When rumours fly in info vacuum, riots ensue

Breach of any journalistic principle shames us all - but media is not here to insulate the public from the truth

FOLLOWING last week's column, "Info Bill an easy sell" in the Sunday World, in which I made reference to the call for a journalism qualification to be mandatory to practise the craft, a reader phoned and asked whether there should not be a mandatory minimum qualification for people to practise the even more important job of being a politician.

Politicians, no doubt, will argue that they are elected officials and that their constituency considers them fit and proper. Which, clearly, is not enough. In order for them to be elected, they made themselves available in the first instance.

However, it is critical to recognise that some of the great politicians of the world did not have much of an academic record - just as some of the great journalists had only the gift of their pens to propel them to greatness.

This does not mean that journalists should not work on improving their skills and academic qualifications. The reason is simple: the more informed and intellectually sharp a journalist is, the better he or she will be able to write about issues that are important to their readers.

The preface to the Press Trust of India's Norms of Journalistic Conduct states: "Every profession functions by certain norms of conduct evolved by years of practise with the objective to improve its standards, prevent its abuse and above all contribute to society and social development.

"There was a time when journalism was a mission. Soon it became a profession and is now run as a full-fledged business activity, like any other enterprise."

The most important requirement of a newspaper is that its reporting is accurate. One does not have to go to university to learn accuracy. Getting it right is the result of habit, and this is what editors should be drilling into their reporters. I have found that young reporters who made accuracy their mantra ended up with fewer mistakes in their reporting. Correction rates drop significantly, and readers begin to trust them.

It's about the basics of getting names right. Of ensuring as much information as possible is obtained before writing the story. Of double-checking information against other sources for confirmation. And of going back to sources when in doubt about anything in the story. This can be time-consuming and frustrating in these days of instant news broadcasting and the desire to be first with the story.

Is it possible for the media to be always right? No, purely because journalists are human. But they will get it right most of the time, and continue to strive to improve accuracy levels. And where they do get it wrong, they must admit this and correct their errors. Any breaches of the principles of journalism shame us all.

The media has been accused of focusing on the negatives in our lives. Recently we were told journalists are being watched and their reporting analysed to categorise them. Even the newspaper whose arrival on the scene was greeted with great fanfare and seen as the answer to the perceived journalistic ills of South Africa has been slammed. The sins - if indeed there were sins - of a few have been visited upon us all. Curiously, journalists have been classified as having an "attitude" to the ruling party. It seems to me that what the ANC wants is for the media to insulate society from the reality of what is happening around us.

It is worth remembering that centuries ago, the pharaohs of old murdered the messenger who brought back bad news from the battle front. Kings could have people's tongues cut out, or dissidents executed for telling the truth.

Of course, we have moved on since then. Governments have become more complex and sophisticated in dealing with the messenger. Finding out information is getting more and more difficult, and citizens are being informed less and less about the state of the republic. The media is desperately trying to hold back the waves of secrecy. Politicians do not, of their own accord, work in the open, as they should in a democracy.

But when rumours begin to fly in the vacuum formed by the lack of authentic, believable news, and become viral - in today's language of instant communication - protests and riots follow.

The action of the ruling party and government remind me of a quote, whose source escapes me, about the skipper of a ship who refused to listen to advice from his sailors during a howling storm and instead shouted: "All I want from you is silence - and damn little of that."