Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 16 September 2009
When corporate power dictates how we narrate our daily life, deceit is sure to follow
Advertising is perhaps one of the most exciting industries; and South Africa is renowned worldwide as being amongst the leading creative hubs in as far as advertising is concerned. But there are certain aspects of advertising that border on dishonesty.
One evening, I watched the Venda television series, Muvhango, screened on SABC 2, and the type of advertising that is contained in the soapie, masquerading as parts of the soapie storyline, can mislead unsuspecting television audiences.
Somewhere along the episode, for example, the cast gets together in a room to discuss banking, and not only do they make reference to Capitec bank in favourable terms, large posters of the bank are also placed strategically at the background, and the soapie’s concealed endorsement of the bank is beyond question.
Sometime back, another popular SABC television series, Generations, used to have their cast get regular hair-dos, courtesy of Soft ‘n Free, also concealed as part of the soapie storyline.
There should be a clear distinction between honest and transparent advertising activity and a sincere storyline aimed at dramatising the realities of daily life, free from the pressures of corporate power. We don’t have ad breaks for nothing.
Any form of advertising activity that is contained in soapie storylines, for example, negates our creative spirit and is meant to deceit unsuspecting audiences. Real advertisers do not disguise their products as part and parcel of other people’s popular initiatives.
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Bad news is good news -- and here's the proof
How strange that a winning story about tourism is one about a stinking motorcycle rider navigating his way through potholes and delays!
Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 14 August 2009
If you were ever in doubt that, in the field of journalism, bad news is good news, you need not look any further than this year’s CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards.
All but three of the winners in the 16 individual categories entered stories about positive developments on the continent. The rest were stories of misery, poverty, war and underdevelopment.
In fact, even the winner in the tourism category was rewarded for putting together a piece about a bad-smelling Ugandan motorcycle rider who ferries people to the villages for a fee.
The judges remarked that, through the journalist’s “fantastic use of language”, he was able to bring audiences along to “experience the delay, the potholes, the know-it-all motorcycle drive with the bad breath as we head to our destination.”
How strange that a winning story about tourism – a non-essential but glamorous and profitable business – in an African country is one about a bad-smelling motorcycle rider navigating his way through potholes and delays.
Other winning entries were also depressing stories of despondency, focusing on, amongst others, the Mungiki criminal gang in Kenya, corruption in Mauritius, Aids and quackery in South Africa, etc.
The winning categories point to one thing: that, if you really want to walk away with that coveted award and price, you stand more chance if your entry is about war, corruption and disease – the topics traditionally associated with Africa.
The only three (out of 16) winning entries that contained positive stories were the arts and culture, economics and business as well as the sport awards.
Whichever way you look at them, the winning entries, when combined, do not paint a fair picture of life in Africa. The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards therefore perpetuates – and in fact promotes – the myth of Africa as a dark continent.
Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 14 August 2009
If you were ever in doubt that, in the field of journalism, bad news is good news, you need not look any further than this year’s CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards.
All but three of the winners in the 16 individual categories entered stories about positive developments on the continent. The rest were stories of misery, poverty, war and underdevelopment.
In fact, even the winner in the tourism category was rewarded for putting together a piece about a bad-smelling Ugandan motorcycle rider who ferries people to the villages for a fee.
The judges remarked that, through the journalist’s “fantastic use of language”, he was able to bring audiences along to “experience the delay, the potholes, the know-it-all motorcycle drive with the bad breath as we head to our destination.”
How strange that a winning story about tourism – a non-essential but glamorous and profitable business – in an African country is one about a bad-smelling motorcycle rider navigating his way through potholes and delays.
Other winning entries were also depressing stories of despondency, focusing on, amongst others, the Mungiki criminal gang in Kenya, corruption in Mauritius, Aids and quackery in South Africa, etc.
The winning categories point to one thing: that, if you really want to walk away with that coveted award and price, you stand more chance if your entry is about war, corruption and disease – the topics traditionally associated with Africa.
The only three (out of 16) winning entries that contained positive stories were the arts and culture, economics and business as well as the sport awards.
Whichever way you look at them, the winning entries, when combined, do not paint a fair picture of life in Africa. The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Awards therefore perpetuates – and in fact promotes – the myth of Africa as a dark continent.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Did New African plagiarise Sunday Times profile?
Posted by Madibeng Kgwete: 16 April 2009
In its April 2009 edition, the revered New African magazine published a profile of ANC Youth League President Julius Malema. The profile seems to have been lifted directly -- often word-for-word -- from an earlier (15 March) Sunday Times profile of the same man. Spot the “difference” below:
Sunday Times: Former Limpopo premier Sello Moloto — who at one stage almost traded blows with Malema and who has also been on the receiving end of his insults — says there is little respect for Malema in his home town.
New African: So what does his home town think of Malema? Sello Moloto, the former premier of Limpopo, who has had several run-ins with Malema, says there is little respect for him.
Sunday Times: “Limpopo is very conservative. Every old person is asking, ‘Who is this child? Who are his parents and family and why are they allowing him to behave the way he does?’”
