian story about the Cabinet having supposedly spent R15-million for its lekgotla brought Swainton and Mgaya’s words to mind. The fact is that the cost was R2,5-million, not R15-million as imagined by Mandy Rossouw and her unnamed “senior official” source.
The story stated: “Rough calculations by the Mail & Guardian indicate that accommodation alone could set the government back at least R3-million. The cost of meals, travel, infrastructure and security are in addition to this.”
Assuming the M&G‘s arithmetic can be trusted (there was no need for rough calculations — the accommodation figure could have been obtained from the resort), it defies logic how meals, travel, infrastructure and security could add up to R12-million to make up the reported total.
A costing of each item, even by the M&G‘s own arithmetic standards, could have helped readers understand how R15-million was arrived at. Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga should ask her educators to intervene here.
In South Africa we have yet to fully appreciate how the economics of newspaper publishing shapes the news and turns journalists into “intellectual prostitutes”.
What credibility is there in the news if it can be bought, dressed up and sold like a commodity?
But this is what happens when news is subjected to commercial principles — the pressure to outdo the competition and maximise profits. Can the M&G say this particular story was based on professional and objective criteria? We think it was based on a desire to sensationalise.
Government remains vigilant about expenses. Yet it is justifiable that the nation’s leadership be able to meet in privacy, security and comfort, to enable productivity. This is applied in the public and private sectors throughout the world. To keep things in perspective, the per capita cost to citizens for the lekgotla was 0.05c (if you divide the actual cost by the size of the population).
We are confident that the outcomes of the lekgotla reflect the will of the people and will inspire all South Africans when President Jacob Zuma delivers his State of the Nation address on February 10.
That, for us, will be the substance of the discourse — not media lies and distortions.
Themba Maseko is chief executive officer of the Government Communication and Information System and the government spokesperson.