Helen's weekly newsletter - 14 August 2010

His Master’s Voice: How Zuma neutered the SABC

Those of us who value our hard-won Constitution are gearing up to defend it against an all-out attack on media freedom. The Protection of Information Bill (which effectively criminalises investigative journalism), the proposed media tribunal (to make the press accountable to politicians) and the arrest and detention of journalist Mzilikazi wa Afrika form part of a dangerous pattern.

But these attempts to curtail the independent press tell only half the story. Targeting the print media is part of the ANC’s “ground war.”

The other half is the “air war.” The ANC has been waging a stealthy campaign to co-opt the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The air war and the ground war are part of a two-pronged assault on media freedom.

To read the rest of this article, click on http://www.da.org.za/newsroom.htm?action=view-news-item&id=8581