The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) would like to invite journalists struggling as a result of the Covid crisis to apply for the third round of the Media Relief Fund. We encourage all freelancers, contract journalists, reporters, photographers and production staff in multimedia, print and broadcast who have lost their jobs and income to submit their applications with all relevant and supporting documentation.
This third round is open to those who also received funding in the first and second round but still find themselves jobless.
Working in conjunction with the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), we wish to report that in our first and 2nd rounds we received 700 applications and approved 249 journalists for payments. Journalists received a small donation of R5000 each to purchase necessities like food, clothing and airtime. So far SANEF has paid a total of R1,245,000.
SANEF is calling on everyone to spread the word, especially to journalists who lost their jobs in the hard-hit community media sector including print and broadcasting.
SANEF wants to warmly thank all those who donated including its corporates, donors and individual partners. Collectively we have raised a total of R4 870 067. We received our first donation to kick-start the fund from MTN South Africa. This was followed by funds from FNB Accounts (First Rand), Yellowwoods NPC, Allan Gray (Pty) Ltd, Arch Thabo Makgoba Development Trust, OSF – SA, Standard Bank, and Old Mutual. We have also received donations from concerned individuals, including several journalists and ex-journalists who have been very worried about the plight of their colleagues.
Further, we would like to thank our team of industry stalwarts who have made up our independent panel of adjudicators – including Mathatha Tsedu, Joe Thloloe, Wandile Fana and Melody Emmett as well as Anlo Financial Services. The panel has played a critical role in adjudicating all applications.
Please note the deadline is 8 January 2021.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) strongly condemns the hostile attack against Newzroom Afrika journalists who were prohibited by members of the South Africa Police Services (SAPS) from doing their job of covering the Diepsloot demolitions on 25 November 2020.
Journalist Mbali Thethani and cameraperson Muraga Mphaphuli were forcefully removed from the scene where they were covering the Diepsloot demolitions.
“While filming, we were asked to delete the footage and vacate the property because it was not ‘safe’. This is despite them having already completed 99% of the demolitions,” said Ms Thethani.
She stated she was speaking to the landlady (affected by the demolition) when police scolded and ordered them off the property. She said, “While making our way, my colleague Mphaphuli was manhandled, pushed and shoved by police.” A video showing the incident has since circulated on social media.
Thethani said there was no police barricade to direct journalists as to where they could operate. “It made it very difficult and prevented us from doing our jobs properly and informing the public at the same time.”
Gauteng SAPS spokesperson, Brig Mathapelo Peters said they have noted the circulating video clip and that an urgent internal investigation will be conducted to get to the bottom of the matter.
SANEF calls on senior officers in charge of these operations to brief their teams appropriately to allow the media to play its critical role of informing the public. We wish to strongly remind them that this is a right enshrined and protected in our constitution and one that must be adhered to under the COVID-19 lockdown rules.
SANEF is also working with the SAPS national team to revise the standing order 156 which deals with Media Communication in the SAPS. It will soon be replaced with new regulations guiding the relationship between the police and journalists.
We also wish to highlight the issue of journalists’ safety by referring all journalists and media organisations to the safety tips including on our SANEF website.
We call on all media organisations to ensure, wherever possible, that they provide trauma counselling for journalists who have been out on assignment. We reiterate the long-term damaging effects of untreated trauma. We have compiled a list of trauma and psychological services for journalists – these can also be accessed on our website.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) will be writing to the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to urgently request clarity on a supposed investigation into whistleblowers in the department.
Whistleblowers in public and private institutions are at the heart of unearthing corruption and malfeasance in government and the private sector. Journalists will not be able to expose corruption without their assistance.
It is concerning to note media reports that the DPE has allegedly initiated internal investigations aimed at unmasking whistleblowers. This follows reports about the qualifications of the department’s chief of staff, Ms Nthabiseng Borotho.
SANEF notes the DPE’s statement that these are not bona fide whistleblowers but corrupt individuals using whistleblowing to divert attention from the department’s efforts to investigate wrongdoing. We will be seeking clarity from the department.
The Protected Disclosures Act no 26 of 2000 makes provision for procedures in terms of which employees – in both the public and private sector – who disclose information, are protected from occupational harm. We believe that these principles need to be upheld.
Thuma Mina WhatsApp Group
SANEF is concerned about a disinformation campaign on social media, seeking to link senior journalists, including SANEF members, to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s “Thuma Mina” campaign.
The campaign centres on a WhatsApp group set up by Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) staff and named after the “Thuma Mina” service delivery programme (as opposed to the same name of the ANC’s election campaign).
According to information in SANEF’s possession, the group comprised a wide range of journalists from most media houses and it is purely used to share government information and press statements. It is one of the hundreds of WhatsApp groups that the government, political parties and private organisations use to disseminate information to journalists.
