Harber takes swipes while an industry is on its knees

ON FRIDAY, News24 published a piece concerning the current Section 189 process happening at Independent Media.

It is commendable that our media colleagues are sharing a story that reflects how the media landscape as a whole has been decimated by the advent of digital, fast-tracked by Covid-19, as well as the changing appetites of audiences.

However, the comments made by Adjunct Professor Anton Harber in this article cannot be condoned. Harber’s personal vendetta with Sekunjalo chairman Dr Iqbal Survé subverts the real financial fiasco all print media titles are faced with – the world over.

Harber’s comments that reference content as being the root cause of Independent Media’s current woes are way off base. Independent Media has a proud history of journalism and, in the main, has delivered exceptional content.

That it caters to a far broader and more diverse audience than most of its print and news competitors is wellknown and not a reason for its content to be called into question or put as the primary reason for its current challenges.

Harber negates the fact that South Africa, as a country, is facing dire economic challenges at present, the print media industry especially.

Harber’s perfect science hindsight remark about how the group should have changed tack after the Tembisa 10 story is somewhat hypocritical, since it was he who led the charge on drawing attention to the story, even going so far as to publicly encourage advertisers to withdraw their support from the group.

While Independent Media went about its business and has spent many hundreds of hours seeking solutions to right-size and stabilise the business, it is Harber who continues to reference what was an unfortunate incident in the company’s history.

In so doing, he has made public his undying wish to see Independent Media’s demise, albeit at the expense of journalists’ jobs and the existence of alternative voices in the country’s media space.

For the record, again, Independent Media did not retrench any staff during the dark days of Covid-19, nor subsequently. Perhaps, like its competitors, it should have done so then rather than follow the noble route it has done to this point.

But even then, Harber and his ilk would certainly have found something at fault.

It is a sad day when an industry turns against itself, which is what happens when industry experts put personal crusades ahead of the industry as a body.

Perhaps it is time to draw a truce so that Independent Media, in the midst of changing tack, can draw breath to live to write another day.