New African: “Everybody is asking, who is this child? Who are his parents and family, and why are they allowing him to behave this way?”
Sunday Times: But Malema finds a champion in Marcus Malebatse, a teacher at Malema’s former high school. Malebatse blames the media for provoking Malema to make his outrageous statements, claiming the coverage of his past pupil was merely to “sell newspapers”.
New African: His former teacher, Marcus Malebatse, however has a different opinion. He charges that the coverage of Malema’s utterances was merely to sell newspapers. That as a young man, he should be given space to mature in the political arena.
Sunday Times: ANC Women’s League president Angie Motshekga last month told a congregation in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban: “I know you will ask me why you should vote for the ANC if it still keeps Malema, who is a problematic child. I will reply and say that no home is without someone who I can refer to as a black sheep.
New African: The ANC's concern (about Malema's utterances) was evident when Angie Motshekga, the president of the ANC Women's League, opined: “I know you will ask me why you should vote for the ANC if it still keeps Malema, who is a problematic child. I will reply that no home is without someone is a problematic child. If you have children you do not throw them into the dustbin or eliminate them to solve a problem.”
In its April 2009 edition, the revered New African magazine published a profile of ANC Youth League President Julius Malema. The profile seems to have been lifted directly -- often word-for-word -- from an earlier (15 March) Sunday Times profile of the same man. Spot the “difference” below:
Sunday Times: Former Limpopo premier Sello Moloto — who at one stage almost traded blows with Malema and who has also been on the receiving end of his insults — says there is little respect for Malema in his home town.
New African: So what does his home town think of Malema? Sello Moloto, the former premier of Limpopo, who has had several run-ins with Malema, says there is little respect for him.
Sunday Times: “Limpopo is very conservative. Every old person is asking, ‘Who is this child? Who are his parents and family and why are they allowing him to behave the way he does?’”
New African: “Everybody is asking, who is this child? Who are his parents and family, and why are they allowing him to behave this way?”
Sunday Times: But Malema finds a champion in Marcus Malebatse, a teacher at Malema’s former high school. Malebatse blames the media for provoking Malema to make his outrageous statements, claiming the coverage of his past pupil was merely to “sell newspapers”.
New African: His former teacher, Marcus Malebatse, however has a different opinion. He charges that the coverage of Malema’s utterances was merely to sell newspapers. That as a young man, he should be given space to mature in the political arena.
Sunday Times: ANC Women’s League president Angie Motshekga last month told a congregation in KwaMakhutha, south of Durban: “I know you will ask me why you should vote for the ANC if it still keeps Malema, who is a problematic child. I will reply and say that no home is without someone who I can refer to as a black sheep.
New African: The ANC's concern (about Malema's utterances) was evident when Angie Motshekga, the president of the ANC Women's League, opined: “I know you will ask me why you should vote for the ANC if it still keeps Malema, who is a problematic child. I will reply that no home is without someone is a problematic child. If you have children you do not throw them into the dustbin or eliminate them to solve a problem.”
Thursday, August 16, 2007
How about a state-run newspaper in South Africa?
By Madibeng Kgwete: posted on 16 August 2007
This may sound like the suggestion of someone living in and supporting an authoritarian regime, but, on a serious note, is it not time that the South African government considers introducing its own newspaper? I suggest this for two serious reasons. And, before you could read this article in full, you do not qualify to comment on the suggestion made.
1. Many good stories to tell, limited and skeptical platform to tell them
The first reason behind my suggestion for a state-run (not state-controlled) newspaper is that the new South African government, in its 13 years in office, has made great strides that have gone unnoticed because there is a limited platform through which such strides can be communicated to the people. In instances where this limited platform is utilised, the level of skepticism overwhelms the good news.
The same government, in the same period of time it has been in office, has also failed to do better in many critical areas, particularly in lowering the numbers of the unemployed, improving the standard and quality of education in public schools and distributing land equitably amongst racial groups. Where these shortcomings were observed, the privately-owned media has failed to provide thought-provoking analysis and useful recommendations.
People who are educated and experienced enough to provide the high level of intellectual debate we need are not given the platform to do so. Much of the newspaper spaces are occupied by lazy, half-baked columnists who do not read enough. They make incoherent and reactionary comments on the state of our young nation. The less said about our mostly junior, equally half-baked and lazy journalists, the better.
For all its sins, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was correct in its 2005 series, The Sociology of Public Discourse in South Africa, when it stated: “The challenge intellectually to define the future of our country has been and will remain as demanding and bruising as has been the continuing challenge practically to change South Africa into a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous homeland for all our people”.
Our media practitioners, particularly journalists and their editors (however denial they can be), also face the same “demanding and bruising” challenge to change our country. Unfortunately, many of them never admit that they need as much transformation as the rest of the society they live in. Worse still, they seem to have added the word “transformation” to the category of vulgar words. They want transformation almost everywhere, except in the mythical Tenth Province they live in.
