6. Language responsibilities & Creating Regional Television stations

1.1 Section 6 of the Bill sets out some of the areas in which the Minister may have power.

1.2 "6(4) The Board must ensure accurate, accountable and fair reporting by the Corporation which advances national, and Public interest of the Republic."

1.3 The "reporting" referred to in this clause is not defined. It may refer to forms of monitoring and evaluation, of ensuring accurate reports from all sections of the Corporation. Thus for example, in some theories of management it may seem appropriate for the Board to require accurate, accountable and fair reporting from the various managers. If "reporting" in the above clause is interpreted in this manner however it does not then make sense to suggest that it must be in a manner which "advances national and Public interest of the Republic."

1.4 Considering the context in which the word, "reporting" is used it shall be assumed that it refers to the re-telling, or telling of news in specific relation to "reporting" as understood in the conventional use of the term in journalistic discourse.

1.5 While such an interpretation may make more sense it has the potential to limit the freedom of expression of the "corporation" considerably, if reporting must advance the national and public interest. It also raises questions as to what is meant by the terms, "accountable", "national Interest" and "public interest." These terms have already been the subject of extensive debate between the media and government.

1.6 6(4) also raises the question as to why it should be up to the Board to ensure these requirements (referred to in these clauses), of journalists are met and not the journalists’ editors as they are the ones who daily determine the news. Also if it is only the journalists to whom this clause refers (or at least those who work in news, both radio and television from producers to floor managers and autocue operators) what about the accountability of the rest of the Corporation? The concern about the Board’s authority is all the more worrying in light of the suggested make up of the boards (See comment on Clauses 13A2 at point 5)

1.7 "6 (5) The Board shall prepare and submit to the Minister within (3) months after the date of conversion, policies governing the exercise of its freedom of expression, journalistic, creative and programme independence."

1.8 That the board should submit these polices to the Minister is particularly dangerous. Not only does this clause open the SABC up to substantial Ministerial interference it also sidelines the role of ICASA. As a Chapter Nine constitutional body at arms length of government ICASA’s purpose is to maintain a degree of independence from government and ensure that any policies around broadcasting serve the interests of the public and not those of government.

1.9 "6 (8) The Board and individual journalists of the Corporation shall be subject to the policies of the Corporation dealing with the accurate, fair and responsible journalism and thus exercise care and skill and act in the best interests of the Corporation"

1.10 For the Board and individual journalists to practice "responsible journalism" and, "exercise care and skill and act in the best interests of the Corporation" seems, on some levels to be perfectly acceptable, but it raises the question as to who determines what "responsible journalism" is and what the "best interests" of the SABC are? Potentially, for example, this could mean that it may be viewed to be irresponsible journalism to expose corruption in a government deal that might have a negative impact on the government and even the Rand. Clearly while such news may have a negative impact, to keep such a story in the dark would only let it fester. The expression, "sunshine is the best disinfectant" is the best solution and suggests that more light on issues no matter how bad will lead to curing any potential problems. The clause rather than encouraging accurate, investigative journalism is limiting and prohibitive.

1.11 Regarding the "best interests of the Corporation," certainly it will be to all people’s advantage if the staff act professionally and as reporters report issues fairly, accurately and in a balanced manner. MMP suggests however, that as the Corporation is the PSB no clause relating to the best interests of the Corporation be included. If there is to be such a clause it should be formulated to ensure that staff members, journalists and the board act not in the best interests of the state, the corporation, advertisers or commercial benefit but rather in the interests of the public.

1.12 Read together 6(4), 6(5) and 6(8) suggest not only clear limitations on the right to freedom of expression but also blatant ministerial interference. Not even Clause 6(3) "The Corporation shall in the exercise of its mandate in terms of this Act, comply with the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic" can be seen to prevent such limitations and interference. There is also the possibility that these clauses are in fact unconstitutional precisely because they may limit freedom of expression. That they need to be entirely rewritten must be the starting point for the Revised Bill.

2.1 What the clauses do achieve is to highlight the need for editorial and other polices for the SABC. Aside from raising the implicit question as to how the SABC has been operating up to this point it is clear that with the split and with the SABC finally developing a clear strategy of its own, new policies are required. The SABC does have Editorial policies, what is not clear is which ones are applied and to whom, certainly on some levels then it seems a good idea to have policies that are all in line with each other and the broader mandate of the Corporation.

