Report Without Fear, Favour or Prejudice

Let us talk about “The Media”, compatriots.  After the judiciary, the legislature and the executive the media is probably the most important institution in a democracy, most especially in an adolescent democracy like South Africa.  The media is the link between events and the people, the media informs, the media holds office bearers accountable when constitutional institutions fail. 

The South African media does all these great things, yet at about 12h00 every Sunday, after the chatting class has paged through their newspapers the social media platforms go berserk, questioning the mandate of the media.  The ruling party, in the run-up to the Local Government Elections said “We must realise that in this election the main opposition is the media”. Once united in the fight against an oppressive regime the ANC and the media are at loggerheads.   Questions about the line between reporting and commentary is said to be skewed, which the Press Code speaks against.  Should one be able to sense who a journalist voted for in the elections by the tone they take in a report, which is meant to disseminate facts, not opinions?

The Press Code, which is a guideline that any credible media publication abides by, I guess, it could be called the Bible of journalism, explains the role of the media in South Africa in reporting and not so technical, technical terms.  It should be condensed and the media should follow the simple yet profound principles of the judiciary.  The media should report without fear, favour or prejudice.

These core principles, if applied would send many journalists and their papers in the right direction. Yes there are some journalists and papers that have strayed off the right path, and need to guided, and the guidance lies in the principles of the judiciary.  Whether or not the courts follow these principles is neither here nor there; the point is that they are a solid set of principles by which journalists should use when reporting.

Journalist should not be afraid of pursuing suspected corruption in government (and the private sector). The front pages of newspapers are plastered with corruption in the public sector, given this, one would be fooled into thinking that little to no corruption happens in South Africa’s private sector.  Yes corruption in the government is something that affects us all in one way or another, but corruption is corruption and it should be reported on regardless of who commits it.

Favourable coverage by the media is not in the public interest as it does not properly inform consumers.  In South Africa corruption has unfortunately become synonymous with the ANC government, whilst clean governance is equated to the DA-led Provincial Government in the Western Cape.  There is good which has been done by the ANC in government and bad which has been the DA in the Western Cape, yet as consumers of news we do not read about this.

As already mentioned, as a reader you should not be able sense the journalist’s political affiliation by the tone taken.  The facts of the report should speak volumes rather than the journalist presenting an opinion piece under the guise of a fair report.  When writing a report any preconceived ideas should be left for an opinion piece.

The principle of reporting without fear favour or prejudice should be the cornerstone of journalism.  Reporting without fear, favour or prejudice is unequivocal.  The media played a role in bringing down the apartheid government and for that very reason the media fraternity holds a special place in the hearts of all South Africans, but we need to have this conversation.  Like the rest of South Africa the media needs to ask itself the following, “we are at this point, how do we get to the next point?”