Media Flaws

I couldn’t attend Friday’s sessions – work commitments. Therefore I’ve decided to post these pictures from Thursday’s Public Conversations.

I regret having missed out on Friday, as the sessions featured the likes of Antjie Krog, Myer Taub, Ron Dudai - to name a few. There was also a book launch – in which a little birdie tells me a page was missing, therefore people had to hold on to their R165s till the next print run. The book: TRUTH & Reconciliation in South Africa: 10 Years on ….

So there goes another one publishing a book, and getting accreditations, more money whilst his book’s ‘case studies’ go hungry yet again. There was a story I overheard in one of the earlier sessions - that touched me - which was sadly true. Some families in S.A are so broke that at night when the kids are getting ready for supper, the mother will boil a pot of water and later put a stone in that pot. She then tells the children supper will be ready soon, while the children play-on in the one-roomed shack with the hope of supper being ready (as they can hear that something is actually boiling in the pot). The mother turns to them and tells them supper isn’t ready yet. The kids eventually fall asleep and the mother later removes the pot from the stove and throws out the stone – as she too goes to sleep on a hungry stomach. I won’t relate this story to the TRC, but can anyone see similarity in these two events ('Stone for Supper' and the TRC)?

I hear she was the vice chancellor at UCT. Her name is Mamphela Rampele. Bold, tenacious, sensible woman was the impression I got. Then there was Desmond Tutu – a character and a half. Yesterday was the Public Conversation event: Journeys through Trauma after the TRC in South Africa featuring: Maria Ntuli and Lizzie Sefolo, Anne-Marie McGregor (Mother of SADF ex-soldier killed in Namibia), Pauline Nossel (Survivor of Johannesburg Hijacking).

It’s never crossed my mind, but when I saw Anne-Marie McGregor sitting at the front I realised, for the first or second time, that some white people had tasted the venom of our past in its full bitterness. At first I couldn’t allow myself to hear her story, but as she spoke of her pain and raised a picture of her fallen son, I suddenly empathized and realised her story was legitimate. The problems surrounding being given a platform to tell your traumatic story are the constraints of the actual narrative. Traumatic stories of this nature, spanning 16 to 30 years, cannot be retold in 5 minutes or under strict guidance. The narrative is restrained. And as I, earlier in the day, sat through Molly Andrews’ session on narrative – it dawned on me as to why my grandmother wasn’t terribly excitable and satisfied with the TRC – she never told her story in its full context and capacity.

Under the interrogation of Dumisa Ntsebeza, my gran, was restricted to answering his preloaded questions. Here’s the transcript. Issues of narrative are wide and ranging, but I’ll limit this to explaining that every story has a beginning, middle and end. But the TRC was too limited in its (constrained) narrative. If the purpose was to achieve healing through speaking, than I’m afraid they failed.

Back to the Public Conversation. As fate would have it, I was sitting next to a professional shrink as we were later requested to discuss the conversations we’d just heard with the people next to us. She (the shrink) told me Lizzie and Maria, through their constrained narratives, seemed to have found forgiveness – I refuted that statement in such a manner that this shrink probably thought I was going looney. But that’s a story for another day.

Tracking back a bit, Pauline Nossel, the hijack survivor, explicitly told a story that further reiterated my recent meanderings on how the past pans out and is ever-used as a means of justifying criminal behaviours in the now-generation. Her hijackers we’re trying to get rid of the tracker in her vehicle and they couldn’t let go of her and her husband until the tracker was removed. So they had to drive around with the hijackers, in another car, in which she got to know her hijackers better as they bought her bottled water and comforted her on her vehicle loss. These hijackers further explained to her that they were not aware they were an old-aged couple and that this was just a means to an end – they had to put food on their tables too. When the tracker was found, Pauline and her husband were dropped-off a few metre from their complex and told to refrain from looking back.

Maybe, and only maybe, we are nearing the end of crime. A few years ago criminals were voiceless, emotionless, fearless and faceless elements of society.

A sad reality dawned as Maria Ntuli spoke. She gave a brief testimony of her experience and then raised the issue of the TRC having not met all of its promises, in terms of reparations. Ntuli also raised the issue of the many others who were excluded by the TRC and whether or not round two of the TRC was in sight. Mamphele Ramphele put the cherry on top of these points as she further criticised government’s stance on the TRC reparations: “…We did not go into the struggle for rewards…” Government must have been high on something, especially when we look at where they’re sitting presently, the cars they drive and their Arms Deals. No rewards?