2.2 The clauses mentioned above also serve to emphasise the importance of the SABC as a Public Service Broadcaster (PSB from now on). It has always been the contention of the MMP that the role of the SABC as the PSB is greater than that of any other broadcaster in South Africa. While this is something the SABC went through a stage of attempting to forget, leaving such tasks to private and community broadcasters, the SABC’s role in the media environment in SA cannot be underestimated. The SABC has a vital role to play in nation building, reporting issues of national and public interest, and informing and educating all citizens through a diversity of news and programming. To its credit there are a number of people at the SABC who have taken on these challenges and are working to address these issues. The SABC are in fact already in the process of drawing up news policies for the Corporation.

2.3 The specific areas in which the SABC needs to provide policies are catered for in the Bill, under clauses 10(2)(To be 10(3)) 10(4) which deal with the Public Service Division and then 11.A which deals with the Commercial Service Division. Given the context of the other clauses it is hardly surprising that the Bill states, "the old Corporation shall, … submit to the Minister for approval" budgets and policies as outlined in the clauses. Assuming the policies referred to in these clauses are to be drawn up in line with section 6 they will sadly be very limited, and again the issue of them having to be submitted to the Minister is no less problematic.

2.4 The MMP submits that under no circumstances should the Minister be the one to whom these policies are submitted. As it stands these clauses also need to be drastically reworked.

3.1 Sections 10.3, 10.4, and 11 deal with the specific requirements of the Corporation, including the requirement that the old Corporation submit policy documents and codes of conduct to the Minister. Again the potential Ministerial interference is clear. In addition, the question must be raised as to whether or not such policies and guidelines as dealt with in these sections should in fact be legislated. The MMP submits that while it may be legislated that the Corporation should develop policy they should not be specified and should under no circumstances be submitted to the Minister.

3.2 For new codes to have broad support, and be respected they cannot be drawn up for a Minister, but for those who they are there to protect. In this regard if the codes and policies are to be stipulated in the Bill they should be formulated through a public process and they should be submitted to ICASA. Through a public process all stakeholders including government and political parties could make submissions, MMP is not suggesting the Minister and government have no role to play – just that their role is to govern the country not the media.

3.3 Examining these sections MMP notes that while many of the clauses dealing with the public service division and the commercial service division are merely repeated, when it comes to policies there are significant omissions.

3.6 The question needs to be asked as to why the commercial service division is not required to have an educational policy or a universal service and access policy. There can be no doubt that these policies will differ between the two arms as the responsibilities of commercial broadcasters are not as significant as those of the public service broadcaster – this is generally accepted. However private broadcasters currently have licence conditions dealing specifically with education and it must be assumed have internal policies on education. The issue of universal service and access is one which should also be applied to the commercial service division of the Corporation for while it is commercial it is still part of the SABC and should therefore have greater responsibilities than other commercial broadcasters in South Africa.

3.7 10(4) sets out the requirements of a code of conduct for the public service division that is to be included in the policies set out in 10(3)(C). It is significant that there is no such similar requirement placed on the commercial service division.

4.1 If it is going to be essential for these issues to be legislated and that such guidelines should be created then the issue of skills development should also be addressed in the guidelines.

4.2 The current state of the media with respect to the skills and training of journalists reveals a dire skills shortage. This issue is one that concerns SANEF and the broader media industry as a whole. As the public service broadcaster, both the commercial and the public service division have a responsibility to train and develop staff members. While some of the skills and development issues are addressed by requirements linked to the skills development levy for instance and the SABC’s existing training programmes it would be in the interests of journalism and the corporation, if from the beginning there is a clear policy directive and guidelines for the skills development of all Corporation staff members.

4.3 It also needs to be remembered that while the SABC is in need of policies that can be broadly applied, there are already numerous codes that broadcasters are required to adhere to. The code of conduct for broadcasters, (developed in 1997) which parliament still has not passed, (much to the frustration and befuddlement of all concerned perhaps the committee can get an answer on this?) being the most obvious. There is also the current BCCSA code as well as the International Federation of Journalists guidelines.

4.4 Issues of high standards in journalism, of accuracy and fairness are critical ones that the SABC needs to grapple with. There have been numerous instances where politicians, citizens and organisations have been unjustifiably poorly treated, and inaccurately reported on by the media with no redress. These problems cannot be denied but the way to deal with them is not to make the Minister responsible - that can only be counter productive to media freedom and democracy.

