I listen to John Robbie on 702 every morning. On Wednesday, I was amazed when Robbie's colleague referred to the Waterkloof murderers as "young men" instead of "convicted criminals".

I listen to John Robbie on 702 every morning. On Wednesday, I was amazed when Robbie's colleague referred to the Waterkloof murderers as "young men" instead of "convicted criminals".

Throughout his rape trial, Jacob Zuma was called the rape accused. Shabir Shaik is called a convicted fraudster, as is Tony Yengeni.

Almost all the newspapers referred to the thugs' victim as a "vagrant", not a human being.

When John Perlman resigned, the story was picked up by most media outlets. We only knew that Nikiwe Bikitsha had resigned before Perlman because of reports that he had quit. If Perlman had not quit, it is likely that Bikitsha's resignation would have been unimportant, even though it might be for exactly the same reason? Is a black woman quitting less important than a white man quitting?

There are many other examples of media selectivity and newsworthiness.

There was a lot written about Yengeni's prison term and bull slaughter, but little about Marcel Nel killing an 11-year-old child and getting a R10000 fine.

This is media propaganda. Our black editors seem only to be needed when questioning government's commitment to media freedoms.

Len Anderson, Banbury Cross