25 March 2009
I would like to ask everyone here if they can remember that not too long
ago; there was no freedom of the press in South Africa. Then I would like to go
a step further and say that ethics was a word of limited scope and meaning on
the South African journalism landscape.
In fact, was often not applicable. I want to point out that newsrooms were
white, and opportunities to discuss aspects of the profession, like this
opportunity in fact, would not have been opened by someone like me, namely a
woman, and a woman of colour at that. Most of the people in this room would not
be able to participate in this kind of discussion, nor be a meaningful part of
the profession.
Let me state that this government fought hard, together with some of you
present here today, and especially with our host, that is the University of the
Western Cape, for not only a free media, but a free and democratic
society.
So where did things go awry? I have always held the belief that the media and
government work together, like different sides of the same coin. There is no
heads without tails. Who holds governments and politicians to account? Of
course their peers. But "a journalist is the lookout on the ship of state" is a
quote I believe media professionals should be well aware of by the American
publisher, Joseph Pulitzer.
I welcome that relationship with the media, but all too often that does not
happen. Instead of guiding and assisting government and politicians there is
more navel gazing at private lives and sexual peccadilloes than there is the
pointing out of irregularities and uncovering of corruption. I am not saying
corruption is not reported, but I am saying that after the initial report of
the corruption there is often a remarkable lack of follow up in reporting on
how that corruption is dealt with.
Nation building is not just the job of government or political parties, it
is the job of all who comment on society and believe they have a contribution
to make. Journalism, like teaching and nursing, is a noble profession, when
practiced ethically and fairly, when there is a right of reply, a follow up and
reporting on the verifiable facts at hand and more than one voice in a
story.
Too often today, there is only one voice in a story or of course, the
ever-popular, unnamed source. Like the African National Congress (ANC), many
journalists, at huge personal cost, fought vigorously for the freedom of the
media.
We achieved it, together and I believe, we can move society forward
together, and I hope that in talking here today you find your way back to the
point where it becomes clear that government and the media can have the same
goals not in a propagandist way, but in a positive way.
I believe it is the job of the media to keep government on the straight and
narrow but to do so ethically, factually and without rancour. Because like the
media, government is also the voice of the voiceless, but more than that, while
the media can highlight the problems of the people on the ground, government
can solve them.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
An Wentzel
Tel: 021 483 2536
Cell: 072 3366 385
E-mail: awentzel@pgwc.gov.za
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
25 March 2009
Source: Western Cape Provincial Government (http://www.capegateway.gov.za/)
