Government Communications (GCIS) wishes to respond to the highly speculative Mail & Guardian (October 29) feature headlined “Govt to apply ideology to adspend”. The Mail&Guardian (M&G) suggests that in view of The New Age’s entry into the media market, government will redirect its spending on advertising to ensure that 60 percent of this expenditure will go to the SABC and 30 percent to The New Age, both branded as “patriotic media” by the M&G and its – once again – unnamed sources.
The M&G has got it wrong. GCIS has no plan to “support” any individual media organisation – The New Age or any other for that matter – in South Africa or elsewhere in the way implied by the M&G. GCIS insists that this allegation be withdrawn unconditionally for reasons outlined below.
GCIS is a public institution accountable to The Presidency and Parliament for communicating public information to all South Africans and to the international community, and adheres to sound professional practice in doing so.
GCIS is concerned that the M&G has relied on unnamed sources for speculation and misinformation that the M&G treats as fact in two headlines on Pages 1 and 4.
What is true is that as a Government serving 50 million citizens and residents, we have an obligation to communicate a broad range of information to a diverse range of audiences nationally and internationally.
Government provides information to South Africans of all backgrounds and persuasions, and therefore assesses the media market continuously to ensure that it is able to reach audiences in places and in ways where people prefer to get information about government.
We also know that media consumption is not static, because people’s information needs and interests change as their social or material status evolves, and because new media products and outlets are constantly being developed.
This, in a large country with nine distinct provinces, 11 official languages and a range of other characteristics that demand carefully targeted communication.
In this dynamic environment, Government has to ensure that its media selection is able to deliver the best possible reach and impact.
It is therefore ludicrous to suggest, as the M&G has done, that directing 90 percent of government’s adspend to the public broadcaster and The New Age will take care of government’s advertising needs. Anybody who knows anything about media planning and buying can actually see this allegation for what it is – mischief or, at the very worst, uninformed journalism.
Government’s communication strategy is informed by a broad range of trends in our society, which is tracked through ongoing research conducted in ways and for purposes adopted by institutions in the private and public sectors around the world.
These trends and other forms of market intelligence – not ideology – form the basis of our decision-making, a point neatly borne out by the appearance of a National Treasury advertisement on the page facing the M&G “adspend” story in question.
Enquiries:
Themba Maseko
Cell: 083 645 0810
