Press Freedom Commission, ANC and the little guy

Anyone interested in press regulation in South Africa and media freedom in general, will be aware of the main recommendations contained in the Press Freedom Commission report released last week. However, the reality is, while news of the fairly substantial recommendations made by the Press Freedom Commission on how to best reform the South African Press Council garners acute interest from print editors and print media bodies like the SA National Editors’ Forum, this news will not and does not interest all that many “people on the ground”. 

During the first review of South Africa’s press regulatory system, the Press Council received a total of 58 submissions from the public, and the second review collected nearly 230 submissions. That kind of public consultation is impressive when you consider that most laws are drafted and adopted in this country without ever reaching the same levels of public input or consultation.

That said, most of those submissions were made by people or organisations that have a particular interest in the media and freedom of expression. The Press Council and Press Freedom Commission heard from civil society groups, university academics from journalism and media studies departments, political parties and newspaper editors. Precious few of the presentations were from ordinary people who read the press each day, and on whom the media exercises its most powerful influence.

Throughout the processes, I argued that ordinary everyday readers of South Africa’s newspapers had no real motivation to be involved in the process of press regulation because, until now, that process had effectively excluded them. The complaints procedure of the Press Council did not allow for third party complaints, which is inconsistent with other media regulatory bodies, such as the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) or the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

READ ON DAILY MAVERICK