South Africa’s media war

South Africa is embroiled in a national debate over media censorship. This, after the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation, or SABC, made the editorial decision to stop airing video of violent protests. SABC maintains the move was to protect journalists from becoming victims while covering such events.

Last month, violent protests broke out in Pretoria after the governing party, the African National Congress, overruled the local choice for mayoral candidate and instead put their own candidate on the ballot. SABC did not cover those protests, and the public became outraged. Several senior SABC journalists have been suspended for disagreeing with this new editorial directive. And the acting CEO resigned after deciding he could no longer stand on the side of SABC. Some claim the move signaled a return to apartheid times when SABC was a mouthpiece for the ruling party.

Some form of censorship exists in media outlets around the world. Organisations choose what they will and will not cover on a daily basis, which inevitably means they are in some way censoring the news by the very virtue of picking what is presented to viewers. So where is the line between sound editorial judgement and censorship?

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Redi Tlhabi @RediTlhabi
Radio Talk Show Host

Micah Roshan Reddy @RedMicah
Media Freedom Organiser, Right2Know Campaign
micahreddy.com

Jane Duncan @duncanjane
Professor, University of Johannesburg

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