FREEDOM OF SPEECH
MAGDA WIERZYCKA: Why I’m all for MultiChoice’s decision to drop ANN7
The announcement that MultiChoice will discontinue broadcasting ANN7 when its contract with the television channel expires in 2018 was welcomed by most South Africans. It did, however, open the doors to the debate about censorship. Freedom of speech is enshrined in our Constitution and must be protected at all costs. Normally, calling for the broadcasting of anything to be terminated, as I have done with ANN7, could be classified as endorsing censorship. Having grown up in a communist state, where censorship was the order of the day, and then moving to an SA that was still muzzled by apartheid, I, more than most, appreciate the value of freedom of speech. Hence, I had to think hard about my motivations. First, as much as I disagree with the biased, low-quality reporting of ANN7, with its clear political agenda, the content it produces is neither here nor there in informing my objection to MultiChoice including ANN7 in my DStv bouquet; I disagree with the views expressed by Fox News ...
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