There is nothing nefarious or underhanded about the group and SANEF calls on those spreading disinformation about journalists to cease doing so.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF), the Southern African Editors’ Forum (SAEF) and the African Editors Forum (TAEF) welcome the release on bail of Zimbabwean journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono. We note that Justice Chitapi found that Magistrate Gofa grossly misdirected herself in denying the journalist bail. He is expected to be released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison later this evening.
SANEF, SAEF AND TAEF call on Zimbabwean authorities to stop hounding Chin’ono, an investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker. Instead we call for his unconditional release.
Chin’ono was arrested and then again re-arrested on 3 November and is facing charges of defeating or obstructing the course of justice. The authorities have alleged that Chin’ono created communication lines with sources within the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) who gave him access to confidential prosecutorial deliberations, which he allegedly published on social media, including Twitter, on 25 October.
The confidential information purported to show that Henrietta Rushwaya, a Zimbabwean woman allegedly caught at the Robert Mugabe International Airport trying to smuggle gold out of the country, was going to be granted bail without any opposition by NPA officials.
Prosecutors claimed that Chin’ono had jeopardised the integrity of cases against himself and that of Rushwaya.
Chin’ono has declined to reveal his sources – which is a basic principle of journalistic ethics.
Chin’ono is also facing charges of “inciting the public” after he was arrested in July for allegedly calling for anti-corruption protests. At the time, he had been involved exposing government corruption.
SANEF joins international media organisations and defenders of media freedom including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Amnesty International, the Africa Editors Forum (TAEF) and the Southern African Editors Forum (SAEF) in condemning the pretrial detention over a tweet, which represents what some see as the latest effort to control social media in Zimbabwe.
SANEF, SAEF and TAEF join media organisations in appealing, once again, to Cyril Ramaphosa in his position as African Union chair, to use all available mechanisms to help secure Chin’ono’s release, and to ensure that journalists across the continent are respected as essential workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and are not jailed for their work.
Chin’ono’s detention was the latest tactic to target and harass critical voices through the misuse of the criminal justice system.
Addressing the International Press Institute Congress in Cape Town in February 1994, Nelson Mandela said: A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favour. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution so that it can protect our rights as citizens.”
We hope that the Zimbabwe authorities will heed his counsel.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) held cordial meetings on Thursday (19 November 2020) and Friday (20 November 2020) with SABC editors and executives respectively to find a way forward in the current impasse facing the public broadcaster.
SANEF notes that the SABC board announced late on Thursday night that it was suspending the restructuring process by seven days to allow for further consultation.
News reports have indicated that media unions are going ahead with strike action that threatens a blackout of broadcast and digital services at the public broadcaster.
SANEF has proposed a mediated process to both management and editors to try and resolve the impasse, as the instability in the news division at the public broadcaster threatens its ability to deliver on its expansive, but sadly unfunded public mandate.
The SABC delivers news in all 11 official languages across the country and two San languages, Khwedam and !Xuntali, and it is the only institution with regional offices, ensuring that rural and marginalised communities are given a voice. In parts of our country, it remains the only source of information for communities. It, therefore, remains central to South Africa’s ability to ensure thriving participatory democracy.
It was clear to SANEF that none of the parties dispute the critical need for the SABC to restructure and cut costs. A bloated, top-heavy structure is the unfortunate consequence of years of mismanagement, including the payment of above-inflation and irregular increases and bonuses. All parties agree that for the SABC to be saved, costs must be cut.
In our meeting with editors on Thursday, they indicated that they remain committed to the restructuring of the SABC to ensure its sustainability and ability to continue to deliver on its constitutional mandate.
But they expressed frustration that there was not sufficient consultation on the proposed structure and indicated that there were gaps in the structure presented that could impede operations directly linked to delivering on its public service responsibilities.
The SABC executive, led by Group CEO Madoda Mxakwe, explained that Treasury conditions on the bail-out it received included reducing its salary bill, which currently represents more than half its revenue and 43% of its expenditure. In the news division alone, 93% of the budget is spent on salaries.
Management also warned that should the turnaround strategy not be implemented, the SABC will run out of money by April. SANEF is of the view that urgent action must be taken to avoid this situation, that will be to the detriment of millions of South Africans.
The SABC executive reiterated its commitment to continue to deliver on the SABC’s constitutional mandate despite the lack of funding from the shareholder.
SANEF believes a mediated process between the newsroom and the management team will allow for the management team to share with the editorial staff the vision for the SABC and explain the difficult choices it had to make as part of safeguarding the sustainability of the SABC.
