DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY
PALESA MORUDU: There’s much at stake in battles over fake news and democratic accountability
Truth and facts, lies and b***s**t. These were the dominant themes during last week’s amaBhungane town hall meeting in Cape Town, held under the title Investigative Journalism in the Age of Fake News. Judge Dennis Davis chaired a panel that included Sam Sole of amaBhungane, Lester Kiewit from eNCA, Ranjeni Munusamy from Daily Maverick and this writer. US President Donald Trump has taken to giving the world his definition of fake news on a practically daily basis. According to Trump, the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and all other mainstream media produce fake news. The evidence? He doesn’t like what they report. In return, the news organisations have pointed out that the occupant of the Oval Office has a difficult relationship with facts. Does this sound familiar? It should. Writing in the Columbia Journalism Review, Nic Dawes, former editor of the Mail & Guardian and deputy executive director for media at Human Rights Watch, recently penned some advice to the US media on how...
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