Shameless onslaught on Fourth Estate must be nipped in the bud

AS SOMEONE who has been working in the media and communication industry for the past 22 years, I am deeply worried by the unwarranted attacks on journalists we have seen recently.

There is a poisonous and dangerous undertone that needs to be stopped right now before it is too late.

Attacks on the character and the motives of journalists is not something we see only here in South Africa. The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi lost his life after criticising the Saudi state.

Five members of the editorial team at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, were gunned down in their newsroom, allegedly by a lone gunman who had a grudge against their reporting. The Committee to Protect Journalists says 52 lost their lives in the line of duty this year.

Journalists aren’t perfect. They make mistakes and are only human.

That is exactly why there are checks and balances built into their work and that is why there are rights of recourse for anyone who feels aggrieved.

Denigrating journalists as “enemies” is not the answer.

We simply cannot accept a situation where tacit or even direct threats on the Fourth Estate become normalised.

As we get ready for national and provincial elections next year, I urge readers to join me in calling on the Electoral Commission to make respect for journalists and the crucial work they do a part of the oath that all political parties must sign.

Language and behaviour that incites violence or aims to intimidate journalists into being too afraid to ask the critical questions must be stopped.

Journalism is not a crime. Open season on the Fourth Estate is closed.