The editorial team will be able to share with management its proposals on ensuring that while the inevitable restructuring process is carried out, there are no gaps that threaten operations.
FUNDING THE PUBLIC MANDATE
SANEF is however concerned that the SABC’s critical public mandate has never been funded sufficiently by the government despite promises over the years to do so.
Instead, there has been a reversal of support to the SABC.
For example, the SABC was not given extra funding to cover the 2019 national and provincial elections. The public broadcaster played a critical role in giving voice to ordinary South Africans and gave the opportunity for political parties to share their manifestos with the public.
The SABC plays a critical role in informing and educating the public on pandemics like Covid-19, especially in a climate where audiences turn to credible media outlets for factual news.
In the week after the National State of Disaster was declared, the average audience for IsiZulu language TV news on SABC increased by 40% and IsiXhosa news audience rose by 60%.
The pandemic has had a disastrous impact on the finances of all media companies, including the SABC, again highlighting the need for proper government funding of the public broadcaster.
Government and political parties cannot speak about the importance of the SABC but fail to provide it with the necessary financial support to execute that mandate.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is concerned about the instability at the SABC after the announcement of impending retrenchments.
As part of its turnaround strategy, the SABC announced this week it would retrench 400 of its almost 3,000 employees. Newsroom staff are also affected. Apart from the lay-offs, the SABC also stated that it would freeze salary increases for the next three years.
Earlier in the year it forecast that it might have to lay off 600 jobs for its own survival. The SABC’s salary bill represents more than half its revenue and 45% of its expenditure.
SANEF calls on the SABC leadership to continue to fulfil its public mandate by ensuring that its budget cuts do not curtail a number of critical services including its African language and regional programming. We call for the SABC to ringfence core news and current affairs posts and not compromise its core public mandate of news delivery.
SANEF will be seeking a meeting with the SABC to get a deeper understanding of its restructuring plans and its vision for the future of the public broadcaster. We note that Section 189 notices to the newsroom staff have temporarily been withdrawn.
Since President Cyril Ramaphosa declared the Coronavirus pandemic a national disaster on 23 March 2020, more than 700 jobs have been lost in the media industry. In the first two months of the lockdown we saw the closure of two magazine publishers and 80 small print publications operating across the country.
SANEF notes with deep concern that in many newsrooms around the country, journalists are simply not replaced, resulting in a diminished capacity to cover the length and breadth of the country. With the prevailing tough economic conditions, advertising revenue has declined dramatically, and the bulk of digital advertising revenue leaves the country’s shores to Facebook and Google.
It is not just the COVID-19 crisis that has decimated the media sector. In the past three years, scores of journalists lost their jobs due to retrenchments by the then Tiso Blackstar, Media24, Independent Media and the shutdown of Afro Worldview, previously known as ANN7, by MultiChoice. Titles like The Times and HuffPost SA were closed, which diminished the diversity of voices in South Africa.
We call on media owners to think creatively and responsibly about implementing new, sustainable business models, built on the integrity and the trust that our readers, viewers and listeners place in us to tell the country’s stories without fear or favour.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
Johannesburg – When one of my favourite broadcasters, the late Jim Lehrer – of America’s Public Broadcasting Station, was asked if he had day-to-day guidelines for practising journalism, he said: “Well, yes, and here they are: “Do nothing I cannot defend;
“Cover, write and present every story with the care I would want if the story were about me;
“Assume there is at least one other side or version to every story;
“Assume the viewer is as smart and caring and as good a person as I am. Assume the same about all people on whom I report;
“Assume personal lives are a private matter until a legitimate turn in the story absolutely mandates otherwise;
“Carefully separate opinion and analysis from straight news stories and clearly label everything;
“Do not use anonymous sources or blind quotes except on rare and monumental occasions and
“No one should ever be allowed to attack another anonymously. And, finally, I am not in the entertainment business.”
Essential elements of journalism
Every time I read this, I remember my first journalism lecture at Rhodes University in Makhanda, when we debated the essential elements of reporting:
Accuracy
Truthfulness
Objectivity
Impartiality
Fairness
Accountability
It is sad to see that in this day and age, some journalists ignore ethical standards as espoused by Lehrer – may his soul rest in peace – and the professional standards we learn from journalism schools which are emphasised by concerned editors.
Forty-three years since one of the implementers of apartheid white minority rule, Jimmy Kruger, arrested editors and banned The World and Weekend World, and 26 years into a democratic South Africa, is the state of media freedom in our Rainbow something to be proud of?
No.
While there are no threats to the freedom of the media as there were 43 years ago, the state of the media industry is as messy and more confusing due to the ever-changing business models, diminishing capacity of news organisations, declining profits, fake news, misinformation, the over-reliance on unnamed sources and declining public trust.
