Very few journalists tarnish media image, plotting and calculating ANC spots an opportunity and violates it. Is the ANC-led government turning into apartheid government? Is the media enemy of the state and has it gone too far? Is the ANC justified in its bid to censor the media?
The ANC says the media is out of control and needs serious crack down
A free press is a concrete fundamental of any true democratic state. However, if the ANC’s proposed media tribunal succeeds, you can rest assured that corruption and irregularities will be swept under the carpet in many government departments and its dealings. The status quo in this country necessitates that the media be the government’s watchdog. Over the past 16 years, the media has been very successful in exposing corruption and the government’s shady dealings, and now the ANC wants to censor it, if not silence it all.
To further advance its mission, the ANC is starting its own paper, New Age. Actually New Age isn’t new at all. It is an ANC paper that was closed down by the National Party’s apartheid government. Many ANC cadres wrote for the paper, criticised the apartheid government and the National Party was not having any of it and shut the paper down. Now the ANC wants to bring back the paper.
This is what the ANC gov calls "classified info"?
The party has already appointed an editor-chief, who is former Business Day and SABC journalist, Vuyo Mvoko. Vuyo maintains that he will fight for his paper’s editorial independence, he told Bizcommunity.com.
Biz: So are you saying that you will protect the editorial independence of your paper? Mvoko: Of course, that's what we are about. However, that remains to be seen! The public broadcaster in Auckland Park, has been succumbing to Albert Luthuli House’s orders. Simply put, the ANC has a reputation of meddling in editorial decisions of the SABC. How then, can New Age – which is unashamedly pro-ANC – have any form of editorial independence? The ANC has also, in a move that smacks of window dressing, appointed former Miss South Africa and University of Pretoria’s law graduate, Claudia Henkel, as its entertainment editor. The paper’s editor-in-chief has defended the ANC’s decision saying journalists come from various walks of academic courses.
Biz: Hiring Claudia Henkel was an unusual move. I know she's not your average beauty queen as she has a law degree but she's not an experienced journalist and yet she's one of your middle managers. Tell me about why you've hired her? Mvoko: Look, people play roles. A lot of people have been brought into media from different backgrounds such as Khanyi Dhlomo at True Love [magazine]. She had no journalism experience and she was brought in for a specific reason and she achieved what the publication wanted to achieve. [Claudia's job] is about lifestyle; it's about being able to work in that space and with the people in that space and knowing what sells in that space. New Age hits the streets, shelves in September.
Is the media out of order?
The ANC has been criticised for wanting to silence the media and starting its own paper that will push its mandate. Apparently the major purpose of New Age is provide news coverage from all nine provinces of South Africa. The ANC has criticised the media for neglecting provinces such as Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape and others, in its news coverage.
The ANC claims the media is out of order, reports news incorrectly and embellish stories in a bid to increase newspaper circulations. It also alleges that brown envelope journalism is the major reason for its proposed media tribunal. A former Cape Argus political journalist, Ashley Smith, has been liaising with former Western Cape premier, Ebrahim Rasool, in which the premier would pay the journo by handing the journo some money in a brown envelope. In short, the ANC premier would bribe the journalist to write favourable stories about him. In the wake of what transpired between the journo and the former premier, the journo resigned from working at the Cape Argus. Upon learning of the situation, the paper’s editor ran the story on front page, apologised to readers for letting them down. “The paper must be commended for running the story so prominently for all to see and shows that it is dedicate to providing news that’s fair an dbalanced to its readers” reads a press statement issued by The Professional Journalists Association (ProJourn). The association has also voiced its concern and disapproval on the ANC’s plan to have all media stories censored before print.
