Media Flaws

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...

Technology is moving too fast – I’ve just downloaded a mini-browser (mini.opera.com) onto my hellphone and am now sitting in a sheebeen, blogging. You might wonder why on earth I’ve chosen to blog in a shebeen, given the fact that I could be inebriated & midly hallucinating or possibly mugged.

I’ve come to kwaLanga township to record a radio story, but I somehow finished early and my interviewees were too distracted to give full answers about their career plans. You ask: ‘Why don’t you go home?’ Well nothing’s stopping me besides the fact that I’m literally dying to share a conversation I just overheard.

Remember a while back on the news when 5 young men were shot and killed gangster-style in Langa township? Five die in Langa bloodbath. Well, it turns out that these were gang rival-related deaths. Group 1: AmaPalastina (the Palastinians) attacked Group 2: AmaSoldier(the Soldiers) or vice versa – how they chose their gang names is beyond me. I’m sitting next to two group members of the ‘palastenians’ and they've just confirmed that the deaths were indeed over girls. You might think that’s a petty death-sentence for the deceased, but in the townships you can even die for refusing to share a ‘loose fag’ (Unambiguous Rewording for Capetonians: 'A loose cigarette') or provide small change when asked. There’s worse but to sum it up I can say townships in South Africa in general are truly poorly-imagined versions of hell.

What gets me, is that these guys are not shy about this – this is something they’re shouting out for all to hear. It happens all the time – these gents will commit a robbery, and later go to a shebeen to blow their not-so-hard-earned cash and in the process let everyone know the etymology of the proceeds they’re downing.

I don’t know about white-collar crime, but I do know that it will take years to combat blue-collar, or rather golf-shirt, collar crime… hell, a thug is born everyday! and if you think Charles will do anything about it, you’ve got a nasty surprise coming; crime seems to be a mental disease that has infested the hopeless or greedy. Township criminals + Spare Time = Idle Minds = An Idle Mind is Definitely the Devil’s Workshop.

For these types of criminals – forget Charles, instead look onto the minister of Education, Naledi Pandor. A good dosage of education could remedy some of South Africa’s criminal minds. As I’m sitting here – I can’t phantom how some of these shebeen conversations (This one in particular) were concocted and how these patrons could actually think like this... Anyway, I got my recorded interviews and am now going to dash off to the Southern Suburbs - where the theatre of the day continues and residents feature in the roles of victims.

It’s another Friday and it’s almost time to go home, but the craving to ruin someone's weekend on my blog... eish, I just can't resist. I am however going to put aside my meandering and focus.

Just in passing I managed to spend a few minutes of my life, absorbing what seemed to be an hour-long complaint - in the form of a lunchtime lecture… The AVA is hosting an exhibition entitled Amajita in Conversation (7 local black artists exhibit some thought-provoking material that reflects a part of their social interactions). Some nifty stuff there and I must say well-done to these guys before I proceed.

Back to the lunchtime lecture: The 7 black artists, all academically-abled, exhibiting at AVA, were presenting this lunchtime lecture and they, at some point, questioned the notion of how institutions should support artists, black artists in particular, as some of them come from relatively disadvantaged backgrounds – and an institution that simply bestows them with a simple degree and maybe Honours it or so, does not help them operate in an urban context.

There’s a point here, but my question is what other interventions can institutions or seniors within institutions offer ‘pre’-viously disadvantaged ‘majitas’ (urbanised township black males) after they have completed their degrees? Do these institutions have an obligation of this nature? And if so –how does it all work?

I’ve always been under the impression that the world is, unfortunately, not such a nice place afterall and each man must fend for himself wherever possible – and not expect jobs or offers or wheelchairs ascending to higher societal classes to fall onto their laps. The desire to rip this topic apart and give my views has just set in – but I guess in this case I’d like some clarification on the role of Academic Institutions in pushing their previously disadvantaged graduates to a level where they can find contention within an urban context.

Before I begin, I'd like to apologize in advance to the following people: The office of the President, all South African political parties, hetero/homo/bi- sexuals, blacks, whites, coloureds, Indians, etc... You'll find this pre-apology most appropriate when I've offended you in any of my future and past blog entries. For my sake and especially your sake I hope this won't be necessary.

Next time one decides to visit Jo'burg they'll be glad, or maybe not, to know that they'll now be landing at the O.R Tambo International Airport. One will be filled with a greater sense of joy knowing that I'm quite impartial on the matter and will not comment on name changes. Ok, ok, maybe one comment wouldn't hurt.

I remember the days when people went to school on Hendrik Verwoed drive - that must have been terrible, especially if you were black and knew his segregational education policies. A constant reminder that the institution in which you'd quench your academic thirst was still red-carpeted with a name like Hendrik Verwoed Drive. Must have been worse knowing that you'd be landing on Jan Smuts airstrip, a few years ago.

I'm actually going to sell my telly soon - if it doesnt stop pissing me off - why my telly has to show me a member of parliament wagging his finger like the Old Crocodile a.k.a die Ou Krokodil in pre-democracy days, is beyond me. "Its going to be changed again and again, YOU PEOPLE will not always be in power..." Hopefully this member was indeed refering to the transition from Johannesburg International to O.R Tambo, if not, then we still have a long way to go...

