Instinctively, as a newspaper we stand by the right to freedom of expression. At Sowetan we understand this too well. We came into being as a result of the previous regime's intolerance of our forebear, The World, telling it like it was.
We, however, take umbrage at Simon Jenkins's article in the British newspaper The Guardian where he makes gratuitous claims against ANC president Jacob Zuma, including that he is a rapist.
People like Jenkins do the media a far greater disservice by parading their bigotry under the guise of free speech. Zuma has his faults and Sowetan has never been shy to point them out. But Jenkins is still entitled to fairness and accuracy like all of us.
Wilful bigotry
Instinctively, as a newspaper we stand by the right to freedom of expression. At Sowetan we understand this too well. We came into being as a result of the previous regime's intolerance of our forebear, The World, telling it like it was.
We, however, take umbrage at Simon Jenkins's article in the British newspaper The Guardian where he makes gratuitous claims against ANC president Jacob Zuma, including that he is a rapist.
People like Jenkins do the media a far greater disservice by parading their bigotry under the guise of free speech. Zuma has his faults and Sowetan has never been shy to point them out. But Jenkins is still entitled to fairness and accuracy like all of us.