As Ramphele spoke of the necessities of greater rewards, especially in terms of enhancing the economic standings of the victimized and previously disadvantaged, it slowly dawned on me that the TRC had once again faltered – it gave hope and made promises to people who had lost hope. That in itself had to be the cruelest action - to give hope.

The TRC did however open the doors of narrative and possibilities of healing through telling – now they need to follow this up and expand these narratives, through various forms of the media. There are people who have stories to tell – let them narrate.

I never knew Gideon Nieuwoudt was struck on the head with a glass vase, when he’d visited one of his victim’s families in Port Elizabeth. It was a standing ovation moment, as Mark Kaplan’s selected clip panned this scene out – in his documentary Between Joyce and Forgiveness. But was this really a standing ovation moment? Seeing the son of Siphiwe Mthimkhulu carry out an act of, possible, retributive justice?

It’s the first day of the Memory, Narrative & Forgiveness Conference at UCT. Delegates from far afield have tripped over to South Africa to attend. I rarely attend conferences and I’ve never had an appetite for lengthy talks, so saying I’ll be attending this conference in almost all it’s entirety shocks me too, but I will. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela and Mark Kaplan set the tone that further assured me that I wasn’t on one of those long-winded verbose word exposes . The next three days will focus on the happenings of this conference.

Yesterday, was more of an opening night, but you could have been forgiven for thinking this was the tenth day.

Back to the matter of retributive justice. In the above-mentioned real life documentary, Nieuwoudt visits the Mthimkhulu family to plead for forgiveness. Needless to say, he never receives it – they tell him never. Towards the end of the scene the victim’s (Siphiwe Mthimkhulu's) son who’d been kept out of the meeting – steps into the lounge to lunge a glass vase at Nieuwoudt’s head – Blood? Yes. Fractured skull? Yes. Round of applause? One or Two.

The documentary raises pertinent questions along the lines of what is reconciliation? Will we ever forgive? And do those inhumane apartheid agents display remorse for their actions? – the TRC never put remorse as one of its requirements – those perpetrators only need to be truthful and seek amnesty. And the last major point raised is that of the generations that follow.

Mthimkhulu’s son has presently lost ties with his family and mixes with the wrong crowds, and by the looks of things he has no plans of reverting to his old self. He has now found means of expressing his newly-found anger (he found out about his dad’s brutal killing at age 13). So do we accept his possibly crime-ridden lifestyle, and actions on Nieuwoudt as retributive justice? I guess those who clapped and have clapped when the vase struck Nieuwoudt's face are now seeing the reality of how screwed this adolescent’s life is. I’m not playing the blame game or trying to attribute his actions to something tangible, but there’s a serious problem with my generation. Some of us were lucky and sheltered from the realities, forcefully by parents, into closed environments – this is nowadays called child abuse.

Others are less fortunate – there’s a generation of bitter children, actually adoloscents, lurking and this could easily become a perpetuating cycle unless we find means of ending it. My generation is tasked with many things: I have peers and cousins who brutally lost their fathers and entire families during those days and some of them have turned to the worst. They hate anything associated with the colour white and are willing to act out the most inhumane deeds on the white man – guilty or innocent – they blame the white man for their current 'mis-standings' in society. There are many ways of breeding criminals but this has to be the worst and is definitely the tail of apartheid.

You step into beerhalls and you’ll find former struggle warriors, negotiating their generational traumas with beer, the younger generations,us, step into these same beerhalls and are confronted by educated, once-honourable men, who are so far-displaced from psychological well-being – due to their encounters with Lucifer in the early 80s. The former warrior will then spill out his heart and display a drunken pain – which the youth cannot stomach – and deep down a form of transgenerational trauma is maturing – which sees the next generation angry too.

Sadly my generation does not know the exactitudes of the past but when we hear the stories – sheer anger is evoked. Seeing a white man in a three-storey house, driving his kids in a Porsche car to a posh school makes them puke, to a point where they have to act out their deeds of retributive justice to the white men - the ‘innocent’ ones included. Time passes whilst this youth is acting out violent deeds - which catch-up with them psychologically as they turn to drugs and more liquor for recreational purposes – their main motives for entering hate-crimes are blurred, which leads to indiscriminate crimes – as a means to support their newly found (recreational) purpose.

