A Free Press

This week I have felt tired. Tired with the government for its controversial information bill – I don’t expect us to be having to defend the right to a free press this far into democracy.

But I am equally tired with the media who would like us to think that it is a sacrificial lamb led to the slaughter. I feel that they have lost the plot – it seems like it has stopped being about our right to know but more about the money.  In my book the plot is to provide us with independent information, to increase our awareness of the world we live in so that we can make up our own minds about what to believe. For too long we have lived in a nanny state where we are told what to do and what to believe.

When I pick up a newspaper I feel like I am being manipulated, being steered in a certain direction. Why should I care that Malema wore a purple suit to a wedding in Mauritius? And do I care about who is eating sushi off who? Even if I don’t want to know about it, I can’t ignore it because it is on the front page of not one, but a few newspapers, and on the television when I switch it on. Good karma to them if they think that that is a good way to spend their money. It all feels a bit like the old apartheid propaganda of swart-gevaar – look what these blacks are up to now that they have power/money.

Two weeks ago I went to my favourite annual dinner for awards for ordinary philanthropists. It buoys me up. I didn’t read much about it in the newspapers. Are we really a nation of negative, pessimistic people? Or is it the media who is feeding us doom and gloom? I think sooner or later we will become immune to the shocking. Sometimes days go by and I ignore the newspapers which get delivered to our door. I am tired of the negativity and the manipulation.

If you read the newspapers you will believe that the government is evil. While we have a far way to go still, and much needs to be done, we live in a country with a democratically-elected government. We should all stand up to defend a free press. We should also demand more responsible reporting from that same free press.

My sister works on the other side of the “boerewors curtain” and on Tuesday was texting me some of her colleagues’ comments - among them, the feeling that democracy was going down the drain and maybe we would need an underground newspaper again. Well, Viva! Let’s go for it. Maybe the press needs a bit of pressure to get back to the plot.