Editing a newspaper is not for sissies. This is especially true for the editor of Grocott’s Mail. Almost every week at least one angry reader will phone the offices of this publication with the purpose of giving the editor a good talking to.
Editing a newspaper is not for sissies. This is especially true for the editor of Grocott’s Mail. Almost every week at least one angry reader will phone the offices of this publication with the purpose of giving the editor a good talking to.
Some Makana residents write letters while others send scorching emails complaining about a typographical error, a misquote, or a “that is not what I meant to say”.
This is very bad for the editor’s blood pressure, and it is not always healthy for the reputation of this newspaper.
On the other hand, such reactions, and sometimes even such over-reactions are good for us – they keep our newsroom strictly on the straight and narrow.
Everything we write about, every photo we publish is out there in the open for our readers to analyse, scrutinise and of course, criticise.
Surely no other profession is as open to public examination as journalism. It is therefore infuriating for the media and insulting to the general public when the ANC repeatedly calls for a media tribunal.
The ANC Secretary-General, Gwede Mantashe argues that a media tribunal is required to deal with the “dearth of media ethics” in South Africa, while SACP leader and Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, said recently that “No one is watching the media”.
Dear Mr Nzimande everyone is watching the media. Unfortunately, not everyone is watching government. Mantashe has most recently taken to supporting calls for a media tribunal by citing the case of a senior ANC official who bribed a journalist to put a particular spin on articles concerning internal ANC squabbles.
It is worth noting that the newspaper suspended the journalist immediately, and shortly thereafter – while a disciplinary investigation was under way the suspended journalist felt obliged to resign.
On the other hand, the ANC official who bribed the journalist has not suffered any censure from his party. In fact he continues to be a member of the ANC and was recently designated as this country’s ambassador in the United States.
If anything, this case provides strong evidence that the media does not need a tribunal, but the ANC certainly does.
