ANC's statement on e.tv is an attempt to subvert free media
The ANC's call for the censoring of the e.tv news report containing footage of individuals threatening to commit criminal acts, runs contrary to the constitutional principle of a free media in South Africa.
Quite staggeringly, ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu has said that, should e.tv not adhere to the ANC's requests, "they [e.tv] cannot be different from these criminals themselves" and would be "hid[ing] behind journalistic ethics and media freedoms" (see here).
The story in question might have been in bad taste, but to suggest that these journalists are somehow no different to the criminals they were reporting on, is grossly misleading. In addition, if journalists are going to be compelled to reveal their sources every time the police want to conduct further investigations, then whistleblowers will no longer feel safe about approaching the media to expose suspected wrongdoing.
If the ANC is truly concerned about South Africa's international image ahead of the 2010 World Cup, now is not the time to launch a full-scale assault on South Africa's independent terrestrial television broadcaster.
There have been the suggestions from some politicians that journalists in the run-up to the World Cup should engage in "patriotic" reporting. The ANC must resist the temptation to use the World Cup as an excuse to prevent journalists from reporting on hard stories. One of the things that allows us stand out amongst other African nations is that we have a free and independent media - something that we should celebrate rather than try to muzzle.
Additionally, by resorting to shrill and hyperbolic language to claim that individual criminals can pose a "threat to the stability of South Africa... and to the democratic order that obtains in the country", the ANC is doing far more to ‘accentuate' the extent of crime in South Africa than any news report has done.
Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko, Democratic Alliance national spokesperson, January 20 2010
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