Editors’ forum outraged by attacks on Blackstar staff
THE South African National Editors’ Forum has strongly condemned the attacks on two senior Tiso Blackstar media group journalists by the Black First Land First (BLF) movement.
Group editor-at-large Peter Bruce and Business Day editor Tim Cohen were confronted yesterday by the Gupta-linked BLF movement‚ which was unhappy about a column that appeared in Business Day.
BLF protesters‚ who threatened Bruce at his home in Parkview‚ Johannesburg‚ demanded that he start writing about the wrongdoing of white monopoly capital and not depict the black race as people associated with corruption.
Cohen was accosted on his arrival at Bruce’s home shortly after hearing of the protest.
BLF treasurer Thandiswa Yaphi threw a cheap shot at Cohen’s chin.
“Sanef condemns unreservedly the intimidation and threats against journalist Peter Bruce [and Tim Cohen],” Sanef director Chris Kabwato said.
“Media freedom is protected by the constitution and Mr Bruce has exercised his right to express himself. We also condemn the invasion of Mr Bruce’s personal life as part of a cowardly act to silence him.
“We encourage Mr Bruce to report the perpetrators to the police.
“Journalism is not a crime. State capture is.”
Tiso Blackstar also expressed its outrage over the attack.
“We are appalled at the attempted intimidation of Peter Bruce,” it said.
“It is an outright threat to journalism that we shouldn’t laugh off as a handful of lunatics making noise but rather part of a concerted campaign to intimidate that should be condemned in the strongest possible terms by anyone who supports the freedom of the press.”
The former editor-in-chief of Business Day and Financial Mail said he had no doubt that the protest could be linked to his opinion piece in Business Day‚ in which he wrote that he had been targeted by the Gupta family for writing articles about them.
National Press Club chairman Jos Charle said journalists should be allowed to report the news without any fear‚ intimidation or harassment. – TimesLIVE