SAZI HADEBE

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) and clubs, especially the top-flight 16, are doing a couple of things to help the media do its work. But by the same token, those following South African football will agree there's still a lot they can improve on.

Make no mistake, thanks to technology and tools, a lot has changed since the 1996-1997 campaign when the PSL was launched.

Its first season coincided with me starting my journalism career in KwaZulu-Natal, where I covered clubs such as Manning Rangers, the inaugural PSL champions, and African Wanderers. Sadly, both are now defunct.

I fondly remember that in those days I could call the PSL's CEO and chair to discuss whatever I wanted for stories. The PSL too, especially when the late Trevor Phillips was at the helm, appreciated the media's role and there were many engagements between the two during and after a season.

Sadly, I cannot say the same today. These days you’ll be lucky to get a comment from top league officials on an ordinary story. The league hardly engages the media unless it suits them — when they announce a new sponsor or something like that. The PSL's communication platforms of choice are email or WhatsApp.

Even big events such as the PSL Awards are no-go areas for the media. The last invitation came at the end of the 2018-2019 season, before Covid-19.

What fascinates me the most is how one was allowed to engage with PSL clubs in 1996 and for a few seasons thereafter.

In those days, the media had a tough time covering the PSL, especially on match days, when we had to go down the tunnels at stadiums to obtain team line-ups, which, if we were lucky, we’d find pasted on a wall.

Most of the time we'd be lucky if we knew who the match officials were. But that was never our biggest worry as we always found ways to get their names.

For a second, however, imagine 10 or 20 journalists trying to jot down those team sheets all at once. It was a scramble. But worst of all was that club media officers would put them up very close to kickoff, if at all.

At the time, there was no social media on which to post those line-ups, as most PSL teams do today, and cellphones, if one had such a device, did not possess the technology they do today. Everything was done manually. But we didn't mind because at any given time we could pick up the phone and call coaches and players, even some PSL officials to do our work.

I could also check the times and venues in which teams were training, but most importantly, I could rock up any day to watch any club train. Afterwards I’d ask a player, coach or club official a question or two without worrying about being chased away for not having an appointment. Life was cool.

Fast forward to 27 years later, when you'd think we'd have more freedom to do our work, and the opposite is true. You won’t set foot on any PSL club's turf without a media officer having called a press conference.

They're called “open media days”. They’re far from it because you’re never guaranteed to get an interview with a player or head coach, let alone a one-on-one.

These so-called “open media days” are laughable, used as they are by some media officers to pick and choose whichever player/s they think is best at handling questions from the media. It's never about what's relevant to a reporter.

Mostly we find ourselves interviewing the same players repeatedly because those with whom we want to engage are seemingly kept as “big scoops” for media officers who'll speak to them exclusively and later send audio clips, something that's viewed as receptive media. I’ve never been a fan of these audios, even during those dark days of hard lockdown.

These sugarcoated one-on-ones between media officers and coaches/players were elevated to great heights, especially during Covid, when the media, particularly print, was barred from physically covering clubs and matches.

It is against this background that some were perplexed last week when Kaizer Chiefs, renowned for their fondness of the media, especially when results are going their way, did not hold their regular “open media day” ahead of their last DStv Premiership home fixture against Cape Town City.

I was not surprised.

Chiefs are among many PSL clubs who’ve announced new head coaches and players on social media in recent years. And with complaints ignored, this has become the norm.

Chiefs would likely have called journalists to a “media day” last week had they not lost their penultimate league game against SuperSport United in Rustenburg. It didn’t help that Amakhosi coach Arthur Zwane was “hurt” in a melee after that match because the team's fans were angry about the result.

The media was robbed of a chance to preview the game against Cape Town City because clubs, like their PSL bosses, only engage with the media when it suits them.

The moment they find themselves in a tight corner, an audio clip of a media officer and player or coach saying sweet nothings to each other will be sent to the press. Sadly, some accept that. I don’t.

I agree with colleagues who say this must not be allowed because it discredits journalism. What Chiefs did last week has become almost the norm in the PSL, with some clubs having “open media days” whenever they see fit or when they’re forced to by sponsors, especially those of cup competitions.

When you look at the root cause of the treatment of soccer journalists in this country, you’ll see that it starts with PSL head honchos, the same ones who expect journalists to cover the PSL Awards on Sunday from the comfort of their homes.

With incidents such as these, do you really think they’ll bother to call Chiefs or any club to order when they don't invite the media to their premises? They will never.

The South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) and other journalism bodies, in this country whose job it is to fight for media rights and freedom should assist us. As journalists we have no means of forcing clubs or the PSL to be consistent in the way they communicate with us. We need help.

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