Is the media under siege? was the question put to the pannellists Prof Michael Whisson of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Prof Anthea Garman of Rhodes University, Ayanda Kota of the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) and Mabhuti Matyumza of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). More ANC representatives had been invited but failed to arrive.
Is the media under siege? was the question put to the pannellists Prof Michael Whisson of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Prof Anthea Garman of Rhodes University, Ayanda Kota of the Unemployed People’s Movement (UPM) and Mabhuti Matyumza of the African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL). More ANC representatives had been invited but failed to arrive.
The session was chaired by Steven Lang, the editor of Grocott’s Mail. The event was well attended as it was compulsory for all the first year journalism students to attend but there was a glaring absence of members of the Joza community.
The discussion began with the speakers stating their views on the ANC’s proposed Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) and Protection of Information Bill (PIB).
Whisson said that as human beings we want to keep secret what we are most embarassed about, implying that this is what the government plans to do with the implementation of MAT and PIB.
He spoke about the Glenmore activist Ben Mafani, saying that if it hadn’t been for the media “he wouldn’t be alive today”.
Garman said that we need to look at the issue the way the government sees it, which is not necessarily the way the public does.
She quoted from an ANC national general council (NGC) document which will come up for discussion at the NGC, where the media debate is referred to as a “battle of ideas”.
The document also refers to how the state expects the media to “instil a caring society” instead of being the watchdog.
Kota became very passionate and spoke at length about corruption on local and national government level, saying “the government has become monstrous, has became a monster”.
After speaking about how the ANC has contributed to the country’s freedom, Matyumza said, “the ANC created media freedom”.
He emphasised that: “The media has an impact in destroying or denting the image of this country. The media’s agenda is not to build the image of the country. Some journalists have an agenda of working for the opposition parties.”
He further said that the media of this country has to be “managed and monitored”. This resulted in a number of questions from the floor being directed at Matyumza, which he sidestepped or struggled to answer.
In responding to a question about his repeated references to the ANC’s fight for liberation, he said: “We did not fought for KFC and Hungry Lion”.
Two people then questioned how the media could go about destroying the government. He again shirked the question, saying he did not mean that.
Freelancer journalist Mike Loewe questioned the government’s motives and expressed his dismay at Matyumza for overlooking the role that journalists played in the struggle against apartheid.
Garman commented that the problem is that citizens cannot be monitored and managed. “We are the constituency, we as the citizenry should be deciding how the media works in our favour,” she said.
Matyumza remained adamant, saying “When people casted their vote, they voted for the ANC, not a spaza shop. The government is the ANC, you are the government.”
Things got particularly heated when Matyumza said that the ANC was responsible for our liberation, to which Garman swiftly responded by listing some of the organisations that were involved in the liberation struggle.
At the closing of the session, the three panellists agreed that the government should not pass the Bill and form the MAT.
“I hope that the goverment will come to its senses and not go ahead with the media tribunal,” said Kota. Journalist Kwanele Butana then recited a poem entitled Media Freedom, which was met with rapturous applause.
