Closing remarks by Minister of Communications, MS A.F Muthambi on the occasion of the Print Media Transformation Colloquium

26 August 2016

Honoured guests,

The adoption of the Constitution, which was preceded by the adoption of the Freedom Chapter, created a new sense of hope and belief in the country’s citizens which was welcomed with expectations.

All institutions in the country that had excluded the majority were expected to embrace the inclusivity of a diverse country in all spheres of life, namely political, social and economic.

The print media which, to some extent, played a commendable part in exposing the atrociousness of the apartheid regime was also expected to make strides towards transformation like all other businesses which had benefited from the exclusive policies of apartheid.

As we close the colloquium, it is prudent, that we acknowledge the role played by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) which instituted an investigation into racism across all media in South Africa.

The SAHRC found that the South African media ‘reflected a persistent pattern of racist expressions and content of writing’, and that ‘such expressions cause or have the effect of causing hurt and pain’.

In addition, despite various attempts initiated by government, including B-BBEE, the MDDA’s research into print media ownership and control, found that the print media landscape had not transformed much in terms of ownership and control.

Today, the print media continues to be criticised for a lack of transformation, both in content, language diversity. It has been suggested that the broadcast media are much more diverse and representative of the demographics of the country than the print media, owing to the fact that the former is regulated by government.

In instances where print media houses have concluded Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) transactions, sadly, some of these have not necessarily translated into a diversity of views, underlying the fact that advertising profiles and key management positions remain largely the same.

Over the last two days of the colloquium, as a Department we have noted that print media transformation is a huge task and that there are weaknesses in our GCIS system as well.

We also bemoan that in two-weeks’ time, the PMDTT Report would have finished the 3 years which was set aside a period meant for the individual print media companies to rectify all of the recommendations.

The 2013 report on Print and Digital Media boldly noted that “companies should commit to having 50 per cent of their board participants as black people and that 50 per cent of these should be women, within 3 years. Why is this dream deferred again?

Could it be that, perhaps it is time that the country implemented a transformation charter for the main stream print media to ensure maximum adherence to the law?

As we promised, working with our partners in government, the Department of Labour and the Department of Trade and Industry, we will be analysing the print media’s committed to transformation, taking into account the timeframes set by the PDMSA.

Content Transformation

Colleagues,

We note that countries, like United States of America, have for instance, a diversity index as a form of measuring its media, which is done by the regulator, the FFC. In addition, New Zealand published its Media Pluralism Monitor focusing on the three plurality themes:  

Pluralism of Media Ownership and Control;

Political Pluralism in the Media;

Pluralism of Media Types and Genres

In our country, we have noted that the BBBEE scorecards are generic, and are not designed to measure transformation in the most significant areas of the print media’s content.

The last two days of the colloquium have also given us a clear picture based on various research insights and general inputs shared by all of us here today. It is key for us to note that, whilst the print media sector had long committed in fulfilling the B-BBEE codes of Good Practice, it has failed to transform itself sufficiently in most of the key areas.
The failures are prevalent in the direct empowerment, ownership, management control, as well as in the areas of skills development and employment equity, with a particular reference to women and the disabled.

Colleagues,

In all fairness, we need to acknowledge that there are is insufficient progress made by the print media on transformation in other “soft” areas of the economy such as socio-economic development, preferential procurement and in some instances enterprise development.

Establishing Institutions that can Bite

Colleagues,

There continues to be a debate in closed doors on whether the requirement that a complainant sign a legal waiver by which one forfeits his or her rights to take the grievance further by launching a civil case against the relevant publication, after the press ombudsman has handled the matter, is still relevant or not after 22 years of democracy.

To be fair, perhaps reasons for the waiver were valid, but it is not strong enough to supersede the concern that a compulsory waiver inevitably infringes on rights to private action.

Significantly, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South African (BCCSA) on the contrary does not require such a waiver system.

As observed in some parts of the world, their press councils, for those who have it, do not have such a waiver. Dissatisfied complainants occasionally file lawsuits and at times the courts support their judgement with arguments drawn from the council’s opinion and ethical principles.

There are also concerns about the resources and the inability of the Press Council to be proactive in its affairs, instead of waiting for complaints.

In closing

We also need institutions that monitor compliance to have the ability to enforce action, should there be evidence of transgressions. As we conclude the colloquium we cannot tell which side, if any, is the Press Council taking on print media transformation.

In the past we have been told by the Press Council, that it does not have a view on the state of transformation in print media, as its mandate is to adjudicate in cases where there are complaints against the editorial content of newspapers and magazines.

As we have committed, the process will be continued by the Department and will require further inputs from all of you in shaping the print media transformation policy of the Department going forward.

We would like to once again thank you for your enthusiastic participation and support, and we shall draw on the very same strength of partnership in taking this process forward.
 Lastly, I would like to thank my team for putting this together, it was not easy, but a job well done to all of you.

I wish all of you a safe journey to your respective destinations.

I thank you.

Issued by the Ministry of Communications, 26 August 2016