Going after the media and reviving the Bell-Pottinger-inspired Stratcom narrative in their fight against the South African National Editor’s Forum (Sanef), is nothing but a self-serving move by politicians, meant to discredit the media industry, said analysts.
Sanef has recently been at the centre of a spat with EFF leader Julius Malema, who claimed on Twitter that the body was boycotting his party. Malema warned Sanef to “prepare for the consequences” as his party would respond with “the same energy”.
Sanef’s chairperson Sbu Ngalwa has since denied such a decision was made.
Also Read: Bring it on, Malema tells editors’ forum Sanef
Earlier this month, Sanef was also accused of lobbying with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) to execute a hostile takeover of the Independent Media Group. The revelation was made by the Independent Media Investigation Unit, stating there was a ploy to shut down the bank accounts of the media house’s shareholder Sekunjalo Group, rendering Independent Media unable to operate.
Sanef has also denied this, stating they only attempted to get Independent Media to return to Press Council structures.
Who is Sanef?
The South African National Editors’ Forum is a non-profit organisation made up of the country’s editors, senior journalists, and media trainers.
They represent editors, defend the work of journalists and the space they occupy, explained veteran journalist and media expert Anton Harber.
“[It is there] to protect journalists against unfair attacks, threats, and embarrassment,” he said.
Friction an attempt to discredit media
As a defender of journalism, Sanef has always strongly protected journalists who have taken on investigative matters, including digging deep into the EFF, said political analyst Professor Barry Hanyane.
“This may have rattled their cage and the best way to respond to that is a political campaign to discredit any attempt to touch and question their [EFF] integrity,”
According to political analyst Andre Duvenhage, the party’s basic strategy revolves around attracting the media’s attention to promote the party, but it seems that of late EFF is not getting the coverage they had hoped for.
“The EFF’s media profile has tilted in the past few years due to being fingered in the VBS bank scandal, numerous court cases and Covid-19 restrictions on political gatherings,” he said.
ALSO READ: EFF unmoved by Sanef’s views on banned investigative units
“It seems as if the media in general becomes more negative about the EFF, it’s goals and its strategy and therefore they are not responding the way [Malema] would like them to respond.
“It is clear that his media profile tipped a lot since specifically the Covid-19 thing and he cannot create the type of things which would interest the media. There is a lack of coverage, mobilisation, and activity. They are relatively quiet and there isn’t a lot to report and I think he is seeing this as media boycotting and reacting in a negative way,” said Duvenhage.
Independent harming the media’s image
Due to the country’s history of the media being used to push a pro-National Party agenda, reviving the so-called “Stratcom” narrative could be purposely used to provoke distrust of the media, Hanyane said.
“That somehow you can trust Independent Media to a certain extent because there is this history that says to us that media to a larger extent may be used to advance certain agendas, which may very well be seen by certain political factions as an attempt to discredit and play down the whole narrative of space for freedom, which includes media freedom as well. More importantly something which may be seen as the antithesis of political freedom overall,” he said.
Also Read: ‘Media should cut ties with news agency’ – expert
Harber accused Independent Media of having gone “rogue” by leaving the Press Council, as the move has seriously harmed the organisation as well as trust in the media as a whole, Harber said.
“They have left Sanef and they are publishing material which is really journalistically problematic and seriously harming themselves and journalism … I don’t think they are serving their readers or the cause of good journalism.”
How politics comes into play
The media often occupies the political space by raising alternative perspectives and posing serious questions, a move which might not be well-received in some political spaces, Hanyane said.
“You have your Radical Economic Transformation (RET) forces and the EFF, not being receptive to anything that touches on questioning their validity and integrity on certain political transactions,” he said.
“You want to manipulate public opinion and create a narrative that history has taught us that the state can sponsor the violation of human rights through the media. But we are no longer there. Any rational mind can see that freedom of media is well-guaranteed.”
Duvenhage, however, felt the media is not always completely objective.
“Sometimes they chose sides, not necessarily in a deliberate way, but in terms of a certain set of values. I think at this point in time, for any political party, it is important to have influence within the media world in order to promote their respective agendas and therefore they will target the media and try to manipulate them…,” he said.
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