ANN7 runs a disclaimer onscreen whilst covering the Constitutional Court hearings today

"ANN7 wants to inform its viewers that due to the threats to the safety of its journalists the network will not directly cover to ConCourt proceedings and the EFF march today. ANN7 brings you the coverage of the ConCourt case through a third party video feed and expert opinion on our network."

Those were the words that scrolled across the screen today on ANN7 whenever the news channel broadcast coverage on the constitutional court hearings today.

It follows threats by EFF leader Julius Malema whereby he stated that he cannot guarentee the safety of ANN7 and The New Age staff that attend EFF gatherings.

What exactly the disclaimer means is up to interpretation though.

Whenever the channel showed visuals from inside the constitutional court, it showed a 'Courtesy: SABC' credit in the top corner. If this whole thing with the EFF had not happened, they would still carry the feed provided by the SABC, as other news channels do too, as it is just cost effective to do so and it would not make sense to have many cameras in a venue when one can do the job for everyone. That is why organisations like the SABC provide things like 'pool feeds.' The only difference is they would not have ran that strap on the screen nor would they have stated 'Courtesy: SABC.'

If ANN7 was editorially biased, I don't think they could have doctored the live visuals to cover certain individuals more favourably, so I don't know what they were covering their bases from.

Furthermore, the strap implies that the on air analysis would be proived by third party 'experts.'  However, as seen in the picture above, the only 'expert' providing analysis when this strap was running was Michael Appel. Though I think Michael is an exceptional reporter and analyst (he really is), he is still paid by ANN7 and thus is not 'third party' enough to calm the recent allegations made by the EFF.

The strap was just a waste. It was as over dramatic as ANN7's coverage of the whole situation. Though the story between ANN7 and the EFF warrants airtime, it is being unfairly fav
oured for on air coverage ahead of other news worthy stories simply because the people reporting the story are part of the story. That is one thing every journalist should avoid as far as possible. not embrace.