Don’t treat news as you would ads – EFF

Ndlozi slams the 60% SABC airtime demanded by ANC

THE ANC should not be given airtime if it has nothing new to say, the EFF told an inquiry looking into allegations of editorial interference at the SABC. EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told inquiry chairperson Joe Thloloe news should not be handled like advertising.

“For example, the president might do his morning walks, and you tell me every day about the walks. That is not news. I cannot wake up to that every day, and that this time he is walking in Khayelitsha... that is no longer news,” Ndlozi said.

Last week, the ANC’s Zizi Kodwa told the inquiry the governing party should be allocated a 60% coverage compared to other parties. Ndlozi said the proposal was biased.

“It is such attitude that points to arrogance and entitlement, coming from a person who is not even a member of Parliament.

“It boils down to marketing of a political party, not news. Something is not newsworthy only because it has 60% or 1% representation in Parliament,” Ndlozi said.

“If news should be fair, balanced and critical, it cannot use proportional representation. News must remain in the orbit of journalism. A journalist goes out to seek the truth, not a 60% news coverage for the ANC.”

He said as a new political party, the EFF was being marginalised by the SABC, especially before and during the 2014 general elections.

“When former head of news Jimmy Matthews left the SABC, he publicly stated that a decision taken to block EFF coverage. When other media such as the eNCA, Al Jazeera and Son covered EFF events, the ANC saw EFF as a nuisance and banned the commander in chief, Julius Malema, and the EFF, as said by Matthews. We cannot be discriminated against because we’re seen as a nuisance.”

Matthews admitted to censoring the EFF while he was at the public broadcaster, and that he had taken the decision – but not alone.

Instructions had come from disgraced former chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who along with certain individuals in the ANC, were of the view that Malema should not be given coverage, Matthews said in an interview.

Thloloe asked Ndlozi if there was any evidence that showed the ANC “called the shots at the SABC”.

Ndlozi responded that he doubted there was anything on paper or a recording to prove such interference by the governing party.

He advised Thloloe to invite Matthews to the inquiry.

Ndlozi said EFF news coverage at the SABC had improved in 2016.