Two senior journalists have been arrested for leaking information about a criminal investigation into the alleged unlawful publication of a government official’s home address. Zimbabwe? South Africa? United States, actually. Jim Larkin and Michael Lacey of the Phoenix New Times were jailed last week when they revealed that they had been subpoenaed by a grand […]
Media
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Oy! It’s OIA time again
The Out in Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (OIA) is, this year, in fact two festivals, or is happening in two halves. This is partly a result of the shift from Ster-Kinekor’s Cinema Nouveau to Nu Metro, and to do with conflicts of time with other festivals. The first part took place earlier this […]
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Mashabane coverage prompts culture clash
Weekend coverage critiqued ANC political factions for expressing their conflict over the grave of former diplomat Norman Mashabane. Interestingly, there were also clashes over coverage of the man’s death, raised at last Friday’s conference that was convened by the SABC and the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef). I myself grew up in a detribalised […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Media dignitaries debating dignity
Racial dignity was a hot theme during the 2001 Human Rights Commission inquiry into media racism, and it emerged again at the SABC-South African National Editors’ Forum conference last week. Responding to my speech there, SABC CEO Dali Mpofu raised racial dignity as part of his opposition to the Sunday Times’s stories on Health Minister […]
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Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
I can’t help thinking that we used to handle violent behaviour in children far more elegantly than we appear to do today. Ever thought that violence may, in fact, be quite normal?
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I have the right to remain silent
This was published in Grocott’s Mail on November 17 2006: Captain Riaan Havenga pulled out a brown file stamped with the SAPS badge and started to fill it in. “Name?” “Jonathan.” “Surname?” “Ancer.” “ID number?” I rattled off the numbers and he wrote them down and then paused. His lips formed into a small smile. […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Newspapers without government … How about that, Mr President?
Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America, once famously said: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” That was before he became president. After he’d experienced a taste of […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Media veterans recall October 19 1977
Here’s how two media stalwarts sum up the significance of the 30th anniversary of the bannings of three newspapers on October 19 1997: Thami Mazwai The day found me doing the rounds in Soweto for the World newspaper. I’ve been a journalist on the active side, never enjoyed journalism on other side of telephone. So […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
An editor goes to jail … Does anyone care?
Journalists are not above the law, right? So why the fuss over the legal action against Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya? The reason is threefold. The first is that images of editors being dragged off to prison (exaggerated as these seem to be in this case) are not good for a country that is a […]
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Free expression means nothing if it’s limited to the media
Steven Friedman wrote a brilliant post, “The people our national debate does not see or hear”. I began writing a comment in response to his post, but then realised it was too long and needed a post of its own. Steven is absolutely correct. Too many of us who are involved in the media in […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Editor, journalist to be arrested … or are they?
Was the Sunday Times guilty of crying wolf when it reported that its editor and another journalist would be arrested on charges of contravening the National Health Act? On Sunday, the newspaper reported that editor Mondli Makhanya and deputy managing editor Jocelyn Maker would be arrested this week on charges related to the theft of […]
Posted inMedia
Mmm … methinks the Constitution is the cheese!
I hate to be the … *checks it* … fifth person, effectively, to write on the subject of Mondli Makhanya and Jocelyn Maker’s apparently-no-longer-impending arrest (on this site alone), but being a still wet-behind-the-ears media practitioner, I find this situation simply far too enticing to not add my two cents’ worth. Much of the debate […]