There’s no place for corruption in newsrooms

The suspension by Media24 of two senior City Press journalists on allegations of corruption bodes well for the future of journalism in this country.

We, at this newspaper, are, however, not surprised about corruption (mainly perpetrated in the form of extortion) that appears to have silently taken root within the broader journalism industry.

Journalism is supposed to be a noble profession whose cardinal pillars rest largely on telling and upholding the truth. It is a profession that always seeks to expose wrongdoing and restore justice for the victims of deceit in society.

We believe journalism must be more concerned about the welfare of the people and be audaciously obsessed with protecting the vulnerable against the powerful in society.

This is why corruption must always remain one of the greatest enemies of journalism. Journalism is expected to frown upon such societal ills as they seek to undermine and diminish our collective will for a better society for all.

One of the cardinal virtues of journalism practice is the deep sense of duty to ordinary people. We never embark on reporting stories for personal gain or glory, we do so out of duty not only to ourselves but to others as well.

It therefore becomes a serious blot on the profession when journalists use the craft for their own personal enrichment. It is painful to see journalists embark on corrupt behaviour such as extorting money from newsmakers with the sole intention of hiding the truth from the public.

We sympathise with our colleagues at City Press, who are waging a commendable battle against this downward spiral of ethics within their newsroom. It is matter of public record that this newspaper has been in similar situation.

The cancer of corruption in newsrooms appears to have become an industry-wide problem where journalists have set their sights on accumulating wealth. Editors can no longer hide their heads in the sand when their newsrooms have become a refuge to dangerous news merchants who approach stories with the idea of personally profiting from them.

It is believed that these journalists work like a well-organised syndicate in different newsrooms. They – in some instances – compete against each other for potential clients who mostly consist of wayward politicians and business people.

Something urgent needs to be done to root out this scourge of journalistic delinquency before public trust in the nobility and modesty of this profession is eroded.

We have unfortunately not seen the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) take enough lead to tackle this crime. There’s been no evidence of Sanef implementing some critical recommendations that arose from Judge Kathy Satchwell’s Inquiry into Media Ethics and Credibility.

It is, in fact, an indictment that some people among Sanef’s leadership ranks chose to discourage the recommendation that journalists be subjected to lifestyle audits. We would not be where we are as a profession had that recommendation been taken seriously.

For courageous and sound journalism to flourish, journalistic integrity must indeed be protected and become strongly non-negotiable. Otherwise, our hard-won media freedom would have been in vain.