EDITORIAL: Media freedom in the balance
Death of radio producer Suna Venter raises the question: is media freedom once again under threat? Sadly, it is
Freedom of the media is a difficult concept to pin down. In its extreme form, the suppression of media freedom is blindingly obvious and SA’s own history provides a few cases in point. Famously, on "black Wednesday" in 1977, three newspapers were banned. In the 1980s, harassment of the press was almost without respite and included the banning of entire publications — to prevent what was described as "fanning unrest" during the states of emergency — and fierce control over the airwaves. Ultimately, when the new Constitution was drawn up, the outrage against the suppression of a free press was still fresh, so the idea warranted its own special clause and became firmly embedded in the Constitution. Since then, media freedom has been something of an article of faith for most political parties of almost every persuasion. To even the most casual observer, the vibrancy of the media is obvious and the variety of news sources has grown enormously since apartheid ended. But somewhere over the...
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