Media, shift your focus

THERE seems to be a weird notion, pushed by many journalists and political commentators, that, with Jacob Zuma out of the picture (or so it seems), the DA will have to come up with policies to differentiate itself from the ANC, as though the official opposition never had alternative policies and managed to govern better than the ANC purely by happenstance.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as even a brief perusal of DA policy documents would reveal a range of alternative proposals to the ANC’s failed policies.

The issue of land reform is a good example, with the ANC having failed in 90% of cases to implement land reform measures, the DA-led Western Cape government has almost a 70% success rate. While the DA is striving to improve on this, the ANC is falling over itself to head off the EFF’s threat brought about by the national government’s failure to address apartheid’s original sin, the 1913 Land Act and all other acts of dispossession of the majority of our people.

The fact is that certain elements in the media have failed in their role as educators and informers of the public, and have focused more on the personalities of political leaders than on the policies of parties, and they are now going to have to up their games if they want to stay relevant.

The days of snappy headlines about how bad Zuma is, are over and with an election coming up, it’s important the media fulfils its role as a medium of information so that voters are able to determine which party has the best offering for the people of South Africa.

Zuma’s departure is a great opportunity for the media to focus on policy differences between parties instead of treating the news like a reality TV show.