Posted inMedia

Good tidings for African journalists

“We needed it [this fund] back in 2002,” said Gugulethu Moyo, new director of the Media Legal Defence Initiative, referring to the Mugabe government’s suppression of the Daily News eight years back. The company owning the paper still sat with legal bills of $500 000 dollars (US — not Zimbawean!) dollars as a legacy of the […]

Posted inNews/Politics

Tightening the leash on the SABC and Icasa

No one has come out shining in the mud-slinging around the SABC, but the biggest loser is the autonomy of communications. This has been paralleled by a similar song-and-dance in parliament, in regard to the broadcasting regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). The consequence is that South Africa currently sits with both […]

Posted inMedia

Saving journalists and saving journalism

The shockwaves of collapsing newspapers in the US have startled everyone around the world, not least the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). It’s a body which represents some 600 000 media staffers across 120 countries. Or so it did, according to figures last year. Today, the crisis is cutting into those numbers. A think-tank, dubbed the […]

Posted inMediaNews/Politics

A scenario for the SABC

The SABC’s board of directors is on its way out, but later rather than sooner. And what happens then? Those wanting them out don’t seem to have given enough thought to this. This conclusion emerges from current discussions in Parliament about a legal amendment that would force President Thabo Mbeki to fire the board. To […]