2. The privately-owned media are not development-oriented
Secondly, I would like to use as an example the joint efforts of the Department of Education and some media houses in the education recovery plan following the recent public sector strike.
The introduction of the very useful “Study Mate” supplement to help learners catch-up with their studies is one classic example of how newspapers can contribute to the development of our country. Unfortunately, many of the privately-owned newspapers lack initiative and are in a bad habit of waiting for government to come up with ideas on nation-building partnerships.
The private newspaper industry is dominated by people who are good at pointing out the bad and the ugly in government, but do not ask them what they are doing to further develop the country they also live in (hence their mythical Tenth Province). Many of our newspaper editors are excellent finger-pointers.
Under normal circumstances, our jounalists won't go, for example, to the poverty-stricken Sekhukhune District Municipality in the Limpopo Province unless they are following the Preisdent on an imbizo. Our journalists pretend to be innovative and investigative, but, in reality, they are mostly scandal-mongering, narrow-focussed and just shoddy in their reporting.
I know that the ANC has pronounced itself on the issue of a state-owned newspaper before, saying that they want to leave the space open for independent voices. That's fine when you have media personnel who provide food for thought and see themselves as part of the society they write about. We do not have such media here in South Africa, which is why I believe government must again lead the way, just as it leads journalists into areas of our country they would ordinarily not go to.
We need a state-run newspaper to challenge stereotypes and provide a different, fresh perspective -- a newspaper with learned commentators, a paper that will be written mostly by the doers as opposed to the privately-owned newspapers that are written by the talkers. We need a state-owned newspaper to keep our lazy journalists and their half-baked columnist colleagues on their toes.
This may sound like the suggestion of someone living in and supporting an authoritarian regime, but, on a serious note, is it not time that the South African government considers introducing its own newspaper? I suggest this for two serious reasons. And, before you could read this article in full, you do not qualify to comment on the suggestion made.
1. Many good stories to tell, limited and skeptical platform to tell them
The first reason behind my suggestion for a state-run (not state-controlled) newspaper is that the new South African government, in its 13 years in office, has made great strides that have gone unnoticed because there is a limited platform through which such strides can be communicated to the people. In instances where this limited platform is utilised, the level of skepticism overwhelms the good news.
The same government, in the same period of time it has been in office, has also failed to do better in many critical areas, particularly in lowering the numbers of the unemployed, improving the standard and quality of education in public schools and distributing land equitably amongst racial groups. Where these shortcomings were observed, the privately-owned media has failed to provide thought-provoking analysis and useful recommendations.
People who are educated and experienced enough to provide the high level of intellectual debate we need are not given the platform to do so. Much of the newspaper spaces are occupied by lazy, half-baked columnists who do not read enough. They make incoherent and reactionary comments on the state of our young nation. The less said about our mostly junior, equally half-baked and lazy journalists, the better.
For all its sins, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) was correct in its 2005 series, The Sociology of Public Discourse in South Africa, when it stated: “The challenge intellectually to define the future of our country has been and will remain as demanding and bruising as has been the continuing challenge practically to change South Africa into a democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous homeland for all our people”.
Our media practitioners, particularly journalists and their editors (however denial they can be), also face the same “demanding and bruising” challenge to change our country. Unfortunately, many of them never admit that they need as much transformation as the rest of the society they live in. Worse still, they seem to have added the word “transformation” to the category of vulgar words. They want transformation almost everywhere, except in the mythical Tenth Province they live in.
2. The privately-owned media are not development-oriented
Secondly, I would like to use as an example the joint efforts of the Department of Education and some media houses in the education recovery plan following the recent public sector strike.
The introduction of the very useful “Study Mate” supplement to help learners catch-up with their studies is one classic example of how newspapers can contribute to the development of our country. Unfortunately, many of the privately-owned newspapers lack initiative and are in a bad habit of waiting for government to come up with ideas on nation-building partnerships.
The private newspaper industry is dominated by people who are good at pointing out the bad and the ugly in government, but do not ask them what they are doing to further develop the country they also live in (hence their mythical Tenth Province). Many of our newspaper editors are excellent finger-pointers.
Under normal circumstances, our jounalists won't go, for example, to the poverty-stricken Sekhukhune District Municipality in the Limpopo Province unless they are following the Preisdent on an imbizo. Our journalists pretend to be innovative and investigative, but, in reality, they are mostly scandal-mongering, narrow-focussed and just shoddy in their reporting.
I know that the ANC has pronounced itself on the issue of a state-owned newspaper before, saying that they want to leave the space open for independent voices. That's fine when you have media personnel who provide food for thought and see themselves as part of the society they write about. We do not have such media here in South Africa, which is why I believe government must again lead the way, just as it leads journalists into areas of our country they would ordinarily not go to.
We need a state-run newspaper to challenge stereotypes and provide a different, fresh perspective -- a newspaper with learned commentators, a paper that will be written mostly by the doers as opposed to the privately-owned newspapers that are written by the talkers. We need a state-owned newspaper to keep our lazy journalists and their half-baked columnist colleagues on their toes.
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