The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) would like to use the occasion of Press Freedom Day to highlight the fact that while the media is enjoying an unprecedented level of freedom in South Africa, this freedom is constrained by an environment which is making it all the more difficult for new media titles to emerge and flourish. The FXI regards the diversity in the media environment as the single most important factor currently influencing the flow of information in this country.
In this respect, the FXI is concerned at government’s inaction in implementing specific recommendations aimed at facilitating media diversity and the long-term sustainability of non-commercial and independent media. This concern must be seen against the backdrop of repeated criticism from government over the past year that has been levelled at the media in general, but is ostensibly aimed at the commercial media in particular, and which has called into question their commitment to meet the transformation challenges of this county.
While the FXI recognises the need to address the historical disparities in the ownership of media in this country, the constraints of the commercial media environment in rising to the challenges of media diversity was clearly illustrated this year when business imperatives led to the closure of the "New Nation" newspaper. The closure of this newspaper, which had survived the darkest days of state repression against the media, was the culmination of a disturbing trend over the preceding years which saw a number of other titles, notably "South", "Grassroots", "Saamstaan" and "Work in Progress", all having to fold because of financial reasons. This effective purge of independent titles in the mass media environment, and the increasingly difficult prospects of new media titles being able to rise in the current market, should serve as clarion call for government to step in where the market place is both unable and unwilling to protect independent voices.
Indeed, the call for government action
in respect of media diversity has been endorsed by the Democratic Information
Programme of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) and in
the final report of the Communications Task Group (COMTASK) set up Deputy
President Thabo Mbeki at the beginning of last year. The call on government
in this respect is to set up a statutory Media Development Agency that
would dispense subsidies for community and independent media in South Africa.
In the spirit of Press Freedom Day, the
FXI calls on government to urgently take steps to implement this recommendation.
The FXI further calls on government to cease wavering in respect of sustained
funding for the public broadcaster as without secure funding the public
broadcaster will be unable to carry out effectively its function of serving
the information needs of the public. We call on government to recommit
itself to providing funding to the public broadcaster on a triennial basis,
allowing not only for long-term planning at the public broadcaster but
also limiting possible government interference in public broadcasting.