Someone once said: 'the best way to hide information from a black man is to put it in books'. With more books being opened nowadays; more and more people are becoming terribly annoyed with mere driving directions (Turn on Terblanche Avenue and go up on Rhodes Drive till you get to Hendrik Verwoed Drive); I won't even comment on the annoyance one derives from seeing certain monuments still standing in this country. If you want to know my stance on the monuments that litter our urban areas - I can only refer you to the Centre of Conflict Resolution at UCT - and whilst there try pick Dr. Adekeye Adebajo's brain on the issue of S.A monuments .

Name changes cost a lot, they are going to confuse tourists, blah, blah... So what? Read more books, especially South African history books, then it'll miraculously dawn on you that name changes and the demolition of certain monuments is necessary. But then again, if seeing statues of Hitler/Rhodes or the equivalent thereof in your own backyard doesn't recast painful memories, than you probably don't understand how these constant reminders affect others... and it's best to let old dogs lie low in your mind.

I wasnt planning to write about this, I was actually planning to write about the celebration of blogs. Oh well, happy blogging to all other bloggers :-)

As usual - I'm sitting in front of my telly and there it goes - people exercising their freedom of speech. Everytime T'bose opens his mouth I'm truly inspired to exercise my freedom of speech - which I'm about to do... and its going to be harsh. But first, T'bose said: 'I doubt the poor are terribly concerned about whether or not I swore at JZ or JZ swore at me, their main concerns are what are they going to eat tonight'. Which is true, but I highly doubt that television news would be interesting if they embarked on poverty alleviation reportage.

Further in the news broadcast I'm stiffled by a group of TAC supporters who are protesting against the minister of health. Apparently she made a damn good nutritional presentation, at the wrong venue though, and this unfortunately drove Zackie and crew to a state of depression and tossing toys out of their cots. Understandable - TAC is for a good cause, but I dont think the media nor the TAC are actually listening to South Africa's stance on HIV. Hell, if I may, I'd like to ruffle a few old feathers and pronounce that all this protesting against the minister of health is uncalled for.

True, people are dying!

BUT (and at this point you can choose to b..Log off, cause you wont like this...)

who's to blame here? Government? Did government wake up and decide to infect 5 million people with HIV? Was government there when the decision to play it safe bore itself? I DOUBT IT. This truly pisses me off ... the only exception to my above questioning would be to all non-sexual transmissions - I sympathise with you...

But if I went off and miraculously acquired HIV, I wouldnt make it government's problem. Call me ignorant, if you may, but I think I would have brought it upon myself and protesting against an ol' lady who's trying to do her job would be the least of my concerns. I'm slowly beginning to understand why T'bose has been so quiet on this HIV matter: The last time we ever heard him touch it, was when he was denying the link between HIV and AIDS...knowing how irritable T'bose can get, I'm sure given a chance he could have co-written what your reading right now.

Many people have many views and I have often been accussed of being insensitve, but alas, I don't think HIV should be de-stigmatised - it is not a norm and it is not okay; people should fear this virus, not embrace it!

I don't know what has gotten into me lately - I seem to be flooded by all sorts of media related emails and invites. So there I was last night contemplating whether or not to have a glass of whine while waiting for two 'great' speakers - Anton Harber and Aubrey Matshiqi. Alas, the two giants were allocated speaking times and when all their meandering was done, the discussion was open to the floor.

Oh, the topic was: Newsroom culture and democracy: The dilemma of the new SABC.

Take a deep breath, cause I suffer from what is called post-speech syndrome. My ailment is one many can relate to and is characterized by preparing a speech or questions for an event, and then after the event you realise you could have said something else - far better.

Anton Harber, the Harbinger, feels that there is a certain fear looming in the corridors of the SABC and that all must keep their heads low and abide or face being fired. He further goes on to say that SABC journalistic standards are poor in that environment. What reporting are people actually anticipating from the public broadcaster? If I didnt suffer from my above-mentioned syndrome, I could have asked the Harbinger this question and further enlightened him on the fact that since 1994, its been particularly hard to get ahold of nail-biting journalistic stories. Hell, everyone is educated nowadays - you can't even interview a streetkid without getting the consent of the city council - you can't even get stats from a police station without contacting their media guru in their Johannesburg headoffice. By the time you get a story its already marinated and all you can do is stick in the oven.

The fact is, in post apartheid South Africa, its very hard to doorstep people and expect earth shattering responses. People are aware of all sorts of rights nowadays. The Harbinger even went further to hint that his Mail & Guardian (MG) had those good journos. A MG that is notorious for its anonymous sources. Anyway, put those MG journos in the SABC corridors and they'll soon understand why the culture of the newsroom is the way it is.

As for Aubrey Matshiqi, a self-confessed coconut - I was left speechless as I was droaned by his harrowing poetic-like references. I don't know what he said but it sounded like he was trying to get off the SABC blacklist.

