No right of reply results in fake news
SOUTH Africa, we have a problem. There is a move afoot that is potentially far more dangerous than the Guptas’ attempted takeover of the country, and that is media manipulation and unethical reporting designed to prevent broader economic participation.
A biased and somewhat scurrilous article was issued by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism on the Daily Maverick news site this past weekend. This was in response to the announcement that Sagarmatha Technologies intends to list on the JSE.
Sagarmatha Technologies is a multisided-platform (MSP) company that combines e-commerce, content and technology into one package. Think the likes of Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, Alibaba, etc.
Sagarmatha Technologies includes Independent Media, Loot.co.za and a number of other companies.
The article paints a picture of secrecy and cloak-and-dagger tactics to get this company listed, only because at the centre is Dr Iqbal Survé, the South African businessman who headed the consortium to return the ownership of the old Independent Newspaper group to South African shores about five years ago.
Because the newspaper group had not moved forward with the times, it needed modernisation. That meant streamlining, re-engineering and also saying goodbye to some people. This is similar to every other media group in the country, and the world, that is interested in staying in business.
“These hard business decisions are rarely met with welcome arms, especially where restructuring is concerned, and over the years, Independent Media has met with its fair share of criticism.
“But the fact is that Independent Media has now transformed and is leading media in South Africa with its incorporation into Sagarmatha Technologies and the opportunities this opens for us,” said Dr Survé, executive chairman of Independent Media. “Of course, competitors who have yet to grasp the fact that technology drives just about everything will be resistant to our success.”
Still, Independent Media would be happy with wellbalanced and informed pieces about the listing, and there have been many of them – thank you. But, when an article such as amaBhungane’s put out at the weekend selectively chooses paragraphs out of a 212-page document and puts a spin on them, journalistic integrity and intent need to be questioned.
The most important point to make here is that Independent Media and Sagarmatha Technologies have nothing to hide. Both have been consistently transparent. What worries most of the media competitors – the main detractors – is that Independent Media has identified the future and if they do not join in, they will be obsolete. They are fighting for their existence.
The article in question does not share the bigger picture of Sagarmatha Technologies, focusing on Independent Media, which owns less than 5% of Sagarmatha Technologies. The article could have been so much more, if the journalist in question had understood how company financials and MSPs work – it would have been far more informative and served the people of South Africa better.
For the record, neither Independent Media nor Sagarmatha Technologies were afforded the opportunity to check the veracity of the article. Had it done so, it would have been able to correct all of the misrepresentations contained in this so-called piece of investigative journalism. In a world dominated by the proliferation of fake news, the most basic requirement for any journalist or media house to survive is to fact-check.
Looking to the future, Sagarmatha Technologies is not sitting back to let the West or Asia march across Africa. It intends to be the first African company to excel in this space on the continent and, in the process, will deliver broader economic participation. – Independent Media
To read the full reply – please go to IOL