Functions Of The Media : The South African Media Post Apartheid Era


By Phumzile Mavimbela

 
The transition of the media into the  democratic dispensation in South Africa in the year 1994 rebirthed and awarded South Africa a free press. Which is  protected by the constitution to ensure media has freedom of  speech and expression so it can champion its role and functions of being  watchdogs for the society, While also giving the
public a platform to raise their voices and more so to hold the  government accountable for their actions. It is worth being put into remembrance that  in order for the media to maintain independence from governmental influence and control the industry opted for self regulation which was  an attempt by those who are professionals in the media industry to draft up editorial guidelines  and code of conducts for media institutions to  abide by. More so the public is now  permitted to voice out any concerns in this process. The aim of this action was to help media institutions to -fully preserve editorial autonomy. 


Back tracking  to the 1980's  when media self regulation  was an option that was never thought off. The role  of the media was viewed primarily  as  means to perpetuating  political propaganda in an attempt to ensure " societal peace"  while presenting means of avoiding any form of social or political  unrest that would bring and threaten to take down the government of that time. The media such as newspapers had to comply with the orders issued by the government because of the censorship that were imposed on them. 

 Successive states of emergencies banned reporting on growing public resistance to apartheid policies and thus the  failure of the media to  comply with the rules the government imposed  would result in unthinkable penalties for example if was a news paper publication failed to comply, the government would suspend it for six months.

 It  has been over twenty years  into the dispensation of democracy. The fall of the apartheid regime opened doors for the media to dismantle itself from the government, as private ownership and independence of the media emerged. The media took a transition from being  regulated and censored by the government  to regulating  its self. The notion of self regulation  of the media seems to readdress the problem which was created by the apartheid government in regards to using  the media for personal  interests that championed national  interests and not the publics interest. As a result the media began to be perceived by this generation as  public  institutions that serve and protect the public's interests. 

According  to the media institute of South Africa the concept of media championing  national interest rather than the public interest restricts the process of news  gathering  and distribution, because the  government  can decide that certain matters should not be reported upon in order to protect the nation. However the disadvantage of that is that national interests are defined by the politicians of the ruling  party and may be one sided, Hence self regulation attempts to put the public before the state. This is the type of media we desire in a democratic context because championing the public's interests is in sync with the normative functions of the media  in a democratic environment and does not limit the process of  disseminating and gathering of new  because it puts emphasis on the public's rights  to know. 

 
With this stated, then the  question that lies at hand can we say that the current role of the media is different from that of the white media during the oppressive season ? Is the role the media playing now different from that of autocratic states, is  the media pro people or pro government. Which interests are they championing the publics or the interests of those  governing. There has been a growing lose of confidence in the normative functions of the media due to either the right wing or left wing stance each media house decides to takes. This left and right wing editorial content has  absorbed if not killed at all the neutrality and sense of objectivity of the media. In order For South Africa to have the media it truly desired before the democratic dispensation,  the industry as a whole will need to have those to rise to defend it and its function. Perhaps we will also need to look at media ownership because the person who own you controls you. Thus to restore a media that champions its role as the watch dogs of the society the industry will need to self redress and introspect. 

Article Tags

Media Self Regulation

Media Freedom

Normative Functions Of The Media

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