Why on earth would anybody trust the media to self regulate?
Trust me, I'm a journalist. Whenever I've said that to people (usually in jest) it predictably gives rise to a snort of derision. Given the dismal state of journalism in SA it's hardly surprising that many South Africans think that the last people who should be trusted to self-regulate are journalists, who rank slightly lower than tow truck drivers in the public's estimation.
The great self-regulation debate has been gathering momentum ever since the ANC mooted the idea of a media tribunal and introduced the Protection of Information Bill (POIB) which would make it a criminal offence for journalists to make public certain sensitive information.
Not surprisingly the print media see this as an attempt by an already corrupt government to gag them and prevent them from spilling the beans on any future venalities. The passage of the POIB through parliament has been portrayed by the media as heralding the end of freedom of speech as we know it.
All very emotional stuff and a great excuse for hacks to take to the streets with placards in protest at what they clearly perceive to be a threat to their livelihoods. What the knee jerkers seem to have conveniently ignored though is that the POIB has always been up for discussion. If this were Zimbabwe it would have been made into law overnight.
But more importantly, no-one in the media (to my knowledge) has yet had the balls to point out to the ANC that the POIB might have worked twenty years ago but in the age of the internet there isn't a bat's hope in hell that "sensitive" information won't find its way into the public domain.