What about ANC's corruption?In her weekly column in the Sowetan, Redi Direko has criticised the ANC’s plans to gag the media. She wrote that it is the media that told the story about brown envelope journalism and that, shows that the media can effectively deal with the situation. The media is not the only self-regulated industry. The law and advertising fraternities are also self-regulated. Why would a ruling party wanna censor the media? Something is definitely fishy here. Redi gave a detailed account of how the media has been taking initiative and played a proactive role in exposing corruption and shady dealings? Writes Redi:
In our criticism of the media it is important to note that were it not for its profession, former president Thabo Mbeki’s arrogant request for us to” trust” him on Jackie Selebi, would not have been the end of that story and the public would not have known about the rotten link between the cop and the murky world of crime. Were it not for the media... the tenderpreneurs at Luthuli House would not have been exposed. Add to that the Travelgate, Oilgate, the arms deal, misuse of public funds and so on. 
Has the media gone too far in its headlines?
The ANC also proposes The Protection of Information Bill, which will see whistle blowers legally prohibited from contacting the media about “classified info” and can be charged if contravening this Bill or soon to be law. Journalists who write stories about “classified info” will be charged, arrested and jailed, if the bill is to be passed. Chris Barron of the Sunday Times, has, in his So Many Questions Column, interrogated Cecil Burges, chairman of the committee dealing with the bill and he of course, protected the ANC. Cecil accuses the media of being "enemy of the state" but he could not give clear examples in which the media ran stories that suggests it is enemy of the state. Chris asked Cecil about the necessity of this bill and he said:
The bill is informed by a number of threats that we have been encountering in the country. Asked about what threats, Cecil replied:
There have been threats from information peddlers, from acts of espionage, threats from our data bases being compromised and information in government hands being altered.
Should the media tone down its creativity on creating headlines?
Simply put, Cecil wanted to say journalists must be arrested and jailed for writing about JZ’s many wives and girlfriends and his sexual escapades. It can also be argued that the ANC wants to prevent the media to write about how JZ’s wives are wasting the taxpayer’s money and that JZ is disregarding the very same ANC’s policies on HIV/AIDS because the ANC government emphasises that you must use a condom correctly every time you have sex but it seems JZ isn’t doing any of this.
The media has come under attack on how they reported on Manto Tshabala’s death and the ANC came to her defence saying she was freedom fighter. The media was dwelling on the 2007 story unearthed by the Sunday Times on her hospital booze binge and how she used to steal patients’ belonging while serving as a nurse in Botswana.
Journalists who write about "classified information" will be charged, arrested and jailed!
If the ANC can get its way, the media must report on the “good that the government is doing such as building RDP houses and not expose shady dealing on how the tenders are awarded. The ANC’s dream on how the media should operate, is in conflict with the constitution which states clearly that the press should be a free entity just like the law. Writes Redi:
How sad that the same people who benefitted from robust media are now calling for the same immoral control. She writes referring to how the media voiced its concern on apartheid atrocities until the international arena saw past apartheid government and cracked the whip on it.
Also, Avusa public editor, Thabo Leshilo condemned the ANC’s proposed media tribunal and the formation of the information bill. He wrote in the Sunday Times:
There is something sinister going on here. What we are dealing with is a cynical, systematic and gradual erosion of our constitutional democracy. He argues that the ANC is threatened by the media’s expose on its corruption:
Transparency and press freedom are inimical to their corrupt ways; hence the attempts to curb the free flow of information. Why otherwise, bring the protection of Information Bill that results in journalists being jailed for lengthy periods for doing their jobs…
Bid to sell the paper or reporting the reality?
Redi summed the whole situation up:
The media is not perfect. Neither are politicians. It is disturbing that the public has been duped into believing that these measures are about preventing distortions. That is a lie from the pits of hell. Our leaders will only tell you what they want you to know. That is the long and short of this ridiculous tribunal.
Thabo concludes:
A few years down the line the process will be repeated, resulting in even more drastic curbs. That, combined with the ANC’s proposed media tribunal that would see journalists jailed for making mistakes, makes the future appear bleak indeed. That’s how Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe ended up worse that Ian Smith’s Rhodesia. It did not happen overnight.