The year was 1981. Some reports allege that he fell through a window, was tortured, interrogated, shot and ultimately burnt alive whilst his killers drank beer. Eight hours later they stubbed his ashes towards the rivers of Komatipoort. His name was Sizwe Kondile. Can we ever find forgiveness?

The legacy of apartheid has had many effects on various South African families. In my case, bhut’ (transl: older brother or boet) Sizwe was my grandmother’s dearest breadwinner, the son who was going to take his family to higher societal standings, the son who had completed his Law degree and the son who had strong political ties. Needless to say, this put a hole in my family - that will never be sealed. Can we ever find forgiveness?

During my infantile days I had to watch a pained grandmother, labour daily to ensure that her children and grandchildren could get the best education – to match up to bhut’ Sizwe’s standard. But no amount of education on my behalf or my relatives will ever conceal the pain that woman bears. It’s a pain that can only be understood, when you’ve spent 25 years of your life witnessing - but that still doesn't guarantee a full understanding. Can we ever find forgiveness?

Years went by and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was established. Parents, my grandmother included, poured their hearts out and were even tasked with staring at the likes of Eugene de Kock and Dirk Coetzee – the men who allegedly drank beers as the son burnt to death. Can we ever find forgiveness?

The TRC enquired what they could do for our loss, but I think they knew there was nothing they could ever do to compensate such a horrid offence. The worst question had to be, quoting from the East London TRC to my grandmother: "I will ask just one question which is a question that I ask many people in your position. If in the course of this investigative process, the Commission were to identify all the perpetrators of your son's murder, not only those who have confessed to have been the physical agents of his liquidation, but those who were the hidden hands behind his destruction, but who in that process, applied for amnesty, and were able in that process to be granted amnesty on the basis that they have given a full disclosure and have met all the requirements of amnesty, what would your attitude be?"

Forget attitude. And forget amnesty. What about justice?

My grandmother forgave them and praised the TRC for coming to being. I agreed to disagree. This could only be true on print but never true when you lived in the same household. Can we ever find forgiveness?

I’m in no qualified position to challenge the necessities of Truth Commissions. But I really question if Truth Commissions can really work. Along the corridors of UCT I spotted a public invitation to attend a Special Evening Programme of TRC-related Public Conversations – featuring Desmond Tutu and Dr. Mamphele Ramphele on Thursday 23^rd November 2006, from 16h30 at the Kramer Building.

For more information on this programme, visit: http://www.trc10.co.za/

“How can he (Advocate Mpofu) possibly argue that the criticism the SABC’s faced is racially based when it’s been mounted in defence of a largely black group of SABC journalists who complained that they were feeling uncomfortable with excluding commentators and the racial explanation crumbles further.

"The term ‘liberal’ is becoming the new F-word in SABC lexicon. It is being used to label everybody who disagrees with the leadership of the broadcaster and neuter criticism…

"…There is a national schism about the direction of the public broadcaster. On the one side is the board which sees it as a purveyor only of ‘development information’ from the state to the citizen. The tone of reportage should be generally positive and reinforce values of ubuntu and dignity. This is fine up to a point."

Then Haffajee, reveals her distaste on the fact that government is funding the world cup, but can’t meet the basic needs of South Africans. And further goes to say commentators were excluded because they couldn’t abide to the boards government-driven agenda. This is speculating, if anything goes Haffajee is insinuating that the SABC is government driven. Has this been proved? How then can she nonchalantly dismiss her critics as being under governments’ whip? Anyway she continues:

"…It is not Mpofu’s simple tale of white liberals and their surrogates baying at the gates for the “black blood” of the “savage natives.” (taken from the City Press's Viewpoints & Analysis page (29 October 2006)).

Haffejee then states some of the SABC’s codes of conduct and how the SABC should 'return to Centre Stage' and quench the public interest. I find this last line interesting, because Haffajee wants the SABC to 'return to Centre Stage' usually one would return if they had gone somewhere, in this case the SABC has never seen a 'centre stage', since it’s inception during the old apartheid days, or is Haffajee asking that it return to that system?

Ek het nuwe-nuus gehoor. Gisteraand het die devil sy seun, op aarde, geneem en hulle het huis toe gegaan. Nou moet die ‘blacks’ in hell wegehardloop.

“Let me state clearly that people who think the Mail & Guardian was motivated by “the public interest” needs (sic) their heads examined. It should be patently clear that it was a combination of commercial motives, headline-grabbing one-up-manship against other newspapers and a pervasive anti-establishment hatred of anything connected to the democratically elected black-dominated government of the day, pandering to the basest instincts of the South African mainly racist political right wing, as evidenced by its selective reporting when it had the full report. The fact that it now does this with judicial license does not make it morally and ethnically palatable.”

