Cape Town – Communications Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says journalism standards in South Africa have dropped, and urged journalism students to come up with suggestions of how reporting standards can be improved.
The Deputy Minister also said it was important for students to strive to be community reporters and improve the quality of their reports by moving away from desktop research and engaging people on the ground to report on societal issues.
She said this when she interacted with journalism students from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Cape Town at the Imbizo Centre, in Parliament on Thursday.
The Deputy Minister met with students to share information on the Constitution in terms of the Freedom of the Press verses the right to dignity, as well as the vision for South Africa and the role that the media plays in shaping a healthy perception of South Africa, locally and internationally.
Deputy Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams said media were very critical when she introduced the debate on the then proposed Media Appeals tribunal in Parliament.
She said the standards of reporting in the media in recent times had prompted the debate to be introduced.
“The reason why I still think that it is important for us to still have [a media appeals tribunal] is because like the constitution details, we need an independent media that seeks to promote that independence that we talk about.
“You have observed that journalism standards have dropped. That is why each and every day you go through the papers, you find apologies because there was a misrepresentation of facts.
“But we have a responsibility as this government to make sure that the media enjoys its freedom,” she said.
She said the right to freedom of speech and the principle of an independent media is enshrined in the Constitution and at the same time, “we have the responsibility to promote and encourage accountability”.
“If you decide to go and write something that you, yourself, have not gone to an extent of verifying if the facts are correct, you are not only undermining somebody’s rights, but you are undermining the same career and profession that you are part of”.
She said government supports the development of community media, and that students should consider using all community media platforms – TV, radio and print – to report in societal issues by basing their research through engaging with people on the ground regarding societal issues and challenges.
“We need to empower community media. Most of us only focus on the commercial side.
“We believe that in communications we exist for three things – to educate, entertain and inform our readers – we do that because we want to encourage everybody to tell their stories. We want those that tell the stories of other people to tell them the way they are.” – SAnews.gov.za
Communications Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams hosts CPUT and UCT students in Cape Town.
