Tony Trew
Input at the International Communications Forum
Conference, Cape Town
7 April 2003
The
media during apartheid in South Africa
1. History
1.1. Information and social change
1.2. Recalling the past to better address the
present challenges
1.3. A history of oppression, repression and resistance
2. Legacy and challenges
2.1. A legacy of challenges
2.2. Emergence of independent and community media
2.3. News agenda and the national agenda
2.4. Capacity and training
2.5. Imbalances in access to media
2.6. A better media for a better world
1.
History
1.1.
Information and social change
"Changing
our society for the better and in particular addressing the needs
of the poor requires that people are active participants in the
process."
This statement,
with its implication of the need for an informed citizenry, highlights
the contrast between the imperative for democratic government of
the free flow of information, and therefore also a free and independent
media, and on the other hand the apartheid information imperatives
which sought acquiescence and control rather than active participation.
It also therefore underlines the differences between a time when
the media faced an overwhelming challenge of dealing with restrictions
on its freedom to one in which the challenge is how to use that
freedom.
1.2.
Recalling the past to better address the present challenges.
Recalling history,
the conference agenda tells us, is the context for addressing some
current challenges.
The history
is long and complex in its details, and an agreed version may be
many years in the writing. But its broad lines flow from the fact
that the media, in general and in particular instances, are constituted
as much by sources of information, audiences and readers, as by
owners, editors and media workers.
So a divided
and unjust South Africa marked by oppression, resistance and repression
had media shaped by those things. As the struggle for freedom passed
through different phases so was the impact reflected in the media.
1.3.
A history of oppression, repression and resistance
Thus, it was
a history during which established media, to different degrees,
on balance reflected the views and the interests of the ruling minority
rather than those of the majority of South Africans.
There were members
of the media who at risk to themselves acted with great courage
in seeking to inform the public. There was a spectrum of conformity
to the interests of the state, ranging from outright commitment
to acquiescence under protest.
At the softer
end of the spectrum, one may cite the submission to the TRC by one
newspaper company which conceded "shortcomings" including:
insufficient effort to circumvent restrictions; insufficient contact
with liberation movements; failure to recognise the contribution
of black editorial staff; a news agenda shaped predominantly by
white perceptions; and a "gradualist" approach to change
The limitations
of the response by the established media was reflected in the emergence
and re-emergence of alternative media in different forms, whether
it was those closed down by the state in 1981 or the alternative
and community media which flowered later.
Insofar as the
struggle also played itself out on an international terrain, much
of what was said about the South African media can be said of the
foreign media, including insufficient effort to circumvent restrictions
despite protesting them; and receptiveness to the apartheid state's
account of its opponents and the issues at stake. This applied too
to coverage of the illegal occupation of Namibia and destabilisation
of neighbouring states. Again, there were exceptions.
2.
Legacy and challenges
2.1.
A legacy of challenges
Since the purpose
is to consider present challenges, our focus is on aspects of the
legacy that a free South Africa had to address, and still has to
complete addressing.
2.2.
Emergence of independent and community media
Our transition
neither ended nor began with the elections of 1994. The building
of a new society and institutions began in the struggle for liberation
itself.
Existing media
were themselves terrains of struggle for a response to the challenge
of changing media for a changing society, though unevenly stacked
in favour of the status quo.
A layer of independent
and community media emerged in the closing decade of the apartheid
state, reflecting a more adequate response to the challenge. In
some cases limited - and often temporary - space was found within
the framework of the commercial media. Some radio stations found
a foothold, ironically, within the Bantustan system. With the burgeoning
of community organisations and other spaces of resistance within
civil society, a whole range of media emerged, reflecting a variety
of views but firmly aligned to an agenda of freedom and development.
That layer of
media largely failed to survive our transition. It nurtured many
of those who moved into the mainstream media, strengthening the
impetus for transformation there, often providing leadership. But
the question remains, did so many of the media in this sector need
to be casualties even in a transition such as ours, which inherited
institutions unchanged, and then set about transforming them? Have
we suffered a great loss in the disappearance of these media, in
particular in the context of the importance of a news agenda for
development?