The Mail & Guardian (MG) has been accused of all sorts of things… I mean there was a story I was struggling to follow where the they (MG) were accused or being anti-Jew and supporting Isreal, (this could be vice-versa), but then again I really had no time to know what was going on in Isreal – I couldn’t relate! Then they (MG) were accused of being anti-South African government and fully-dedicated to discrediting black leaders. Maybe I’m easily swayed but I’m somehow starting to smell a rat within some South African media kitchens. So Advocate Mpofu continues:

“The current SABC “black-listing” controversy is a storm in a teacup. It is a lot of noise about virtually nothing. It can only serve to detract from the real issues, the ideological battle of ideas and the ill-fated attempts to hijack our democratic values of ubuntu and human dignity on which our Constitution is premised… …We must not be fooled. This battle is not about one or other commentator or a “blacklist” or (Big Black Wolf Zikalala) Zikalala. It is about wrestling control of the SABC, of the hearts and minds and ultimately, of the country, from us barbarians…

"…Well folks, it is over for good. The savage natives are in charge, and democratically so. The bottom line is that there is no blacklist at the SABC and there is most certainly no crisis. As the struggle poet would put it “Ag sies, bayasinyanyisa! (transl: Ag, sies they disgust us!)”

Judge Dennis Davis fans – Judge for Yourselves. The above-quoted comments by Advocate Dali Mpofu were taken from the City Press’s Viewpoints & Analysis page (22 October 2006).

The article was readably-long and dealt with issues surrounding the now-boring blacklist and had points that were not included in the 70-page report. The Mail and Guardian used the same newspaper (City Press) as their vehicle to respond. (Tomorrow) I’ll post the burning hot response from Ferial Hafejee.

I’m from the backward school of thought where questions usually elicit a response called an answer. However, ever since I set foot on higher academic soil I have painfully learnt that you don’t have to give an answer, but you can ramble and ramble around the central wording of the questions.

A perfect example is Judge Dennis Davis. But, before I give you this story – I’d like to thank the Harold Wolpe Trust for the invite - yet again. I seriously thought they had banned me from their do’s, since my damning review of a past debate I attended.

If there’s one person who can sit on a fence and not fall on either side – it has to Dennis Davis. The question was simple: Is South Africa ruled by a juristocracy? If, I was in his position, I could have boldly stood in front of last night’s crowd and proclaimed yes or no – and then proceed to my seat. But no, in the world of academia that would have been unacceptable, given that this was a ‘debate’. As I sat there listening to judge Dennis Davis I was slowly thinking how on earth this guy got to where he is – He’s educated and all but I think he still takes things too personally, and gets quite excitable like his peer Debora Patta or maybe a nerdy Maths lecturer about to impart knowledge from her favourite section. The kind that becomes so engulfed with their subject, that they even pat themselves on the back every time they think they’ve made a point. I personally didn’t get his stance on the question, he’s arguments were too scattered and at the end of the day you felt like he was defending poor old judges who were challenged with difficult decisions, and at times passing senseless judgements in court, daily.

If there’s one thing I learnt yesterday – it’s got to be the fact that the constitutional court has a website. Check it out here.

On a serious note – journalists, myself included, are faced with enormous challenges when reporting or even listening to court-related vitriol. Reporting such stuff is not easy, let alone listening to judicial jargon. But all hope is not lost, there’s a new handbook for court reporters or any interested journo-wannabees, which will help them be more assertive in their dealings with the courts and more accurate in their reporting. Afterall, judges don’t have that much influence/ power outside the courtroom – journalists do. Therefore it is only logical that reporters get trained in such fields. I mean look at the disastrous review I’ve just written about Judge Dennis Davis’s talk last night – a law-orientated person, who attended the debate, might refutably disagree with my blog today.

Anyone interested in getting one of these law reporting handbooks can contact:

SANEF Secretariat:
Tel: 011-442-3785
Fax: 011-442-3784
Email:admin@sanef.org.za
Website: www.sanef.org.za/orders (order forms available)

AIP Secretariat:
Contact:David Katz
Tel: 011-721-3211
Email: aip2@printmedia.org.za
Website: www.independentpublisher.org

I once had the privilege of sitting with Justin Nurse, CEO of Laugh It Off, and Andy Davis, former editor of SL magazine. To tell you the truth they were preaching the gospel of how culture jamming was the way to go, how corporates are taking advantage of helpless impulsive consumers and how the media is slowly but surely becoming a lapdog industry, that is governed by what the advertisers and funders want.

