Debunked ‘Thembisa 10’ baby saga shortlisted in global media awards, to SA editors’ shock

Independent Media’s decuplets reportage is up for consideration in an international “best practice” contest, and its entry has not been disqualified despite SA editors alerting the organisers that the entire saga has been discredited. 

The controversial media house’s entry, titled “Baby Trade — Tracking the Truth”, is an eight-part short video series which purports to “deal with the spectre of human trafficking in SA, born out of the front-page story that made headlines around the world”.

Its entry submission claims “the series is a tremendous success” for increased engagement on social channels and for allegedly exposing a “corrupt network of medical professionals and state officials”. The group also asserted the reports gave “exposure to several NGOs doing work in the anti-trafficking space”.

The series is shortlisted in the upcoming Global Media Awards under the category Best Use of Social Media. The awards are hosted by the International News Media Awards (Inma), of which the Independent Group is a paying member.

This is despite the “decuplets” story having no basis in truth, contributing to the spread of disinformation and deliberately misleading audiences, said the SA National Editors’ Forum (Sanef).

In a July 2021 report, Independent Media’s own internal ombudsman flagged the initial story as having “failed to pass the basic principles of journalism” and amounting to a “hoax”.

Sanef said it has written to the Inma to express its concern but despite this the video series remains a nominee.

“We find it entirely unsatisfactory that in its response the Inma says the judges were ‘judging the quality of the social media campaign, not the story itself’,” said Sanef.

The Inma said it was “not in a position to reverse their jury’s decision to shortlist the social media campaign, given the information at their disposal during the judging process in February”. The association said “the additional context surrounding the story will be weighed in the ongoing process to select winners announced by Inma in June”.

South African editors said this response was inadequate “as it legitimises a campaign borne out of a story that has been proven not only to be ludicrous, but also an embarrassment to South African journalism”.

The editors, noting that the SA media fraternity was working hard on practising ethical journalism and regaining public trust — two pivotal tenets of the profession — has called on Inma to drop the entry from the contest.

“This report has no basis in truth, is factually inaccurate and contributes to the spread of disinformation, deliberately misleading audiences. It’s now public knowledge and widely accepted that the piece perpetuates disinformation and has been flagged for its total lack of verification, and deeply questionable ‘sources’.

“The legitimacy of the entire so-called story has been called into question. As the June awards fast approach, we call on the Inma to reconsider its stance. The decuplets report has been condemned by the Gauteng provincial government, and the medical fraternity at large, with all key role players distancing themselves from it.

“It is not only fake, but also dangerous as it seriously sets back the advances made by the country in protecting women and children.

“We urgently call on the Inma, as a business associated with reputable publishers worldwide, to immediately remove the shortlisting of this piece from this category.”

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