Racism, criticism or, inept reporting? : racism in the media, the relationship between the state and the press, and the standard of journalism in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The furor around racism in the media was brought to the surface in 1999 when the BlackLawyers Association and the Association of Black Accountants of South Africa appealed tothe South African Human Rights Commission to investigate the South African media. Thisrequest was based on the presumption that the South African media was rife with racism andurgently required attention. The subsequent enquiry was the source of much controversy andaccusation.Almost three years since the enquiries inception, the issue of racism in the South Africanmedia has not disappeared despite decreasing media coverage in recent months.When the South African Human Rights Commission launched the enquiry into racism,prominent media leaders including key editors and newspaper representatives weresummoned to appear before the controversial Commission. Some media leaders felt theCommission was a direct attack on the freedom of the Press. Others felt the enquiry was longoverdue or slammed it as an all-time flop. Furthermore, pure and simple criticism of thegovernment is still perceived as racism when it is the Press fulfilling its role as the 'watchdogof democracy' .Various Press theories, for example Developmental or Libertarian, impact on the perceivedrole of the Press in a democratic nation. The standard of journalism in a country can alsoimpact on the way in which the press is perceived. For example, there are times when ineptreporting is misunderstood as racist reporting.This assignment is a broad overview of the enquiry into racism in the media and the concernsaround this issue as well as the response to it. It takes a closer look at the role of the mediaand the relationship between the media and the state. In particular, it focuses on howcriticism of the government can be misread as racism, as well as investigating how thestandard of journalism impacts on the way in which the media serve the public.The South African National Editors Forum launched a skills audit in 2002 and the resultswere surprisingly negative. The general standard of journalism in South Africa was assessedas low. This assignment looks at the findings of the audit in the light of the above questionssurrounding the standard of journalism as it pertains to reporting on race and accuracy,understanding and objectivity. The last section of the assignment takes a brief look at severalexamples of how to report on race in South Africa and what to be aware of when consideringsensitivity to race issues.The questions as to whether it is racism, healthy criticism misconstrued as racism, or simplyinept reporting, are explored. Although an expansive topic by nature, this paper provides anoverview of the key issues pertaining to media ethics as it pertains to racism in the SouthAfrican media.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University