To be honest I don’t like people who whine. Try strike a conversation with me and whine about x, y and z and you’ll see how exactly I’ll react. But I somehow felt Justin Nurse’s pain, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was insinuating that there are bigger forces at play within media corporations and he and his company were a drop in the ccean. This now brings me to the issue of the SABC Blacklisting and how our wonderful watchdogs are choosing the wrong car tyres to relieve themselves.

Disclaimer: If you do not like my views, fine, I have more.

As usual – it’s that time of the year where your highness Dali Mpofu, graces our tellies, daily. I never knew the SABC had CEOs until Dali’s term in office, I never knew it was possible that one could publicly interview her employer – about a sensitive issue that led to the dismissal of her predecessors. I’m talking about the viscious Lerato Mbele – interviewing Dali Mpofu on Public Interest on a Sunday Morning, out of all days. Why pick Sunday to show us the nakedness of subjective reporting? Anyone with a head on top of his shoulders – could tell the entire show was rehearsed and that Dali was going to be given enough airtime to clear the air, while Anton Harber and City Press editor Mathata Tshedu had to share 5 minutes.

There is a 78-page SABC blacklist report, which the SABC is refusing to disperse to the masses. Dali claims that he will release it in time, once he has taken all the right steps. The media on the other hand is rushing him to release it and has justified this rush by saying that this is a matter of public interest and also a constitutional right - for the public to have access to this report. Needless to say, this report will take snail years to be brought out. I managed to come across the right sources this weekend and landed with this entire report – unedited.

SABCBLACKLISTREPORT[1].pdf ( Save before opening...)

Nowadays primary schools need Centres for Conflict Resolution, Anger Management Centres, Trauma Counsellors, Peer Counsellors… the list is endless. Whatever happened to the good ol’ days, when a child was a child? I mean look at me – I’m still bitter about the whippings and pinching I got from my Afrikaans teacher – I even despise my primary school headmaster, Mrs Ryall – she used to beat us up with what appeared to be a panga or a miniature version of a cricket bat. Looking back on those days I probably deserved it and it was probably for a good cause.

So you drop little Joey at school and later that day he comes back with a blue eye, broken ribs and a missing cellphone. You huff and puff and immediately call the school …

Pupils @ war - captured on cell

South African schools are alleged to be breeding some of the worst violent young brats – they were shown on the news bashing each others heads on toilet seats – I hardly doubt they were inspired by Yizo-Yizo as they were too young then + they’re aren’t a typical Yizo-Yizo audience.

It gets worse - parents seem to be blaming our schools for failing their children, and not the children for failing the school system – actually no, why not blame the parents instead?

It’s quite obvious – it’s the little Joey you never smacked as a kid. It’s the little Joey you defended with your nails and teeth to ensure that he would never receive corporal punishment at school. Little do you know that the little Joey whom you’ve just bought the latest PSP is a serial killer in the making and a hardcore primary school bully.

We teach our children the satisfaction of here-and-now and we later label them an instant-gratification generation. We buy them brand name shoes, clothes and top of the range cellphones – so they can MXit all day. It’s like parents are raising eggs, which can’t be beaten for fear of breaking them. I don’t know what’s changed but, its definitely not the schools – I feel sorry for the poor old Maths teacher who has to face a new viscous breed year-in and year-out.

Schools are not to blame – this is just a mere case of BAD PARENTING and the media must stop trying to push this towards government’s cause.

Beat the living daylights out of your kids – it’s a tried and tested remedy to put your kids on the straight and narrow – whether at school or at home.

I don't usually blog on Wednesdays, but this will be an exception as breaking news have just littered my desktop. In fact I'm appalled and will also be parting ways with a substantial amount of money and time. I guess it's true when they say never count your chickens until they've hatched.

There I was labouring hard this morning when my cellphone rang and an eery sounding Jacob Zuma fan called and said: "You owe me money - JZ has been cleared!"

I shouldn't have made such a bet!

I shouldn't have made such a bet!

I shouldn't have made such a bet!

