By Brendon Bosworth This year, in the wake of Edward Snowden’s leaking of classified documents about digital spying, we’ve come to learn that big brother is definitely watching. As revelations about the National Security Agency and the US’s massive digital spying regime continue to surface it’s become increasingly clear that the majority of digital communications […]
media
Posted inMedia
When did children become so violent?
By Unéné Gregory On a calm Saturday evening I found myself watching a raved-about movie, Hanzel & Gretel Witch Hunters, a children’s folktale that had been given a twist by Hollywood. As I waited for the movie to begin I expected action and suspense. What ensued I was not expecting. Half-way through the movie I […]
Posted inEquality, Gender violence, Media, News/Politics
Concourt ruling against ‘teen sex’ law protects rape survivors’ rights
Last week’s Constitutional Court ruling decriminalising consensual sexual relationships between teens was met with moralising outrage across the country. Sensationalist media fanned the flames of indignation by failing to contextualise the law’s effect on teen sexual relations – including rape.
Under the impugned sections 15 and 16 of the Sexual Offences Act (SOA) teenage rape survivors, especially girls, run the risk of being criminally charged for being raped.
Posted inMedia
Who’s watching the watchdogs?
This is an acid test of media integrity, of being brave enough to face the uncompromising truth. Our media, whether online, print, radio or television, have a pathological aversion to candour and transparency about their own behind-the-scenes attitudes, practices and policies. Oh, they love ripping into political parties, other companies, organisations, prominent individuals, sportsmen and […]
Posted inEquality, Media
FHM to blame for corrective rape ‘joke’
Here are some simple rules, people of the world who have jobs. If you work for a food manufacturer, don’t post something about food hygiene. If you work for a media organisation, don’t post something prejudicial. If you work for a woman’s magazine, don’t post something sexist. It’s not brain surgery. Yet, for some people […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
On asking the right questions
Recently the BBC published an article by Hugh Schofield entitled “Why does France insist school pupils master philosophy?” His answer, seen through paternal eyes, is that it has opened a “world of knowledge” to his daughter. Reading the article in/from South Africa one could ask, as is the liberal trend, whose knowledge is being reproduced, […]
Posted inEquality, General, News/Politics
The Madiba Roadshow
Reality TV is funny business. Everyone in the industry knows that you score massive ratings, sometimes even in spite of viewer scepticism, when you allow an audience a window into the so-called real day in the life of a celebrity. As spectators we have a love-hate relationship with reality television precisely because it allows us […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality
The age of the indebted, mediatised, securitised and depoliticised
In Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri’s latest book Declaration (Argo Navis, 2012) — although, probably given its brevity (just over a hundred pages) compared to the books comprising their trilogy (Empire, Multitude and Commonwealth), they refer to it as a “pamphlet” — they articulate the global crisis of the present era in terms of four […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
The new M&G website: Putting women in their place?
So the Mail & Guardian is launching a women’s website. A website I presume that is written, curated and read by women. A website that speaks to the various concerns of “professional women, working and stay-at-home mothers”, I am told. And while this seems like a fairly benign prospect, the beginnings of what sounds like […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The government must speak to the people not the media
The government does not need to fight or over-invest in the media. In fact, it can afford to keep its distance and insist on factual, accurate, correct and truthful reporting. It is an open secret that not only is the media overly juniorised but its professionals are so underpaid and demoralised they cannot uphold their […]
Posted inBusiness, General, News/Politics
New Age harkens back to a previous age
Thanks to City Press, we now have an idea of how the New Age, a newspaper without audited circulation figures and little advertising, survives in the competitive daily newspaper market. The Gupta family, who are said to be close to President Jacob Zuma, created the New Age as a deliberate counter to the mainstream commercial […]
Posted inMedia
The Alf I knew
It was on the first day, the opening of the 2010 Fifa World Cup when I heard a voice behind me say “sorry, I need your help”. I turned around and saw a short, old man with cameras and lenses strapped to his body. They looked heavy on him. He was wearing a balaclava, rolled […]