Round one to the Sowetan

The axe finally fell at 12:15pm yesterday (Friday) when the publisher and CEO of the Sowetan, Bongani Keswa upheld my dismissal as ruled by the earlier internal disciplinary hearing.

To recap: I had been working as senior revise sub-editor (a kind of final quality checkpoint) for 18 months on the Sowetan. During that time I had also been night news editor and night editor for four months on the paper which has a circulation of about 190 000.

I had become immensely frustrated at the continued decline in acceptable standards of journalism, the failure to implement desperately needed on-the-job training, the mounting workload being arbitrarily imposed on sub-editors (which I’ve subsequently discovered was illegal, but to which management simply turned a blind eye) and the intransigence of senior editors to heed our appeals and neglect in filling crucial posts (such as chief sub-editor — for six months!). When an allegedly confidential memo was distributed via general email banning new appointments in 2008, my indignation finally found voice and I blew the whistle in a blog on Thought Leader headlined “Working on that pig’s ear, baby”.

Despite the factual accuracy of the information and the protection of the Constitutional right to freedom of expression — plus the fact that there was nothing in the blog that had not been aired privately (to exhaustion) or already debated publicly, I managed to rile one individual to the extent where he insisted the company charge me with gross misconduct for (a), bringing Sowetan‘s name into disrepute and for, (b), disclosing confidential information.

Although neither of these “charges” were proved in any normal sense, a rather weird and knock-kneed case was presented by my accuser (who didn’t even have a decent copy of the offensive blog and seemed more peeved about a warped anachronistic notion of “loyalty” and “airing our dirty laundry in public” than the issues at hand) and several serious procedural blunders being allowed by the chairman, I was ultimately found guilty and summarily dismissed.

This could not be the same company that holds all manner of public and private bodies up to public scrutiny, I thought. This could not be the same newspaper that swears by integrity, honesty and fairness. The stench of hypocrisy and cant followed me back into the subs room like the dust cloud behind Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoons.

Naturally, I appealed immediately.

I wanted to point out that company “rules” could not and should not override the Constitution. I wanted to demonstrate how the company had failed in its fiduciary responsibility to ensure the confidentiality of its information (especially in the modern media environment). But I was refused permission to call expert witnesses from the Freedom of Expression Institute.

Still, I presented evidence in the form of a sworn affidavit. I left the appeal hearing quite confident.

Maybe I am naive, but to my dismay, yesterday the findings and dismissal were upheld by Keswa. I have been promised full records of the appeal (although the bulk of it consisted of my sworn affidavit) and the basis of Keswa’s ruling. It would be premature to comment until I have studied them.

Suffice to say that my warnings, which were bluntly ignored (and in one instance dismissed as racist) for so many months and which I voiced in my blog, have come true.

Since my departure the remaining three most experienced and senior people in the subs room have left or are leaving. There remain a tiny handful of incredible subs fighting to keep the Titanic afloat.

The general standard of journalism has continued to plummet. Friday’s edition was riddled with errors, though it did have some interesting design tweaks. That’s always a good idea — when content has gone to the dogs, at least dress it up a bit. That’s what some people call making shit shine. That’s not the same meaning I tried to convey in the blog that caused all the trouble. There I was referring to, among others, revise subs having to completely rewrite entire stories (including phoning sources) on deadline merely to make them presentable to the readers.

One of the letters to the editor yesterday seemed to underscore the indignation of readers. My erstwhile colleagues tell me the paper has only made deadline “once or twice since Christmas” and “these days we’re usually two hours late”.

Frustrations are at boiling point and morale is even lower now than it was when I opened the can of worms in November. If I thought we were being ruthlessly exploited in 45 to 50 hour weeks, being taken for granted and treated unfairly in an unhealthy, uncomfortable and unprofessional environment back in November, you should see the place now! Apparently they can’t even attract dash subs any longer — and anyone in newspapers knows what that means!

It saddens me deeply to see such a fine newspaper appear to be self-destructing so badly. Yesterday, Keswa was not the same CEO who oozed a relaxed confidence during my appeal hearing. I choose to interpret his change in demeanour as demonstrating the gravity with which he viewed his decision.

On the flipside, yesterday’s was the first of more than 150 meetings I have attended at the Sowetan that started on time, and finished in under 15 minutes.

Maybe there is hope. I hope so … I really do.

KYSSYG