I mean what was I thinking when I agreed to such a bet? Afterall the NPA had no case against JZ or maybe they had, but then they just had to go and behave like primary schoolkids - rushing to show their friends their new toys. Fair the NPA had a new toy but they could have at least waited until they knew how this toy functioned and maybe read the instructions. Did the NPA expect the court to help them configure their new toy?

I'm struggling to come to terms with why the NPA charged like a bull, without sufficient evidence. It's not like they had anything to loose, in fact waiting could have proved more advantageous for them and all like-minded crowds. Conspiracy? The NPA is not against Zuma, if anything goes, I'd say they are in cahoots. This was a stint to ensure that the Arms Deal wouldn't come back to bite Zuma at a later stage in his 'presidential suite'. Had the NPA waited and done research on their charges, the case could have started late and could have possibly interfered with the ANC's upcoming Annual Conference - where debates of the next presidency will be addressed. If the NPA had delayed and done research and maybe charged Zuma in November or so, they could have possibly killed his chances at the presidency - Imagine Zuma sitting in court, dragging in the thick mud of the Arms Deal, while the ANC's conference is in progress... there would have been no chance of a Zuma presidency.

Did the NPA deliberately speed things up to pave the way for good-old-innocent Zuma?

Either way, I still loose R10 today and to make matters worse the rand has also taken a dive due to these news!

I shouldn't have made that bet...

'What you don't know won't hurt you!' Are some haunting lines I've often heard from journalists. Same as curiosity killing the cat - there's something thats been teasing my curiosity levels - The Mbeki Documentary. I haven't had the privilege of being invited to a pirated DVD viewing session of this doccie, but yes, it's out there, you just have to look harder at the next intersection. And critics have speculated that there's nothing mind-blowing in this doccie, except for the fact that most comments have been compiled from archived material and a lack of 'fresh' interviewees on the man... and oh yes, chain smoking of cigarettes. P.S: smoking kills!

I don't know what this doccie entails and am merely basing my argument on pure speculation from media watchdogs. Now some media lapdogs from the SABc have been flooded with negative publicity and hordes of complaints on the state of SABc and radio included. I personally do not see anything wrong with SABc's broadcasting - I watch what I want to watch, when I watch it. Instead some couch potatoes, with their faded remote controls, are looking for any and I mean any excuse to discredit the SABc. Does it make a difference if we don't see the Mbeki doccie? Is this a sign of political interference within SABc?

The worst thing, is that most of the discrediting is being cooked by bitter former SABc employees who moved to 'e' and realised that they cannot achieve their highs on 'e' alone. Here's a recent letter by Dali Mpofu (I'm getting bored of seeing this guy on the news daily though), trying to explain the inexplicable.

As for SABc and its content: Here's a guide:

SABc 1 = omo, lovelife and R199 cellphone advertisements & highly gruesome news content and 1970 movies.

SABc 2 = confusion... SAB (South African Breweries) advertisements?

SABc 3 = BMW, life insurance and R4000 cellphone advertisements & high quality programming.

SABc radio = spoilt for choice!

The above programming is more than enough for anyone who spends two hours a day glued to their telly - if not, its time to get a partner or a hobby :-)

"South Africa has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, but the country's media is ignoring the pandemic." - local SA papers.

Ok, before I give my ill-informed critical perspective on this - I might as well share a line that unKemp J unKemp threw in court last week. He says... there's a bucket full of HIV fluid, and at the bottom of this bucket you have a KrugerRand...You roll up your sleeve and reach for the KrugerRand at the bottom... would you wash your hand/arm afterwards?

I'll let the clever ones ponder over the above-mentioned line.

Statistics have revealed that only 2 percent of news articles in the South African media mention the words "HIV and Aids." But hey, JZ, must have pushed these stats higher...Not that the media cares about HIV in his case, just the fact that its JZ. My question is why is SA media not exploring HIV and AIDS issues further? Surely there are various approaches they can take to skin this cat/subject; one of the most obvious is to launch an attack on LoveLife and proceed with various shock tactics. Shock works - there was a time when people were actually terrified of HIV & AIDS by just seeing pictures of HIV victims. Whatever happened & how can we get it right?...oops how can our media get it right?

"Sections of the media in pursuit of extra sales have reported the trial as if it was a sex scandal involving a public figure. They have consistently selected and highlighted salacious and graphic details, used them in headlines and quoted them extensively in their court stories."

