City Press editor Ferial Haffajee must resign, Limpopo premier, Cassel Mathale, said on Tuesday after complaints made by the paper against two radio stations were dismissed.
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA (BCCSA) ruled that two radio stations did enough to rectify incorrect reports on the press ombudsman’s ruling regarding complaints about the City Press newspaper’s reports on corruption and tenders in Limpopo.
“The paper needs to make a thorough self-introspection after a series of rulings by the press ombudsman and lately the BCCSA [which] consistently go against it and continue to expose the low standards of reporting by the paper,” said spokesperson Phuti Mosomane.
“It is time is for the editor Ferial Haffajee to resign for she has failed to give strategic direction to the news weekly … The paper needs a new editor who will return it to its days of credible, reliable and quality reporting.”
In September last year Limpopo premier Mathale lodged a complaint with the press ombudsman against the paper about its reports into corruption in the province and tenders rewarded to ANC Youth League president Julius Malema.
On January 24, SAfm invited Mosomane on to its morning show to speak about the ombudsman’s ruling. However, a representative from the newspaper was not invited to participate in the discussion.
During the interview Mosomane made “disparaging” remarks about City Press, creating the impression that the paper had been found guilty of “lies, malice and inaccurate” reporting.
On January 30, Sepedi radio station’s current affairs show interviewed the ANC Youth League’s provincial secretary Jacob Lebogo. During the interview Lebogo was “allowed to level a range of accusations” against City Press and its Limpopo correspondent Piet Rampedi.
The news reports were changed later the same day after City Press and Rampedi complained to the head of SABC radio current affairs programmes.
On Monday the BCCSA said in its judgment that City Press‘s complaints were not upheld because the radio stations had corrected the news reports later the same day.
“The dismissal of the paper’s complaints by the BCCSA has once again proven wrong the City Press‘ vehement justification of its severe violation of the Press Code of South Africa,” Mosomane said.
“The steps taken by the City Press to haul the SAfm to the BCCSA was an ill-conceived means by the paper to redeem itself from the embarrassing transgressions of basic ethics of journalism in its reporting.”
“Even if I wasn’t the editor, City Press would continue to do what it does, which is shine a spotlight on the provinces,” Haffajee told the Mail & Guardian on Tuesday.
Haffajee said the media tended to forget that the biggest government spending occurred in the provinces, and this was where the greatest amount of corruption took place.
Haffajee said Rampedi’s “dogged” investigation into the awarding of a R44-million pharmaceutical contract to Malema’s cousin Tshepo, was one of hundreds of cases that the paper had investigated.
“They really are trying to snap shut the jaws of the watchdog,” said Haffajee, adding that the paper accepted the finding of the BCCSA. – Sapa and Staff reporter