Local is lekker for East Cape media on Press Freedom Day

Journalism is here to stay — but regional newspapers must focus on making a difference locally, and forging an identity and improving staff skills within that paradigm.

That was the message from the Press Freedom Day Webinar hosted by the SA National Editors Forum’s (Sanef) Eastern Cape office on Friday, which addressed SA’s “snake eating its own tail” conundrum where newsrooms are shrinking even as the need for robust journalism grows.

It was hosted in partnership with Rhodes University, Nelson Mandela University, Daily Dispatch and The Herald.

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day and after 30 years of a free press, South African media are facing another hurdle and that is the financial sustainability of media companies.

The panel considered what had to be done to save journalism to ensure it was a thriving media industry in 30 years time.

Chairing the seminar, Sanef Eastern Cape convener and The Herald editor  Rochelle de Kock said the challenge was to overcome the financial constraints that bedevilled newsrooms today and meet the key mandate to report without fear or favour.

“With the focus on multi-skilling our journalists, does quality not get lost?”

Daily Dispatch editor Cheri-Ann James said the newsroom had changed completely from what it was 17 years ago when she started at the East London daily.

With multiple departments and a massive team, journalists could spend months on investigative stories and getting to grips with a subject, and the benefits of this system were reflected in the many awards that the newspaper won in those years.

“It is a far cry from that now. The newsroom team is much smaller and each journalist has to cover very different kinds of stories.

“The investigative reporter might have to go to court or to cover a protest, and if he or she is a senior they must do news desk duty.”

She said in spite of these challenges, there were positives.

“Having a leaner team has allowed us to focus on putting the resources we have to optimum use.

“We decided we were not going to try to be everything to everyone and were rather going to focus on our area and try to make a difference for the people there.

“So it is important to know what you stand for and then to work to achieve those goals. 

“We need to sift through fear mongering.

“We have a rich history and there is so much happening in the Eastern Cape.”

James said Dispatch journalists had often been subjected to harassment through the years linked to corruption stories they were working on and support from managers up the company hierarchy was important to counter this pressure.

On another level, staff had been physically attacked not least in August last year during an exposé on the failure of government scholar transport.

A reporter and photographer were accosted at gunpoint while they were walking with a group of scholars near Xesi Village.

“The team was traumatised but they compiled the story and it did so well it forced the government to do something about the scholar transport situation.”

Nelson Mandela University media studies lecturer Jude Mathurine said the “decentralised networking tools” offered by social media helped communicate news but also undermined traditional newsrooms.

“It is like the case of Ouroboros, the serpent of ancient Egypt and Greece, that ate its own tail, continually devouring itself and being reborn from itself.”

He said while the theme of World Press Freedom Day was “journalism in the face of the environmental crisis” the industry was facing its own existential crisis in SA.

“The internet sneaked up silently, capital wants to go where eyeballs have gone and the power of mass media is waning.

“But journalism is capable of being more than one thing. Traditional journalism at times heightens negativity and anxiety.

“We need to consider context and the possibilities for an alternative future.

“Journalists need to take themselves seriously. In the space where truth dies, there is darkness.”

Rhodes University media studies researcher Dr Taryn de Vega said the Seeds of Conference hosted by Rhodes’ School of Journalism and Media Studies last month had made it clear how important journalism was in SA.

“The speaking truth to power role of journalism is vital and holding the powerful to account would not have been possible without journalism.”

She said the Makhanda Declaration that emerged from the conference called for various principals to be set in place including reduced data costs, a strong public broadcaster funded by taxpayer money, strengthening journalism in support of SA’s multilingual reality and strengthening the student press.

“This will in turn help counter the juniorisation of newsrooms we are seeing in this country.

“Journalism is here to stay.”

Independent media researcher Chris Kabwato said the jury was still out on what the best business model was to sustain a journalism product.

“No-one has really cracked it yet from the New York Times to the Limpopo Mirror.

“Money and time are needed to drive good journalism and whatever model you choose it should include ... improving the old skills and the new tech skills of your staff ... and seeking access to soft loans and grant funding from philanthropic organisations, which can be used to hold on to senior journalists.

“Another possibility is to call for tax reform where the media entity that helps the state to recover assets can get a percentage of the value together with the whistle-blower, where one is involved.

“Journalism is a public good and critical for the protection of our democracy. We must hold it dear.”

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