South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande tore into the media on Friday, describing its content as "horrifying".
He bemoaned what he called a "media monopoly", saying the situation had gotten worse instead of better since 1994.
Media houses did not invest enough into quality journalism he said at the opening of an SACP summit on media transformation.
"They have neglected the newsroom."
He complained about headlines in newspapers about "tokoloshes", saying the content currently offered by the media was "horrifying".
"We hardly find investment into training journalists to understand education and health," he said.
Nzimande said the media catered for the middle-class and not ordinary people.
"This is a serious challenge."
He said MultiChoice enjoyed a monopoly in the pay television sector and was "unhealthy".
After his opening address at the summit in Kempton Park, east of Johannesburg, delegates broke up into commissions to further discuss "challenges" facing South Africa.
Source: News24
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