Ignoring ethical guidelines
It is a pity that these days, some news sounds or reads more like a biased commentary which has more opinion than facts.
Some journalists ignore ethical guidelines for the sake of sensationalising the news in the quest to be seen as hard-hitting newsmen and women.
Of course, journalism has seen a sudden shift because of the advent of blogs and social media platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well as the overwhelming urge to promote one ideology over another.
Despite the shift to digital media and more competition for advertising and print newspaper sales and circulation, ethical decision-making and journalistic integrity, should remain steadfast.
Unfortunately, we continue to see the media spin narratives to serve their own interest by using cherry-picking stories, using compromising pictures, taking content out of context, or promoting misleading headlines and relying – sometimes over-relying on anonymous sources.
Use of anonymous sources
In addition to sensationalising news for commercial and political gain, journalism ethics is suffering from the growing use of anonymous sources. Amid journalism scandals and hand-wringing about media credibility, the use of anonymous sources has run amok.
When I was trained as a reporter, editors insisted that we always strive to get both sides of every story. We were never allowed to publish unconfirmed rumours or to quote unnamed sources.
Now, all the rules have changed. The 24-hour news cycle, growth of online news, competition for audiences, viewers and listeners, means unnamed sources are used increasingly to break stories leaked by officials seeking to get their views before the public.
Rumours by anonymous sources are tossed into the air or headlined in print, to be proved or disproved later.
Of course, there is an argument that anonymous sources are an essential tool of investigative reporting. Used well, anonymous sources are an indispensable tool for supplying depth and critical insight to complicated stories.
For intrepid journalists, one needs to answer two facts about the source:
* Does the source actually have all the facts and knows what he or she is talking about, and or,
* Does the source have a hidden political or economic agenda and/or an axe to grind?
Scepticism of unnamed sources
I can think of no common journalistic shortcoming more threatening to media credibility than over-reliance on unnamed sources.
I am not surprised that members of the public are often sceptical of unnamed sources. Almost invariably people assume that any quote without a name attached to it was made up by the reporter.
Indeed, while readers are sceptical of anonymous sources, sometimes they are necessary. In deciding to use them, the value of the information they divulge must be weighed against the credibility questions that anonymity raises.
Of course as human beings, journalists may fall short of reader expectations. That doesn’t make the mistakes or thumb-sucking stories alright.
Everyone knows that sometimes the information may be sensitive but important enough to make anonymity acceptable.
To offset any public doubt, instead of just identifying someone as an “unnamed source,” or a “source who declined to be named,” the editors need to explain the sources’ motives for coming forward and what qualifies them as being credible. For instance, the journalist and his or her bosses may note what position the source holds in an organisation or company.
Also, for an unnamed source to carry weight, the information must be so important, the media house may not be able to get it anywhere else. Also if known, the source would face harm or serious loss.
No wonder news organisations and individual reporters value unidentified sources so much that they go to great lengths to protect their identities.
Guidelines for using anonymous sources
One may say surely there is a big divide between whistle-blowers and run-of-the-mill anonymous sources who freely bash political and/or business opponents.
That is why the world-famous newspapers, The New York Times and Washington Post have outlined guidelines for helping journalists decide whether to use anonymous sources. These guidelines are:
* Promises of anonymity must be authorised by the editor;
* Anonymous sources should be used only for a just cause;
* Anonymous sources should be used only as a last resort;
* Sources should be as fully identified as possible, with reasons for anonymity explained in the story;
* Proportionality: editors should balance the potential harms and benefits in any use of anonymous sources;
* Anonymous sources can only be used with just intentions by the reporter, the media and the source; and
* Use of anonymous sources requires independent verification by a second source.
* Unnamed sources or not, a true journalist must be able to display professional ethical standards unswayed by inherent human frailties such as political or business allegiance which may make one vulnerable to ethical lapses.
Rigorous self-criticism
Therefore, the media fraternity should strive for a rigorous self-criticism over any perception of irresponsibly forsaking professional morality.
In their book, Doing Ethics in Journalism, authors Jay Black, Bob Steele and Ralph Barney pose three ethical standards for journalism:
* Seek truth and report it as fully as possible. Be thorough, accurate, and fair).
* Act independently. Avoid outside influences that would compromise the credibility of the reporting.
* Minimise harm. Reporting does not occur in isolation. The effects of reporting can cause harm, often unintended.
Is anyone listening?
There is no doubt that the duty of the media is to shape the mind and the opinion of the public.
Maybe it is time that the public demand professional and higher standards from the media industry by boycotting media companies that have journalists who do not adhere to the expected ethical standards.
* Rich Mkhondo runs The Media and Writers Firm (www.mediaandwritersfirm.com) a content development and reputation management hub.
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