Mpumalanga Edition, White River
2 August 2006
Master of Ceremonies,
The Editor of the Sowetan, Thabo Leshilo,
Members of the editorial brand,
our provincial public representatives,
Members of the business community,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning. We are honoured to be here this morning and to be part of your
25th anniversary celebrations and the launch of the Sowetan newspaperâs
Mpumalanga edition. I am pleased because we now have a provincial partner that
will contribute actively in our quest to improve the lives of all our
people.
For the past 12 years all our endeavours have centred on creating a better
life for our people by amongst others transforming the State, building the
economy, eradicating poverty and accelerating service delivery.
Today many of our people have access to basic facilities such as primary
health centres, schools, clean and running water, electricity, proper
sanitation, roads, houses and recreational facilities. We were able to work
hard fulfilling our mandate of eradicating poverty and improving the lives of
all our people because as government we entered into meaningful partnerships
with those willing to lend a hand in building a new country.
Many of our partners in the broadcast, information and communication sector
played a vital role in fostering and supporting discussion relevant to our
unfolding democracy. Throughout the 12 years these partners made it their
mission to inform and educate our people; they made the complex coherent; they
challenged conventional wisdom and told a diversity of human stories that
inspired and enlightened our era.
Most media really explains issues and ideas. As they say, it unpacks issues.
As a democracy we depend on accurate information. We know an informed and
knowledgeable citizenry is needed for successful self-government. In order to
understand complex issues, ideas and events, we need context, background,
history, and most of all analysis. We need to know the why and the how, not
just who, what, where and when.
That is why at times it may become necessary for us to write, edit, and then
rewrite and re-edit our stories in order to make them more lucid, more
literate.
There are many things that journalists did and continue to do in helping us
inform our people about the workings of democracy. Democracy depends on
citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context.
But journalists must not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense,
but they must pursue it in a practical sense. This "journalistic truth" is a
process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and
verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of
their meaning, valid for now subject to further investigation. They must
continue to do that.
I also believe that most of the South African media has its first loyalty to
its citizens. While news organisations answer to many constituencies, including
advertisers and shareholders, most of our journalists continue to maintain
allegiance to citizens and the larger public interest, above any other. This
they have to do if they are to provide the news without fear or favour. This
commitment to citizens first, is the basis of a news organisation's
credibility, the implied covenant that tells the audience the coverage is not
slanted for friends or advertisers. Commitment to citizens also means
journalism should present a representative picture of all constituent groups in
society. Ignoring certain citizens has the effect of disenfranchising them.
I believe that the Sowetan will continue to provide a forum for public
discussion. But remember this discussion serves society best when it is
informed by facts rather than prejudice and supposition. It also should strive
to fairly represent the varied viewpoints and interests in society, and to
place them in context rather than highlight only the conflicting fringes of
debate. Accuracy and truthfulness require that as framers of the public
discussion we not neglect the points of common ground where problem solving
occurs.
Journalism is storytelling with a purpose. It should do more than gather an
audience or catalogue the important. For its own survival, it must balance what
readers know they want, with what they cannot anticipate but need. In short, it
must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant. Quality is
measured both by how much a story or piece engages its audience and enlightens
it. These means journalists must continually ask what information has most
value to citizens and in what form. While journalism should reach beyond such
topics as government and public safety, a journalism overwhelmed by trivia and
false significance ultimately engenders a trivial society.
Programme Director, finally every journalist must have a personal sense of
ethics and responsibility - a moral compass. Each of us must be willing, if
fairness and accuracy require to voice differences with our colleagues, whether
in the newsroom or the conference room. News organisations do well to nurture
this independence by encouraging individuals to speak their minds. This
stimulates the intellectual diversity necessary to understand and accurately
cover an increasingly diverse society. It is this diversity of minds and
voices, not just numbers that matters.
Ladies and gentlemen, this morning when we ask some pointed questions the
answers should be consistent. If we ask ourselves the question, are we on track
in executing our mandate of informing and educating the public, the answer
should not be âno!â If we asked ourselves the question, do our analytical
pieces contribute to the struggle against poverty, ignorance and disease; the
answer should not be, ââmaybeâ. If we asked ourselves the question, are we
winning the struggle for the inculcation of a culture of caring and sharing in
our communities, the answer must not be âwe are not so sureâ.
The Sowetan launches its Mpumalanga Edition at a time when a new generation
of media consumers has raised demanding content delivered when they want it,
how they want it, and very much as they want it. This new media audience in
South Africa and around the world is already using technology, especially the
web, to inform, entertain and above all to educate them.
This knowledge revolution empowers the reader, the student, the victim of
injustice, anyone with a vital need for the right information. It is part of
wider changes that reach far beyond the media industry. What happens to print
journalism in an age where consumers are increasingly being offered on demand,
interactive, news, entertainment, sport and classifieds via broadband on their
computer screens, TV screens, mobile phones and handsets? Many people look at
these things and predict gloom and doom for the print and electronic media. I
believe traditional newspapers have many years of life left and will be just
one of many channels to our readers. Great journalism will always attract
readers. The words, pictures and graphics that are the stuff of journalism have
to be brilliantly packaged; they must feed the mind and move the heart.
Many newspapers have created and continue to build large audiences for their
content online and have provided readers with added value features such as
email alerts, blogs, interactive debate, and podcasts. Content is being
repurposed to suit the needs of a contemporary audience. Those people, those
companies, those nations which understand and use this new knowledge will be
the ones to prosper and grow strong in our age of discovery.
I am sure that as the Mpumalanga Government builds todayâs bridge to
Commando Street, the Sowetan will contribute to a greater understanding of
issues and themes that concern the people of this province. I believe this is a
bridge worth building. Who knows, this could be the beginning of a beautiful
new friendship! I for one would like to think so. As you take regional news
seriously, complement that with creating jobs for our people. Let there be jobs
and more jobs for our people.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to share this important
occasion. On behalf of the Mpumalanga Government I wish you every success with
the launch of the Sowetan Mpumalanga edition.
I thank you.
Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
2 August 2006
