BMF POSITION ON THE SUGGESTED MEDIA TRIBUNAL

"The Black Management Forum (BMF) has noted with concern the behaviour by some media houses and practitioners, who report inaccurately and with impunity on various individuals and organizations" said Gaba Tabane, Managing Director of the BMF.  Tabane continued to say that "This is an indication that the media in South Africa is not accountable to anyone and whatever thin monitoring systems exists, are totally inadequate to safeguard the rights of these individuals and organizations as guaranteed in the constitution of the Republic.  The BMF is in full support of the concept of ‘The watchdog of the watchdog'".

The position of the BMF is that indeed there must exist a media tribunal with teeth enough to impose hefty penalties on media houses and practitioners found to have deliberately reported inaccurately and maliciously on individuals and organizations.  Such penalties must be imposed on employer and employee, jointly and severally, in order to curb employees continuing the behaviour knowing that they are covered by their employers.  The BMF doesn't believe that the structures that exist today have enough strength to secure citizens' rights in the face of an aggressive media industry that tarnishes people's integrity at will and gets away with it.

"We therefore call on our Government and social partners to rally behind a strong media monitoring structure, to ensure that the rights of citizens, individual and Corporate, are secured against character vandalism by some in the media industry", said Gaba Tabane, Managing Director of the BMF

Statement issued by Gaba Tabane, BMF Managing Director, August 12 2010

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