Professor Tawana Kupe, head of the School of Literature, Languages & Media Studies at Wits, has furthered the idea of this media flaws blog. In his recent article in this week's City Press, he states the following points:

Media must accurately report what is said in an open court. But some media fail to frame the story as one of gender-based violence which, if proved to be true, would be shocking since Zuma is a popular struggle leader.

They also fail to frame the trial as one that would set back attempts to reduce rape if the allegations are untrue. Women who cry rape will find it difficult to be believed. Many might feel it better to be silent than to be treated as another woman who cried wolf for ulterior motives.

These sections of the media fail to frame the story as one with profound consequences for the efforts to build a society in which violence against women is eliminated. One does not get a sense that there is regret about this ugly public spectacle. Instead, there is some glee and the exploitation of the trial for a type of perverse entertainment value.

It is also true that sections of the media frame the trial in a restrained, dignified and ethical manner which - while revealing the essence of the claims of the accused and the alleged victim - does not emphasise sordid details which do not help the public understand the evidence.

Serious cases of alleged rape require the media to ask what the public interest is and not what the public might be interested in.

The public interest is that the media should - through balanced information and analysis - help the public to understand the evidence in the trial. A few people might be interested in graphic details of the alleged act to indulge their sexual fantasies.

These graphic details border on the pornographic and the images often demean those depicted and gloss over issues of violence. It is not the media's role to indulge such interests, especially if it is at the expense of a failure to focus on the core of a serious matter.

The media need to be asking the ANC these questions and not focusing on "MaMkhize", the apparent leader of Zuma's supporters outside the court.

Further, the media needs to be asking questions about why women would be at the forefront of victimising an alleged victim who is also a woman.

Has the media analysed whether the constitutional values of gender equality guide the actions of ordinary people in their everyday lives?

Our long-standing family dentist once told me to always have Dettol or Savlon handy whenever I was going to engage in unprotected sex with "naughty" girls - I have since found a new dentist!

Let me formalise and contextualise this a bit:

The media's "sensationalised" reporting on Jacob Zuma's pronouncements on HIV prevention will be held accountable should the government's anti-HIV campaigns fail; this is according to Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.

Zuma, also known as uMalume at UCT, said last week in his rape trial that he took a shower after having sex with his HIV-positive accuser, as he felt this would minimise the risk of infection (this really reminded me of my dentist).

At the launch of the Year of Accelerated Prevention campaign in Johannesburg yesterday, Tshabalala-Msimang lambasted the media for its coverage of the Zuma statements, saying it had "sensationalised the issue without putting accross what the government policy is".

Our minister might have a point... Instead of looking at the consequences of Zuma's pronouncements - the money-hungry media houses rushed to expose Zuma's ignorance and sensationalise the whole thing. With all this exposure that the media has given these "showering" statements - I can already picture a rural Zulu herdsman sitting amongst his friends and saying: " hawu! uMsholozi usethsilo ukuthi le Ngculaza singayigeza getsiphu" (transl: Hmm! Zuma said that you can just wash HIV off with soap)

For a more newslike read of this story, visit: The Star.

I'm originally from a small town called Butterworth, where cops gloat about the perks of being a cop - you get a gun. And trust me you do not want be in a shebeen with one of these off-duty cops especially when they're drunk or even worse celebrating New Year's eve close to midnight. That small town and just the Eastern Cape townships in general feel like a war movie except this time the soldiers are aiming at the sky.

I'm really worried about South African police. First there were reports that they are heavily underpaid and under tremendous stress. Lately they seem to be very suicidal and taking their loved ones along.

And what does our so nice media do? Portray these cops as jealous-struck murderous savages. Take the story of the cop in the West Rand who went on a killing spree - taking at least 8 lives while he was at it. Yes, this is definitely news. To others like me this is not new, ok maybe 8 people is a bit extreme, but cops are doing this as a hobby in some parts of the country. Its time those lazy media fat cats commisioned some of their journos into the rural parts of South Africa - you'll be surprised. But then if they do do that, then the stories might not be considered news as they are affecting a distant and "un-paranoia-causing" minority in the bushes of South Africa. So, the DA - South Africa's own little watchdog, comes along with a sensible but not so-feasible idea (as usual): TAKE ALL THE COPS TO SHRINKS EVERY TWO MONTHS...sounds good hey?

Ease your tension with this:

A TRAFFIC cop stops a blonde for speeding and asks her nicely if he can see her driver's licence.

"I wish you guys would get your act together," she replies in a huff. "It was only yesterday that you took away my licence and now you expect me to show it to you!"