Removing ANN7 has 'serious implications for media freedom' - Sanef
1 February 2018
Johannesburg – MultiChoice’s decision to end its contract with ANN7 has been met with criticism from the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef), which said it needed to interrogate the decision further as it could "have serious implications for media freedom" in South Africa.
ANN7’s contract will come to an end in August, and MultiChoice has said that it will be replaced by a new black-owned news channel.
Sanef chairperson Mahlatse Mahlase said the organisation’s thoughts were with the station’s journalists who had nothing to do with the dealings and decisions of the corporate arm of the company.
"MultiChoice said in a statement that there was no corruption or irregularities in its dealings with ANN7, but still decided to take a major decision to remove it from its platforms for what it calls mistakes," she said.