2.3.
News agenda and the national agenda
A second major
aspect of our legacy is the consequence of the long experience of
restrictions and repression by the apartheid state. This has been
compounded by what the TRC revealed of systematic deception and
manipulation of society.
Has this natural
legacy of a long and bitter experience of a highly repressive government
translated into a presumption that any government whatsoever, including
a democratic government, is on the whole bound to do wrong and in
particular disposed to limit freedom of expression?
It does seem
that this is something that has clouded some debates, for example
about the relation between the news agenda and the national agenda
- not to mention some of the recent comments around the establishment
of a Presidential Press Corps.
In speaking
of a national agenda one refers to the essential elements of our
founding settlement that are inscribed within our constitution -
the recognition that South Africans should seek to constitute themselves
as one nation within a democratic system on the basis of a common
effort to eradicate the legacy of poverty and racial inequalities
as a necessity for the social peace and stability required for progress.
These issues, research shows, are at the top of the public list
defining what the public wishes to hear from government.
The question
that is raised is whether this agenda for development should inform
the news agenda, and to what extent it does have salience in practice.
This is not to say that the media should deal with the issues as
government sees them, nor only when there is progress to report
- but that they are dealt with as matters of relevance, and that
when there is criticism it is based on substance.
It is not a
question of limits on the freedom of expression, but of how the
media decides to use that freedom to promote positive change.
2.4.
Capacity and training
The third focus
of our legacy relates to capacity and training, a problem acknowledged
by all, and being addressed in various ways. This is of course also
a challenge for government communication, which does have shortcomings
that impact on the capacity of the media to report on government
in an informed way.
This should
not be seen merely as a problem relating to those previously denied
access to training. Capacities to contribute to the work of the
media in a democratic society may need to be acquired also by those
who worked in the media in our previous society.
2.5.
Imbalances in access to media
A fourth and
fundamental aspect of the legacy was severe imbalances in access
to the means of imparting and receiving information and ideas, whether
as citizens; as media workers; or as owners.
There has been
some progress in addressing this challenge of many dimensions, but
much but remains to be done, by government and the media separately
and jointly, as well as together with donors.
Restructuring
the broadcasting sector; expanding the infrastructure for access
to broadcast media; a policy and legislative framework for broad
based economic empowerment; reducing barriers of access to print
media, whether geographic, linguistic or other; promoting development
of community and small media through the Media Development and Diversity
Agency; transformation of the Marketing and Advertising Industry
- these are some of the challenges and initiatives.
Without elevating
it above other challenges, one cannot overestimate the need to broaden
access to the means of imparting and receiving ideas and information.
This challenge which South Africa shares with other developing countries
is a matter of making a reality for all citizens of the rights to
freedom of expression.
It is a necessity
for the achievement of the vision of a nation of informed citizens
who are active participants in changing society and their own lives
for the better.
It is fundamental
to the topic of this conference: Changing media for a changing society.
2.6.
A better media for a better world
Rightly the
ambitions of this conference extend beyond South Africa, to building
a better media for a better world.
As noted above,
part of the anti-apartheid struggle was to counter the efforts of
the apartheid state to influence public opinion in particular in
those countries deeply involved in the South African economy
That was made
more difficult by restrictions on information in South Africa and
by the perceptions of those South Africans with whom foreign journalists
most readily interacted. Foreign perceptions remain in critical
degree dependent on how South Africans project themselves and their
country - hence the strategic thrust of the International Marketing
Campaign towards building national consensus on branding South Africa.
But the challenge
was compounded by the receptiveness in a "bipolar world"
of opinion in those countries to projections of the liberation movement
as a threat to their strategic and economic interests. Also at work
were deeply rooted, negative, perceptions of Africa and the developing
world generally.
What is critical
is to ensure that in the current global order sight is not lost
of the imperatives of building an international system that helps
address the historical imbalances from which our continent of Africa
and the rest of the developing world are striving to extricate themselves.
A better media for a better world implies a global media agenda
informed by a global agenda for development!.
Tony Trew
Deputy CEO, Government Communications (GCIS)
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