DA activism in commercial print media
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Eastern Cape has noted with great concern the recent suspension of the Sunday Times Senior Parliament Editor and the former Daily Dispatch Editor, Brendan Boyle over his linkage to the Democratic Alliance (DA) and that he appeared on the DA list to Parliament. Brendan Boyle has presided over the content of what is to be reported by the Sunday Times whilst a DA activist, serving the interests of the DA and those of capital.
As if the above was not enough, the Senior Municipal Reporter at Die Burger and the Former crime reporter at the Herald, Helga Van Staden who is to be sworn in as the DA councilor at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. She is to be sworn in to a council in which she has been reporting about as a journalist, who is supposed to be neutral and objective in reporting, unfortunately that cannot be said to have been the case when she has been a DA activist.
As the SACP, we believe that this explain the consistent anti-government of the people posture taken by the Times Media Group towards the African National Congress led alliance and our government thereof. Over the past decade commercial media has positioned itself as opposition to people's government and progressive organs of the people, in particular tripartite alliance and its leaders. With these newly revealed DA activism in many media houses, the question is should we treat the opinion carried in these newspapers as the genuine and neutral opinion or party political campaigning.
This DA journalism explains the consistent neo-liberal offensive towards people's government and progressive organs of the people, in particular tripartite alliance by these media houses which DA activists like Brendan Boyle preside over their news content.
It is our firm view that there are still DA activists in these media houses who are not yet exposed but their reporting and oppositionist opinion columns exposes what they represent. This would further explain why there is not a single newspaper in this country that is prepared to report about what the ANC led government has done since the dawn of democracy, despite the good work that has been done but all of them would prefer to focus on the negatives for they represent the interests of their masters in the form of the DA and monopoly capital.
We call upon the people of our country to see these oppositionist media houses for what they are DA and Capitalist watch dogs, who want to project our government and its leadership as a bunch of corrupt individuals.
We have an undisputed history as the South African Communists of having fought for freedom of press and progressive journalism, it is in this context that we are severely concerned by what is happening in these media houses.
Statement issued by Siyabonga Mdodi, SACP Eastern Cape Provincial Spokesperson, November 21 2013
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