NEWSWATCH: The Press ombudsman, Joe Thloloe, is deeply critical of the proposed Protection of Information bill, reports Mail & Guardian, but in the meantime, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe is reported as inviting editors to get involved in the debate, according to IOL. The ANC has invited editors to a meeting in Joburg, presumably to discuss the bill; Peter Bruce says he won't be attending - to do so would give the meeting legitimacy he reckons, reports Business Day, and Blade Nzimande claims that the media is a threat to democracy (ANC-style democracy, that is), reports Mail & Guardian, so he's saying Nelson Mandela was totally wrong when he said in February 1994: "A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy."
For more:
Mail & Guardian: Media tribunal 'would be a very dangerous move'... Press ombudsman Joe Thloloe warned on Friday that "Any system imposed from outside the press itself will be an imposition and in violation of the Constitution" - but will the ANC listen to him?
IOL: Join tribunal debate, Mantashe tells editors... He apparently says that instead of getting defensive, editors should engage the government in debate, but to repeat the question, since it seems to be pretty clear that the ANC (i.e. government) hates any criticism - will they be prepared to really listen to any opposing views?
Mail & Guardian: Nzimande: SA media is threat to democracy... 'Not the sharpest' Blade Nzimande says the media is always "looking for bad news out of the ANC and its alliance partners". Well, there is a solution... stop providing so much.
