President Jacob Zuma has called for media that tell the stories of South Africans “accurately and respectfully”, and reflect the views of African people.
In a lecture on Tuesday in Sasolburg, Free State, on John Langalibalele Dube, the ANC’s first leader, Zuma said Dube founded Ilanga, a Zulu-language newspaper.
Its first edition was published in April 1903, and it was followed two months later by Mahatma Gandhi’s Indian Opinion.
Zuma described the late 19th and early 20th centuries as “a very progressive” period for independent media.
“Dr Dube and his contemporaries therefore taught us the power and importance of owning and running media products that will tell the stories of our people accurately and respectfully, reflecting the indigenous perspective,” said Zuma.
He was echoing ANC pronouncements on media ownership and transformation.
At its conference in Polokwane in 2007, the ANC said the media elevated media freedom above other rights and values, especially the right to privacy and human dignity.
It proposed the setting up of a media appeals tribunal to regulate the behaviour of the media. - Political Bureau