Our freedom threatened – The Mad Sub chats licensing journalists

I foresee a battle looming on the horizon.

The SABC’s chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng wants journalists to have a licence to operate.

Pretty much like a doctor or lawyer.

And should we be naughty, this licence will be revoked and we will no longer be able to ‘practice’ journalism.

The theory behind this is fairly sound. I do believe errant journalists should be punished. But the question is this: was the error a genuine, human error, or was it deliberate? Should the case involve the latter, I would agree with a harsh punishment. But what if the error was a simple mistake? Such things do occur.

Will the committee investigating the error be capable of determining the difference?

But my biggest concern with the idea is this – who will determine what is a fair story? Much has been written about President Jacob Zuma, the ANC and many other prominent politicians.

Should someone decide that these stories, or others surrounding corruption, are not in the interests of South Africa, we could end up with a horrid situation of censorship again.

As it stands, the SABC has been mandated to publish articles which are 70 percent good news and 30 percent ‘bad’ news. This means a majority of effort will be spent hunting down ‘good news’ at the expense possibly of exposing corruption, maladministration and fraud. I’m not even mentioning crime in this.

If not for the independent media in South Africa, one has to ask how many instances of fraud/corruption would come to light?

An unbiased, free media is key to keeping the country’s politicians on the so-called straight and narrow.

Do some people abuse this? Of course. Which is why we have the Press Ombudsman.

Having our government controlling the media in such a capacity is dangerous, and I will tell you why.

For starters, the man who is proposing this idea of licences for journalists does not have a matric, let alone a tertiary qualification.

On top of that, this man was found to have deliberately lied about his qualifications to get the job of SABC Chief Operations Officer.

How can a man, who has never formally studied, nor even finished high school, be capable of making industry-changing decisions?

Our Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, recommended Motsoeneng be removed from his post, owing to his misrepresentation of his qualifications, or lack thereof.

Despite her findings, Motsoeneng has been reinstated to his position.

But this is not the only case in which people with no experience or the relevant qualifications have been placed into a position of massive responsibility. Take Julius Malema being on the Judicial Council, choosing our country’s judges.

This situation of placing people into positions of power without the relevant, industry-specific qualifications is untenable.

South Africa will not progress into the country is should rightfully be, if these are the decisions made by the ‘powers-that-be’.

We cannot have industry leaders and/or regulators who are dishonest. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the workplace will tell you that fabricating information on your CV is a no-no. And yet this very person guilty of lying on his CV is to determine the future of the media in South Africa. Are you kidding me?!

At the very core of journalism is a rather simple fact – we fight for those who cannot fight. We fight for what is right and fair. We expose injustices and reward those brave individuals who make a stand against societal wrongs.

Sounds rather ideological, doesn’t it. Yet, if you take the time to read the code of ethics governing the actions of journalists, you will see time and again, the same phrase repeated – fair and balanced reporting.

When people cannot receive help, or no one wants to listen to them, who do they call? They call us, the journalists. If our hands are tied, under pain of joblessness, what do you think is going to happen in this country?

A rather reputable accounting firm has estimated, conservatively, that South Africa has lost over R200-billion to corruption, fraud and maladministration.

Should the media be gagged, what do you think is going to happen? It will no doubt end up like a child in a candy store.

If South Africa’s leaders want to progress and develop our country to its fullest potential, the correct, qualified, people must be placed into positions of power.

Dishonesty must be punished, not rewarded. And if our leaders seek to reward dishonesty, we are in for a tough time.

Unless this situation is checked, I foresee the media girding its loins for a fight. A fight for its very survival.

In the immortal words of William Wallace, from Braveheart, “You may take our lives, but you will never take our freedom.” (Of the press of course…)

Now let me go find my kilt.

@TheMadSub

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