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Zuma defends S/Africa's quiet diplomacy on Zim

Zuma defends S/Africa's quiet diplomacy on Zim
By Chansa Kabwela and Joan Chirwa in Cape Town
Friday June 08, 2007 [04:00]

AFRICAN National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma has defended South Africa 's quiet diplomacy over Zimbabwe. And the 60th World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and 14th World Editors Forum on Wednesday came to a close with media representatives calling for commitment to innovation and long-term investment into the industry.

During an Editors' lunch at the just ended congress in Cape Town, Zuma said he did not think that South Africa had the right to issue instructions to Zimbabwe.
Zuma said it was not South Africa 's right to act as a 'big induna' on the situation in Zimbabwe.

He also said the media should be responsible in its reporting.
Zuma said press freedom had to be balanced with factual and objective reporting, fairness and respect for human rights and human dignity.

"...Nor should the media allow themselves to be used as a tool by political leaders, organisations or governments. Once they allowed this, they would lose objectivity and gradually lose credibility," he said.

Zuma said the media was fortunate to have an organisation such as WAN which highlighted violations of press freedom and campaigned for the rights of journalists.
"However, ordinary citizens do not have organisations representing them if their rights have been violated by the media. They have little recourse if they are on the receiving end of incorrect or malicious reporting," he said. "It takes nothing away to apologise when you have made a mistake. In fact, if you did so, it earns you respect."

Zuma said the media had gone overboard in their reporting on him and he believed that he needed to do something to address the issue.

He explained that he was not suing some sections of the South African media for money or other interests but that it was an issue of respect for human dignity and the right to privacy.

Zuma was last year charged with raping a woman at his home in 2005.
However, South Africa 's High Court judge Willem van der Merwe ended a marathon summary with the words, "The accused is found not guilty".

Zuma always maintained his innocence and had said there was a political conspiracy to remove him from running for the country's next presidency.

According to Zuma, the media, in their reporting, had tried and literally convicted him even after a judge agreed he was innocent.

And delegates to the WAN congress called on the media to invest in the future and devise clear editorial strategies.

The delegates called for an evolving culture of collaboration, a change in management style and interactivity with the community.

The congress also placed emphasis on the importance of delving into online news which had various advantages such as immediacy and interactivity but added that the competitive advantage of the newspaper remained fundamental.

And a report by the Innovation International Media Consulting group for the WAN stated that newspapers remained a vital source of information worldwide.
The annual report launched at the end of the congress and World Editors Forum highlighted key issues that newspapers need to adopt in terms of news coverage, advertising and circulations, bearing in mind the needs of the readership.

It noted that online news and information would soon replace television network news as a leading source, although newspapers still maintain their position on the information market.

Newspapers have therefore been urged to remove bias and narrowness in their presentation of news but should always stand for the truth.

The report noted that bias and narrowness in news coverage reduced newspaper readership, and subsequently the papers' sales volumes and revenues.

The 2007 World report on newspapers indicates that as local information continues to be of preference to the readers, there appeared to be a new and urgent need for worldwide news.

It emphasises the need for presentation of valuable information to communities in both text and graphic form.

The report also highlights the importance of improving newspapers' websites by focusing on local information, content as well as incorporating user comments and rankings to complement the print edition.

And chairman of the Newspaper Association of South Africa (NASA) Trevor Ncube stated that African editors and publishers needed swift and smart thinking in order to withstand persecution in countries with prickly presidents and parliaments.
"When state adverts dry up, usually on order from on-high, new business models have to be invented on-the-fly," stated Ncube in the foreword of the 2007 World Newspapers report.

The 2007 summit meetings of the world's press in Cape Town ended with a resolution that the 61st WAN congress and 15th World Editors Forum be held in Goteborg, Sweden from June 1 to 4, 2008.

Labels: ANC, JACOB ZUMA, ZIMBABWE

posted by MrK @ 5:22 AM