Black Wednesday/Media freedom: Today’s threats are more complex than ever

Ayear after the death of black consciousness (BC) leader Steve Biko, minister of justice Jimmy Kruger, in 1977, tried to kill any progressive element of the press as they woke to the atrocities of apartheid. He banned 18 BC organisations and arrested editors who were then released but slapped with five-year banning orders.

It is inconceivable that this brutality could replay today given the protections in our Constitution. South African journalism in 2020 has shown unflinching steel in exposés of hideous corruption over the past decade, which is a huge power boost for democracy. However, media companies are shedding an unprecedented number of journalist jobs. Yet, in today’s Covid-19 era, coupled with information disorder, we need facts and reliable analysis more than ever.

Covid-19 entered the already complex cocktail of information disorder, which refers to the many ways in which our news environment is polluted by politicians’ use of social media/ falsehoods and propaganda, and the public sharing of sensationalism, drivel and divisiveness on Facebook and Twitter. Media freedom, journalism and journalists are under threat, at risk from job losses, leading to a loss of voice and diversity, and juniorisation of newsrooms; but also digitisation with the advent of social media being conflated with journalism and the misinformation pandemic that has arisen.

Massive journalist job losses

State of the newsroom, South Africa reports from 2013 to 2019 show that journalism steadily shed jobs over the past decade from the economic downturn of 2008, which affected advertising streams and declines in circulation.

Together with new ways of accessing news e.g. social media, mainstream media lost out. This year, researcher Reg Rumney examined the impact of Covid-19 journalist job losses. The research, released in June 2020, found that more than 700 journalists were retrenched in the first few months of the pandemic, and that hyper local news outfits were the most affected; 80 community newspapers closed down.

By July 2020 a new round of retrenchments was announced when the Primedia Media group (which includes 702, KFM, Cape Talk, EWN) announced impending job cuts.

Primedia has 786 full-time employees; no job cut figure has emerged yet. Also in July, Media 24 declared it would retrench 510 employees. This followed an SABC announcement earlier this year of about 1,200 freelance jobs to be cut. With Primedia additions, as well as magazine and community newspaper closures, these figures add up to more than 3,000.

Harassment of journalists

Besides these forces of commercialisation and digitisation coupled with Covid-19 causing general economic mayhem for job losses, what are the other threats to media freedom today? One of the biggest threats is the safety of journalists. They are being attacked from all angles: from the state when police rip out photographers’ film to being stoned by protesting community members (this month journalist Ismail Lagardien had a rock thrown through his windscreen in Kleinmond, which landed him in hospital).

Community members appear increasingly more likely to behave aggressively towards journalists rather than recognising their value as conduits of information by which their grievances could be aired.

The United Nations has just updated a journalist safety resolution that Covid-19 has had “significant implications for the work, health and safety of journalists” and calls on states to “assess the damage that the Covid-19 pandemic is inflicting on the provision of vital information to the public and the sustainability of media environments, and to consier, wherever possible, devising appropriate mechanisms to provide financial support to the media … without compromising editorial independence”. Covid-19 aside, there is harassment from political parties – ANC, DA, EFF – who vilify journalists

Hegemonic political control

The ANC desires more control of the media via a “Media Appeals Tribunal” (MAT) which is still is on their “books” in the form of a resolution at every party congress. At its 2007 Polokwane policy conference, the ANC proposed the establishment of an MAT and reiterated this proposal at all its subsequent policy conferences.

It argues an MAT would be a parliamentary “accountability mechanism” for the press, to which the Press Council of South Africa (PCSA) would be subservient. The ANC has always believed the self-regulatory accountability system of the press has “no teeth”. In reality, the ANC desires more political control.

In 2010, the Protection of State Information Bill dubbed, “Secrecy bill”, was tabled by the ANC in Parliament where it won the majority of MPs’ votes, expected then to be passed into legislation. However, through civil society protest and petitions in Parliament it’s been shown to fall short of our constitutional democracy. It caters more to an overly broad “national interest” than freedom of information. This means it would be in direct contradiction to the Promotion of Access to Information Act (2000).

The good news is that it’s not sitting on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s desk collecting dust, waiting to be signed into law, any more. In June this year Ramaphosa referred the Bill back to Parliament (hopefully to constitutional lawyers too), to be amended or revised.

The combination of the MAT and the “Secrecy Bill” together would, if instituted, establish a legislative and regulatory framework that could kill media freedom, and diversity – and be enabling for another Black Wednesday.

Journalism has to give voice to the voiceless

Meanwhile, as more journalists lose jobs, more diversity is cut.

Diverse views are critical for democracy. The role of journalists in a democracy is to provide diverse voices (for the homeless, gay, lesbian, trans, feminist, climate activist, et al) speak truth to power, hold power accountable, provide factual information to the public, and useful analysis to help people make decisions about their lives.

This 19 October 2020 is celebrated as media freedom day in South Africa, but we remember the atrocity of Black Wednesday on 19 October, 1977 and we must heed all these present-day multiple injuries against journalists, including closures of titles and retrenchments.

They are sad losses for media freedom, diversity and democracy. The fewer voices in the public domain, the more hollow our democracy is.