Mthembu revives ANC campaign to stop the press

The ANC is again pushing for the external regulation of the media.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu, who is also chairman of the subcommittee on communications of the ANC's national executive committee, said yesterday that self-regulation by the media had failed and this "reaffirms the need for an independent regulator".

Mthembu, who was presenting the ANC draft policy on communications, to be discussed at the party's policy conference in June, was particularly unhappy with South Africa's print media, which he said needed to be regulated.

"Parliament must urgently undertake an inquiry into how to regulate the media. We would like to show parliament how self-regulation has failed."

• ANC calls again for media regulationThe ANC has once again called for external regulation of the media. 

Mthembu highlighted the refusal by Independent Media - owner of The Star, Cape Times and Argus newspapers - to have complaints adjudicated by the print media ombudsman as evidence that self-regulation had failed.

He said there needed to be a "print media regulatory environment all of us can be proud of".

Explaining ANC unhappiness with the media, Mthembu said: "The print media hardly recognises achievements we do make in terms of economic or social progress."

The ANC chief whip said the government must ensure radical regulation of cross-media ownership and that the ANC wanted the print media to have more black ownership.

"Fundamentally, ownership remains where it has always been," Mthembu said.