The photos accompanying the Sowetan‘s front page story on August 15 were “shocking” and border on pornography, the Commission for Gender Equality said on Monday.
“It is sad that a newspaper with the history and social position of the Sowetan would stoop so low,” the commission’s Javu Baloyi said in a statement.
It called for a public apology and recommended the paper’s journalists and editor attend “gender sensitivity workshops”.
The article, headlined “Sies!”, was accompanied by video stills of a policewoman and a correctional services officer having sex in a room at the Leratong Hospital, in Krugersdorp, west of Johannesburg. The male officer filmed the act.
The editorial comment which accompanies the photos, reads: “We apologise for publishing material of this nature today. But we hope that you, dear reader, will understand the rationale. We are doing so reluctantly, albeit with good reason … The seriousness of their conduct lies in complete disrespect for the people of this country.”
In the context of the current debate on media regulation, publishing such images did little to strengthen arguments for a free media, Baloyi said.
“These images are so personal and so explicit that to use them in a public space, especially in the consumer media, is bordering on the propagation of pornography.”
Media Monitoring Africa questioned whether the story warranted such prominence and images.
Sensationalising the story
“More fundamentally perhaps, what is the actual story, if not to sensationalise and thereby increase sales?”
In a statement, the organisation’s William Bird said the story could have potentially devastating consequences for the families of both officers involved. According to the Sowetan, both officers were married.
“It is not clear how considerations for their privacy were balanced against the desire to report the story.”
He said the story could have focused instead on the response by the police and Department of Correctional Services.
The woman officer was dismissed, while the man had been suspended and faces disciplinary proceedings. – Sapa