As I summed my thoughts up, I somehow remembered that there is no such thing as objective reporting - it's a state of mind. As for being a journalist in the SABC and keeping your head low until the next payday - I can't comment, but I do know that there are some good journalists in that institution, who somehow try to acheive objectivity and eventually loose the story's edge.

I can say more...but... I think a certain fear of the unknown forces me to digress. Thank you to the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust for the invite.

'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 :-)

Now I'm not going to whine until I'm blue in the face and I definitely do not have the option to leave the country; I think Uncle Charles wasn't directing this to me, but maybe some of his frustrated cops could do with his not-so-subtle parliamentary speech.

There I am sitting in the front seat of our beloved minibus taxi's and of course it naturally had to stop at a non-stopping zone, to pick up a damsel in distress. A few minutes later a police van appears and the taxi driver is forced to park outside Shoprite in Rondebosch. Two heavily armed cops, who almost looked like suicide bombers, burst onto the driver's window..."Get out, get the @&!! out, you little #$$!" One short chubby cop, who's cheeks had now ripened to a shocking red, dragged the driver around a corner, kicking and slapping him behind the head.

Fine, I suppose the driver was wrong and he had it coming anyway, but two days later, on Sunday, I see the same cops in Rondebosch again! This time kicking a hot fuss outside Nando's - someone did something outside or inside the restaurant - I don't know, I was in a rush to get home, but was struck by the fact the the short chubby fella had his rifle in the air and ready to shoot. This time they DRAGGED, what appeared to be a student outside and screamed the living daylights at the poor student. Now Rondebosch is filled with academics or something to that effect, and some were quoting the constitution and how unjust these two cops were behaving, but no-one could do a thing in the face of an angry-gun-wielding officer. The friendly cops let the student go and they returned to Nando's, picked a table and might have ordered - who knows, cause all the patrons embarked on getting doggy-bags and others simply left.

Maybe, I missed something on the news this weekend but since when do cops behave like this? ok maybe 1970 or so, but who gave them these powers now? The sad thing is you don't really know if, what you're witnessing is a mere case of another soon-to-be cop on the rampage... It's best to stay far away from these two cops in the Rondies area - you can't miss them, they look like suicide bombers in blue uniform. Uncle Charles might have to have a word with them soon!

This Sunday I landed on 'e' which has been praised for providing a sense of escapism from the SABC syndrome, however this time I was quite mystified by the strings 'e' was pulling in its latest programme 'rough cut'. Ok, so there have been reports that the media is under-reporting HIV/AIDS issues, but that does not suggest that some media fatdogs or lapdogs must exploit our beloved brothers and sister from the rural areas.

Here's the story: 'e' sent their ever-sympathetic reporter, Charlene Stanley, to Lesotho to cover HIV/AIDS orphans or so. Now what pisses me off is that she conducted the interview with a 15 year-old orphan(Mpolokeng) and her younger brothers... CONSENT? Charlene admitted that no consent forms were signed in this matter as there were no elders responsible for the children, and on she went exploiting her 'subject matter' who has recently acquired the skill of conversing in English. Something about people from rural areas, and trust me I know this, I spent 10 years of my life in such areas, is that when a person of colour or even a tourist brings a camera or wants them to show off their newly acquired English skills, they will do this without even giving it a second thought.

A 15year old laid out her sad emotions, with a smile on her face - one might think she is stupid but as I said she smiles because this is all exiting stuff (camera and all). I don't know the psychology behind such behaviour. But one thing's for sure - when this 15 year-old read Charlene's transcript, which labelled her as an AIDS orphan she displayed her objection to the use of such terms (smart kid), but not smart enough to stop 'e' from profiting from her situation. Oh, by the way, 'e' gave Mpolokeng and her brothers sweets and tinned food during the course of the interviews.

There you have it, another Media Flaw along the lines of stereotyping. 'e' should start getting high people in high places for their HIV coverage - some influential people or something. Why go and defame a child who has no idea where her face will end up? But then our weird pressombudsmen will argue that she was not defamed as she is a 'nobody' ( not a public figure)...

"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.

A sexy, talented South African R&B singer "dies again" - this time on TV. I read with great amazement on how TK ( Tsakani Mhinga - the late R&B sensation) will be featured on a SABC 2 programme, Zero tolerance this coming Friday evening (9pm), according to the Sunday Times.

Now in this coming episode, which was shot in November 2005. TK stars as a lesbian celebrity who snorts "coke" like it's going out of fashion and is sadly shot in the back of her limo. In real-life TK is alleged to have died in a very similar manner, without the shooting part though.

My point - isn't it wierd how life keeps on imitating art? Just a thought, but here's the killer part of this blog. Should the above-mentioned episode be aired on television? How will TK's family digest this? etcetera, etcetera.

A staunch by-the-book media expert will definitely conclude that the dead have no say and there is no way you can defame a dead person - as the dead have no say. And trust me thats somewhere in the journalism codes of conduct. It's sad that we will have to watch this episode - especially for those close to TK, who will now experience life imitating arts. What ever happened to art imitating life?