Durban – In an address to the American Publishers Association titled “The President and the Press” (April 27, 1961), then US president John F Kennedy said: “Some might suggest this would be more naturally worded ‘The President Versus the Press.’ But those are not my sentiments tonight.”
He further said “without debate, without criticism, no democratic country and no administration can succeed, survive and thrive without a free and independent media”.
“And that is why our press was protected by the First Amendment – the only business in America specifically protected by the constitution – not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasise the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply ‘give the public what it wants’ – but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mould, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.”
His speech came back into my mind after reading a series of press headlines about President Jacob Zuma and his presidency. These included, among others, the death of soldiers in the Central African Republic, the Gupta landing debacle, the Marikana incident, Nkandla, the NPA management controversy, the Russian nuclear agreement and his recently cancelled visit to the UK.
While I am not interested in whether the stories were correctly covered; in knowing the intentions of the articles; whether the presidency was stingy with information or who told the full truth, half truth or lies about the events, but rather on how the relationships between the presidency and press need to be managed. My sentiments are that there are no honest and mutual relations between two premier pillars of the country’s democratic constitution.
The presidency’s relations with the press, though based on co-dependence, rarely involve cordial co-operation. However, the fact is that the presidency and press need each other to deliver their constitutional mandates, namely government administration and information dissemination respectively.
While the presidency needs the press to peddle its policies, programmes and messages to the public, the press needs state news to entrench its watchdog status, deliver its information gathering and dissemination roles, build a reputable citizenship status, and reward seasoned journalists.
The love-hate relationship between the presidency and press is normal, expected and requires responsible relations management. They need to work hard to utilise each other and maintain a relationship of co-dependency.
“This deadly challenge imposes upon our society two requirements of direct concern both to the press and to the president – two requirements that may seem almost contradictory in tone, but which must be reconciled and fulfilled if we are to meet this national peril. I refer, first, to the need for far greater public information, and second, to the need for far greater official secrecy,” said Kennedy.
The presidency’s communication strategy should at all costs avoid being perceived as self-serving, withholding and treating basic government information as state secrets, stifling the public’s right to access government information and discouraging public debates on government policies.
It must also avoid assaulting those who publicly criticise or ask questions about its policies, programmes and decisions; enforcing conformity in its own version of truth; and threatening legal or business punishment to non-complying press.
Denials, self-defence and spin statements leave press, citizens and stakeholders with speculation and suspicion about government, which ultimately ruin government’s reputation, weaken its policy, hamper service delivery, impact negatively on co-ordination and co-operation and promote corruption and mismanagement.
The truth is that the presidency is always one call away from disaster or positive editorial. The presidency, as chief source of government news and information, needs to set strict ground rules that enable it to shape the news landscape and advance its government agenda by packaging state information in a way that the press consumes the product.
The press has extensive authority in government development programmes and therefore should be given the opportunity to obtain first-hand state information as clearly, accurately and timeously as possible.
Historically, the press contributed constructively via the dissemination of news, information, knowledge and enlightenment. People had a need and thirst for information, be it political, economic, cultural, developmental or otherwise, and if it was in the press, then they could trust the accuracy, content and intent.
Such a press role was rewarded when democratic constitutions ring-fenced the freedom of the media to promote transparent and accountable systems of governance.
The press should therefore resist any attempts at manipulation by business or political spin doctors and public relations narrow interests that result in media compromising, abusing and even underestimating its constitutional rights and responsibilities.
The press is all about news, truth, trust and nationalism, and while it can be entertaining, it should not be delivered as entertainment. It is the primary means through which public perception and opinion are shaped, and at times manipulated. Hence the press’s role becomes even more vital in reporting exceptional news, such as the presidency.
“The media is an important communication tool for us as government, in addition to direct contact with the public; the sector is also one of those that is important in the critical national task of nation building,” said President Jacob Zuma.
Therefore, there is abso-lutely no need for the so-called “The President Versus the Press” battle.
Khumalo is a political and communication strategist with the Durban-based think tank Marketing Services. He writes in his personal capacity.