The SABC has a perfect opportunity to fix its muddled news operation when head honcho Snuki Zikalala's contract ends this month.
The SABC has a perfect opportunity to fix its muddled news operation when head honcho Snuki Zikalala's contract ends this month.
The head of news operation's contract should not be renewed for a host of reasons, mostly because he has demonstrated bad journalistic judgment time and again.
But the tax-funded public broadcaster must resist pressure from power-drunk kingmakers who want to replace him with one of their own.
One of Zikalala's many failings was the fealty he demonstrated to Thabo Mbeki. Replacing him with an equally blinkered cadre from the other side will not solve the problem.
The SABC has a mandate to serve all South Africans. That requires an independent and objective skilled journalist to lead its news division.
Throwing another deployed cadre into the cauldron will only compound the frustrations of the ever-decreasing pool of professional journalists who still serve the political masters at Auckland Park.
South Africa deserves a national broadcaster that can distinguish news from propoganda, fact from fantasy.
Zikalala showed he had only a tenuous grasp of this reality. We can only hope that his successor will rise to the challenge and shepherd an accurate, fair and independent reflection of our world.
Unblinkered reality
The SABC has a perfect opportunity to fix its muddled news operation when head honcho Snuki Zikalala's contract ends this month.
The SABC has a perfect opportunity to fix its muddled news operation when head honcho Snuki Zikalala's contract ends this month.
The head of news operation's contract should not be renewed for a host of reasons, mostly because he has demonstrated bad journalistic judgment time and again.
But the tax-funded public broadcaster must resist pressure from power-drunk kingmakers who want to replace him with one of their own.
One of Zikalala's many failings was the fealty he demonstrated to Thabo Mbeki. Replacing him with an equally blinkered cadre from the other side will not solve the problem.
The SABC has a mandate to serve all South Africans. That requires an independent and objective skilled journalist to lead its news division.
Throwing another deployed cadre into the cauldron will only compound the frustrations of the ever-decreasing pool of professional journalists who still serve the political masters at Auckland Park.
South Africa deserves a national broadcaster that can distinguish news from propoganda, fact from fantasy.
Zikalala showed he had only a tenuous grasp of this reality. We can only hope that his successor will rise to the challenge and shepherd an accurate, fair and independent reflection of our world.
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