On sites like Politicsweb, one has the opportunity to experience reporting by citizens, untainted by any journalistic hidden agenda, or allegiance to some dubious cause. People write what they feel and believe - if they are criticising the ANC and Government, it's how they feel at that time. In my humble opinion, the emergence of the fifth estate has given us the opportunity to express the real news.
I must admit that I have not bought a newspaper for a very long time. I normally read online (free) editions. And while they often might not give you the full story, it provides an overview that is more often than not more factual than what is printed. I have decided I am not going to further financially support a news media that is always negative and biased.
The way reports are made nowadays, is like my favourite analogy: the Minister of Human Settlements present 3000 newly-built houses to a community with a need for 3500 houses. Instead of concentrating on the vast majority who now knows the joys (?) of home ownership, the news media would revel in the fact that 500 families "do not have a roof over their heads tonight, as you and I go to a warm bed."
We know for a fact that the South African media has an anti-ANC, anti-Government bias. But they would write in a way that would justify their personal feelings, lest they be barred from future ANC press conferences. Facts are twisted, comments misrepresented, expressions misconstrued. And when they are caught out, it's a very quick mea culpa, hidden somewhere inside, where they know people do not really look. But even that apology would come with a justification.
In pursuit of "the truth" journalists do not really care whom get trampled, as long as the story is out there. More like, as long as the story pushes circulation! So, now you know how I feel about reporters. But hey, I always try my utmost to watch the news at seven o'clock. My children have accepted this ritual as part of daddy's extended working hours. I'm not anti-journalists, I'm just anti-some-of-them.
If we have a service delivery protest in an ANC controlled municipality, the news reporters make it sound like the municipality is wrong and unreasonable, "these people were driven up the wall, with no other alternative but to take to the streets, Pat. They just want clean water, houses, and jobs." Oh, ja, you forgot to mention that they also wanted free washing powder from the Somalian spaza shop on the corner.
But when one looks at the recent protest action in Sir Lowry's Pass Village, one actually got the feeling that those stupid people in the streets were unreasonable and out of tune. Don't they see what Princess Mayor Pat de Lille is doing for them? She's already bending backwards for them, must she now bend forward as well? These incompetents need to get off their butts and go look for the jobs Queen Helen has created for them.
The day Andries Tetane died, I saw a story on the E-News channel, where people were lambasted by the reporter for acts of violence and looting. The reporter was actually commenting on the good work of the police to see that things do not get out of control (well, too much out of control). But once they learnt that one of the protesters has died at the hands of the police, all of a sudden the entire police force became villains, because WOW! finally we found something worth selling for years to come.
But it was really disgusting to see both E-News and SABC reporters the other night reporting from the Disastrous Attempt (DA) march. Those journalists positioned themselves in such a way that one could not see whether DA members started the violence, or merely reciprocated.
At one point, one SABC camera man was so badly positioned that it looked like some stones are actually thrown by the metro police! Knowing that there are three parties involved in the march (DA, COSATU, police), it would have made sense to have three units capturing images, giving a balanced view of the march. But hey, what fun would it be to expose Helen Zille and the DA for the thugs they are? Come on, we all know that the skollies (Coloureds) and the tsotsis (Africans) belong to the ANC and COSATU, don't we?
No one showed the many injured COSATU members being taken away, but for a full 24 hours I was assaulted with the footage of a female DA members crying because she was hit on the head by something somewhere. So what, the COSATU guys probably injured themselves, on purpose, to gain sympathy. They would do that, won't they, they are so unscrupulous.
And than people wonder why the ANC think it necessary to have something like the media tribunal. The press ombudsman? Joke of the century. If indeed media freedom is under attack in South Africa, it's from the inside, created by journalists who see themselves not only as Edmund Burke's fourth estate, but as the only legitimate entity to manufacture news and make opinion.
MOEGAMAT SHAREEF BLANKENBERG
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