Mooted media rules 'not good enough': ANC

New measures proposed by the SA Press Council to strengthen self-regulation of the media are not good enough, the ANC says.

Press council chairman Raymond Louw released a 100-page report on the functioning of the council and the Press Ombudsman.

The report - handed to the SA National Editors' Forum, the Newspaper Association of SA, the Forum for Community Journalists, the Magazine Publishers' Association of SA and the Association of Independent Publishers of SA for their approval - proposes that the council be restructured to include:

• A director, who will deal with public debate about press standards and media freedom;
• A public advocate to assist the public in formulating complaints about the media;
• An ombudsman to arbitrate disputes through negotiation; and
• A chairman of appeals.

The report rejects the imposition of fines on newspapers and journalists, saying peer pressure and the publication of the outcomes of complaints against the media were the most effective forms of punishment.

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said that the council's proposals did not go far enough.

He said an appeals panel, with the power to suspend, fire or fine journalists, should be established.

"Bring in self-regulation. But if that fails there is room for an appeals mechanism," Mthembu said.

He said that the ANC was still committed to setting up a media tribunal.

Speaking at the release of the report, at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg, yesterday, Franz Krüger, a professor at Wits University's Journalism School and a member of the council team that wrote the report, said the ANC had not submitted proposals to the council's review of media regulation but had written to his team.

"In their letter, the ANC basically said 'good luck and here are our concerns'.

"The DA attended some meetings but gave no input, and certainly no input was [received] from the government," said Kruger.

The Press Ombudsman has come under heavy pressure, especially from the ruling party, which had labelled him toothless.

The ANC called for the establishment of a media tribunal at its Polokwane national conference in 2007.

Peter Mann, press representative on the Press Appeals Panel, who was part of the review team, said the focus of the review was to improve journalism.

"We're not in the business of putting extra pressure on journalists because we are under pressure from the government," he said.

Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe said the ruling party did not impose its ideals on the council's review.

"As far as the ANC is concerned, one of the briefs for the council is to improve journalism in the country and not to appease the ANC or any other organisation," he said.