"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.
At 2pm today the North Gauteng high Court heard an urgent interdict agains EFF leader, Julius Malema [in case you did not know], by the CEO of Oakbay Investments, Nazeem Howa. [Oakbay is one of the main shareholders of ANN7 and the New Age].
The interdict follows Malema's comments last week whereby he made statements which incited violence against the journalists of ANN7 and the New Age, calling them the public relations department of the controversial Gupta family, ANN7 and The New Age's main shareholders. He further went on to ban them from attending EFF events in the name of ANN7 and The New Age.
The interdict is to restrain EFF members from committing acts of violence against the company’s shareholders, staff and property. "Malema lashed out at the Gupta brothers and their commercial interests with a clear and unambiguous threat of violence and xenophobia," Oakbay Investments CEO Nazeem Howa said
The interdict was granted by Judge Johan Louw, 'with amendments.' What those amendments are will be clarified at a later date.
"Our employees have the right to go to work and do their jobs without the threat of violence. We welcome today’s ruling and hope that the EFF will cease its threats and intimidation of our staff immediately,” said ANN7 editor-in-chief, Moegsien Williams,
ANN7 and its sister newspaper, The New Age, made the headlines today when EFF leader, Julius Malema, stated at a press briefing today that journalists from the two Infinity Media entities are no longer welcomed at EFF events.
Infinity Media, the holding company of ANN7 (DStv 405, ann7.com/livetv) and The New Age, is owned by the controversial Gupta family, who have resurfaced in the media these past few weeks as a result of their close relations with senior ANC officials. Malema, along with members of the EFF, are accusing the two media entities (which share the same editor, Moegsien Williams) of not conducting proper reporting, but are instead acting as a mouthpiece for the Gupta family in the same way as 'Naspers did for the Apartheid government.' Furthermore, he stated that individuals working for these orgamisations would 'not be safe' at EFF events.
[You can see Malema's full media briefing by clicking here. (eNCA)]
The move was met, expectedly, by uproar from members of the press, with the South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) commenting on the story throughout the day to media houses, including having a representitive present at both ANN7 and SABC News Channel's debates around the issue. SANEF stated that it was unacceptable for any political party to intimidate journalists.
The ruling party's spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa, also condemned the comments made by Malema, going further to state that these comments incite violence and goes against the same constitution that allows Malema to be in parliament.
ANN7 and the New Age's editor-in-chief, Moegsien Williams, appeared on ANN7 throughout the day to comment on the matter. Speaking to Karabo Yibe on ANN7's Good Evening SA, Moegsien stated, "[The statements] reminds me a lot of Donald Trump in the United States who wants to ban Muslims and throw reporters out of press conferences.He is our very own Donald Trump and I worry about that kind of language when we have an election coming up."
ANN7
Ironically, ANN7 was the only tv channel broadcasting the comments made by Malema on live tv. eNCA only streamed the event in its entirety. However, once the comments were made, ANN7's assistant editor on duty decided to cut the feed to the event from the broadcast, whilst the journalists from ANN7 that attended the event remained behind.
ANN7 covered the story throughout the day. As aforementioned, editor Moegsien Williams appeared multiple times on air throughout the day to discuss the issue. The channel's ANN7 Prime debate of the day centered on the issue.
On the panel was Williams, who was joined by William Bird (Director, Media Monitoring Africa) and Moshoeshoe Monare (council member, SANEF).
Monare stated that it was unacceptable for a political party to victimise journalists based on who owns the media house they work for. He further echoed the sentiment of SANEF that Malema's remarks threaten freedom of expression.
Bird stated that if the party had issues with the media house, they should have raised the issue with management, not deal with it in the manner that they did.
Oddly, at the end of the debate, when it was time to reveal viewers' reply to the Question of the Day, "Can we allow Malema to incite hate against media organization?" more than two thirds of viewers who participated the poll voted 'yes,' which must have been very awkward for anchor Peter van Onselen to make sense of.
SABC News Channel
SABC News had an in depth discussion on the matter on their recently launched, really well done, new program, On The Record with Vuyo Mvoko. The discussion had a representitive of the EFF present, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, and a representitive from the South African national Editor's forum, Adriaan Basson, present.
Ndlozi continued to echo the sentiment among EFF members today that The New Age and ANN7 are not media, but instead are 'the communications department of the Gupta family masqerading as independent journalism.' He further stated that these news outlets serve only to normalise and legitimise the Guptas in South Africa today. He also stated that the EFF is conscious of the fact that this action puts the journalists that work at ANN7 and The New Age in the crossfire. Ndlozi did say these journalists are welcomed to EFF events in their personal capacity, but may not come in the name of the news outlets owned by the Gupta family.
Basson stated that SANEF are disappointed by the actions of the EFF and have previously perceived them to be welcoming to members of the press. He stated the organisation thought the actions were wrong and against the freedom of media freedom.
eNCA
South Africa's most watched news channel, eNCA, only covered the story as one element of the bigger story regarding the EFF's planned march against Zuma and the Guptas. In the report which included these comments from Malema, eNCA only ever mentioned 'media organisations owned by the Guptas,' not once referring to ANN7 or The New Age by name. A channel that stands up for press freedom in other countries barely gave airtime for press freedom here. [They really displayed a total lack of support to a fellow news organisation, even though that news organisation is a distant third to them when it comes to viewership, so they should not have feared losing many viewers by merely saying the word 'ANN7' on air ]
