Reporting our biggest problem

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Reporting our biggest problem

• Guy Berger Rhodes University

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What is this problem?

• Aids?
• School crisis?
• Corruption?
• Women/child abuse?
• Economy?
• Race?
• Government-media relations?

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SECTION A Introduction
One of the problems Govt vs Media

• Inyoka nesele? Chalk n cheese?

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Should could it ever be

• Umtya nethunga?
• (milking harness and pail)

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Or is it a case of

• Singamaphuti ahlathi linye?
• Media Govt in the same boat?

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It depends what you look at

• For me, one problem stands out as our countrys
  worst pest,

and we need combined Govt-Media work in
order to tackle it
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Its ugly name is POVERTY

• Lets look at
• Why Poverty is Public Enemy no. 1
• Learning from elsewhere
• The journalism of poverty in SA
• The poverty of journalism in SA
• Conclusion whats to be done?

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SECTION B Public Enemy No 1.

• Whose problem is poverty
• the poor?
• government?
• civil society?
• business?
• individuals?
• media?

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The pinch of poverty

• Whats bad about poverty?
• People are cashless, foodless, homeless,
  landless, illness, stress, powerless.
• Note jobless does not poverty
• Many indirect effects
• doesnt cause crime Aids,
• but it does contribute.

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The pillars of poverty

• An act of God, or
• an act of man?
• Quiz What are the underlying causes?
• A local issue, or
• a global issue?
• Quiz UN Millenium Goal for 2015?

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Questions 1

• Whats the delay in ending poverty?
• What are the solutions?
• Who is part of the problem?

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Questions 2

• Can media help change poverty?
• Whats medias role in relation to other actors
  govt, business, civil society, individuals?
• How poor is our journalism in reflecting
  serving poor people?

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Impact on policy practice?

• On govt policy?
• On govt practice?
• Investment strategies?
• Conscience of the rich?
• Empowerment of the poor?
• On local-global compassion?

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SECTION C Looking elsewhere for answers

• Development journalism in Africa
• Free market media in USA/India

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Development journ discredited

• Theory educate, uplift, nation-build
• But
• Poor grasp of causes of poverty
• Top-down view of passive poor
• Parrot of inappropriate ideologies
• Buttressed bad governance.

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Development journalism effect

• Reinforced poverty.
• Bad journalism lies, easy victories
• Responsibility, no freedom.
• Backlash community media,
• Backlash watchdog media.

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Lessons

• Community and watchdog media roles are good for
  fighting poverty
• but
• Baby thrown out in bathwater we still need to
  educate, uplift, nation-build.

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Elsewhere Free market model 1

• USA little journalism on poverty,
• Middle-class audiences resent it,
• Comfort the afflicted, afflict comfortable
  versus
• Neither publishers or readers clamour for
  stories about the poor.
• Indian media panders to elite.
• Freedom, no responsibility

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Free market model 2

• Stereotypes of lazy, failed people.
• Disproportionate racialisation
• most US poor are white, but youd never know
  from the media
• Individual, rather than govt/societal issue.
• Deserving poor vs blameworthy.
• Absence of voices of poor people.
• Clearly
• Elitist model is wrong for SA media

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SECTION D Journalism of poverty in SA

• There is some coverage here.
• Overview comments.
• Some examples coming up.
• Analysis and critique.

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SA coverage of poverty overview

• Not negative (due to our history).
• But its racialised starving or fat cats.
• Racialised empowerment gloss-over.
• And poor voices are absent esp. in policy
  issues.
• Also poor portrayed as purely victims.
• Too little debate about cause solution.

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SA journalism of poverty examples

• Business Day high finance-politics
• Generally, wealthy are uninterested but not in
  South Africa
• Kevin Wakeford Put poverty on top of the
  agenda
• Neva Makgetla Poor pay more for services

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SA journalism of poverty examples

• Sowetan grassroots poverty.
• Stink over bucket system
• Lonely, exiled death of woman with Aids
• Dispatch charity angles
• Donation of rugby kit to school
• Africa wants better aid
• Rejoice R40m to uplift poor
• Little too late, G8

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SA journalism of poverty examples

• EPH Implicit, rather than explicit
• Grenades used on stone-throwing pupils
• Big brother man at Aids-charity dinner
• Critique of DD and EPH
• Neither looked at how cold hits the poor.
• Housing protests, pensions no poverty info.
• Very little on how development relates to poor.
• Money comes into E Cape but for who?

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Analysing journalism of poverty 1

• Comments
• Party-politicisation coverage
• players eclipse the ball (BIG, Psam)
• Little scrutinisation of stats
• unemployment 30 or 40?
• Little debate except in Sowetan
• Reliance on external columnists

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Analysing journalism of poverty 2

• Comments
• Little follow-up (cf. Poverty Hearings)
• Absence of poor voices on policy issues.
• Dichotomy
• Stories of people who are poor
• Stories of poverty
• Starvation coverage a charity or govt issue
  (no depth)

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SECTION E Poverty of Journalism in SA

• Spinning the story
• Our journalism in general needs changing
• Why and how.

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Complex coverage

• Poverty has many faces
• Hard to reduce, so therefore singular stories or
  broadest concept, and no connection.
• Poverty hidden under other frames crime,
  gender, AIDS, strikes, unemployment
• Challenge to cover a process vs. event

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Problems in journalism

• Poverty does not have to be covered.
• Poverty enterprise reporting
• Few press releases! Few lobby actions.
• We remember women, race (sometimes), not class.
• Survival not seen as an achievement.
• Solutions-oriented journalism is atypical.

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SECTION F Conclusion

• Whats 2B done?
• Conscious editorial strategy
• Proactive
• Making links
• Allow new formats not only events.
• Use newspegs (petrol, weather)
• Get voices
• Build sources (AIDS orphan families)

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New agenda

• Recognise real achievements
• Seek out solutions
• Stop conflating race poverty
• Remember gender
• Train for debate, depth think-pieces
• Demand more time, agitate for more space,
  revisit the subject

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Summing up the point

• Poverty is everyones problem.
• While media must be free, it can well keep
  responsible spirit of developmental journalism.
• and
• SA must avoid elitist role of free market media.
• Inform, expose, debate, hold accountable, give
  frontline voices, inspire, educate, empower.
• Even break hearts.

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Summing up the point

• Are editors giving leadership?
• Is govt playing ball?
• Can we construct consensus about prioritising
  this problem, and to transparency, and debate, in
  tackling it?

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Making impact together

• On policy, practice, agendas, public opinion,
  understanding, attitudes, emotions, skills.

Only then will govt journalism become the
rich resources for reconstructing our society.
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And one day, perhaps, we will not have this
biggest problem to report anymore. Thank you