With each New Year, the custom is to making a clean start, creating a new set of
old resolutions and hoping we’ll not repeat yesterday’s embarrassing mistakes
tomorrow. One would expect that the SABC would also take this approach, but
much like the rest of us, it falls into the same old habits – and fast. Of course,
the difference between us and the SABC is that we’re accountable to no-one but
ourselves when we slip up on our resolutions, whereas the SABC, being our
public broadcaster, is entirely accountable to us, its users.
So what should we expect from the SABC, both now as we enter into an election
year as well as beyond? A central pillar of public service broadcasting is reflecting
the diversity and daily realities of the people it serves. It is inherent in that it
initiates robust debate and inspires change, as well as bringing communities
together through dialogue. Especially now as we approach the general and
provincial elections, the SABC’s biggest task is to provide unbiased, critical and
hard-hitting news and current affairs programming which not only reflects on the
successes and failures of all those that govern us, but to also hold all those with
power accountable. This will, unquestionably, go a long way in helping all South
Africans to cast an informed and well-reasoned ballot.
Key to quality, user-oriented public broadcasting in the elections period, the
SABC must bear four basic, yet fundamental principles in mind:
News and current affairs programming must be issue-driven, and those issues
must be set through conversation with all the people of South Africa and not
only a select few sectional interests;
Coverage must not be solely focused on metropolitan areas but speak to and
about all of our nine provinces equally;
The SABC must actively solicit more public voices on issues rather than political
party representatives; this will help the SABC to move away from political
agendas and enable the public to set the agenda.
The culture of censorship and yes-man, “good-news’ news-making, which has
ostensibly beset the SABC, must be actively rooted out in order to promote an
informed and engaged society that is ready and able to claim its rights – the
very raison d’etre of any public broadcaster worth its salt.
These principles are not only crucial to public broadcasting in an elections period,
but also to an SABC that works for its users. Right now, as the SABC undertakes
its editorial policy review, we, its users, have an ideal opportunity to reclaim
ownership of the national broadcaster and make it work for us once more. In
this seminal moment – our fourth general election, and in our 20th year of
freedom – we can free the SABC, set its agenda and define for ourselves how
we want it to tell the story of our lived realities two decades into our democracy.
2014 can be a watershed year for the SABC and, indeed, all of the people of
South Africa. It simply requires us to reclaim and take ownership of our public
institutions – not least of all, our public broadcaster, and to hold it to its annual
promise to serve us.
Carol Mohlala is the coordinator of the SOS: Support Public Broadcasting
Coalition. Follow them on Twitter @soscoalition and on Facebook. Visit:
www.soscoalition.org.za.