4.5 MMP submits that if, and only if, the Bill is going to deal with editorial policies and values relating to them that these are standardised. As it stands there are a number of terms used in relation to the media:

4.6 While some of these are commonly used in journalistic discourse many are the subject of strong debate, like national & Public interest for instance. Taken together, instead of making the intentions of the Bill clear the Bill’s meanings are confused. Read with the additional powers granted to the Minister these terms appear as an invitation to influence.

4.7 MMP submits that terms applicable in current media theory and journalistic practice should be used, terms and concepts that promote the value, independence and skill of journalists.

4.8 While the concept of objectivity is not raised in the Bill, following articles and debates in the media discussing objectivity the term needs to be dealt with. The concept of "objectivity" is indeed outdated as reality is always interpreted and as such this term should not be included in a core series of concepts. To not have objectivity does not mean to say that good journalism does not exist for indeed while no journalist can be objective they can be fair.

4.9 MMP proposes (again only in the instance where these terms are going to be placed in legislation) that balance, fairness and accuracy are used throughout the Bill.

4.10 Considering the history of South Africa as well as the SABC, given the human rights violations that continue to take place and the need for the development and consolidation of a culture of human rights and given the justifiable fear of Ministerial and government interference MMP suggests two other criteria should be included. Firstly, a framework of human rights and secondly there should be a clear emphasis on the importance of the independence of journalists and the right to freedom of expression.

5.2 Not only do these clauses give the Minister significantly greater leverage on the boards appointed but it also removes the role of the public in nominating and electing the members of the two boards – which considering that the SABC is meant to serve all citizens of South Africa limits the rights of access and accountability. MMP submits that the board appointments clauses need to be rewritten to ensure accountability to the public, transparency and public participation.

6.1 Section 32(a) of the Bill sets out in basic terms the establishment of regional television stations primarily, it appears in order to address the SABC"s inability to fulfil its diversity and equitable treatment of languages requirements and also to create a more diverse television environment.

6.2 The MMP welcomes the emphasis on more equitable treatment of languages but is concerned by the lack of detail given in the section. Again the Minister is given the power to establish "one or more corporate entities (which entities shall be licensed to conduct the Northern Region television service and/or the Southern region television service)"

6.3 More details as to how this process is to work need to be given – MMP submits this should not be legislated but the responsibility for establishing the viability, value and operational details for these stations should be determined by ICASA, through a public process.

7.1 The MMP welcomes the notion that all television licence fees are to be used solely for public service division.

"27(6)(4) All television licence fess collected by the Corporation shall be used by the Corporation solely for the public broadcasting service to be provided by the corporation as stipulated in section 10 of this act."

7.2 Once again however full details of these fees are to be given to the Minister and just in case there is any doubt as to the Minister’s influence in the Bill 27(6)(6) states: "The Minister shall, from time to time, issue policy directives on the use of the television licence fees" The MMP submits that this should not be the role or responsibility of the Minister and again exposes the Corporation to interference.

8.1 In spite of the continued racist undertone that is present which suggests that government is evil and wants to just pass laws unhindered and undemocratically, there is a clear democratic process that is being followed. While the consultation process for the Bill could not have been terribly thorough (considering the result) people are able to make and present submissions to parliaments committee on Communication. That this is the process being followed by government and that ordinary citizens are able to impact on it is something to continue to be proud of.

8.2 While this Bill in numerous respects is a Minister Bill, it needs to be remembered that the SABC has been roundly criticised for bias by parties across the political spectrum. The SABC has been criticised by parliament’s committee on communication as well as government and various other political parties. It is not surprising that government wants to try and interfere in the SABC. It is the nature of politicians to try and ensure they get the best coverage they can. It is up to the media and citizens to ensure that they are not able to do so. It also needs to be noted that criticism of the Bill is not about the specific Minister, it is about the principle of ensuring the SABC’s independence not just for now but for ten or twenty years from now.

8.3 There are a number of excellent journalists and others who work at the SABC who are committed to media freedom, who have high standards and would not tolerate government, corporate or any other interference. We need to have faith in them that they will continue to do their job and will be supported by the other media bodies.

8.4 Critically however the Bill as it stands requires significant changes. The redrafted Bill should: