End of the saga of the president’s girlfriends
February 10th, 2009
I was struck by how dignified and appropriate was the President’s response to the collapse of the story of his pregnant, young girlfriend. He chose his words carefully, and he chose them well.
“I will drop a line to the Press Ombudsman,” he said.
It is not often that a leader emerges with heightened stature from a sordid affair like this. Indeed, his silence for a week raised some eyebrows. Retrospectively, he was presidential in his decision to stay quiet and give a measured response only when it appeared to be all over.
And he has chosen exactly the right path. The Press Ombudsman is a self-regulatory tool for quick investigation and resolution of conflicts over media coverage, and it is the way for the president to go on this. So often, the government and the ANC have been lambasting the press and its accountability without taking the matter up with the Ombudsman. They dismiss the effectiveness of the Ombudsman without testing it.
Motlanthe’s response stood in marked contrast to that of ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus’, who was quoted saying that the coverage showed “a lack of objectivity, bias and an intent to harm the good image of respected leaders”. What a load of hogwash! Take a lead from the president on the power of understatement, Carl.
Also, realise who your friends are. The Star is hardly hostile to the government and the ANC.
It also stands in contrast to the ANC president’s flurry of legal actions against editors and cartoonists. To enter the election period, and thereafter the presidency, by conducting your relationship with the media through the courts is wholly inappropriate and self-destructive. Zuma needs to rise above this as he ascends to the presidency.
But to return to the Motlanthe case, there is no doubt that the Star is embarrassed by having been led up the creak by some strange woman making wild allegations. But I defended their right to publish and I still would, though I am sure that everyone, particularly the Star, regrets not having found a way to double-check this woman’s story.
Entry Filed under: Anton Harber, Journalism, Media regulation, Print
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