The National Press Club’s choice of the rhino as the 2012 newsmaker of the year demonstrates how twisted and distorted the country’s news agenda can become.
The Club chair was quoted saying that a committee had carefully considered “who had made the most news throughout the year”. What hogwash! If it was a simple calculation of who received the most news mentions, then it would be a case of googling some key words and seeing how often they came up – and it would probably be someone like Lady Gaga.
The Club itself admitted that part of its reasoning was that “the onslaught on these African giants has not only resulted in much debate in the country and elsewhere in the world, but has also united people to rally behind campaigns against the bleeding of our heritage,” according to chairwoman Antoinette Slabbert.
A choice of newsmaker is not just about who gets the most mentions, but who has the most impact, influence and significance in the year’s news agenda. In a year in which 45 mineworkers were killed at Marikana, just to take one competing news story, it is hard to imagine what kind of committee puts the rhino at the top of the national news diary, citing what brought the most debate and campaigning.
What this speaks to is the dominance of a suburban news agenda in much of our media, drowning out the voices of those – the majority – who have less access to power, wealth and media. This is why neighbourhood potholes get more coverage than sewage that flows through the streets of informal settlements; why Parkhurst parking charges often win the battle for headline space against schools without toilets or electricity; why a Joburg daily paper recently led on the shock and horror story that we would have to pay to replace our damaged dustbins.
This is not to say that the rhino story or potholes are not important stories. Of course they are, and they must get their space and attention.But it does reflect a set of interests and priorities when one puts it right at the top of the news list in a country facing up to the most appalling inequality and the social and political instability it threatens.
We expect to have competing news agendas – as in all countries – as different classes and interest groups vie for attention. But in a country which suffers from the high level of equality that we do, there is a gross imbalance on which issues and concerns achieve most attention. And the rhino story showed this most clearly.
Consider some alternative newsmakers: the man in the green blanket, who came to symbolise the Marikana victims; the schoolchild studying under a tree in a rural area … Consider how different a message that sends out about what is most important to us in our national debate.
The National Press Club embarrassed us in exposing their news and social values.
Well put.
It is shocking that they can still defend their decision with such conviction.
I guess it will take a lot longer for SA to have a ‘level playing field’ if some sectors of society continue treating the rest less than they are worth.
Am glad you also objected. Many white journalists somehow kept quiet which just shows their convictions or lack thereof.
in short.
rhinos (big 5) is outside currency income to SA which we can lose. the world sees it as a world problem as we kill off a species. really bad PR.
on the other hand.
R250 000000 buys how many repaired roads? buys how many traffic police? (more than 45 people die on the road.) R250 000000 buys how many legal systems / staff to stop corruption? how many toilets? how many maths and science teachers?
I am not interested in reading about 45 people dying. I resent tax going towards a R250 000000 estate and then be guilted by other problems such as 1000s of people dying. the story that all SA should be asking is – when are we going to make headlines with zuma going around to all SA victims (incl those 45 people and victims of corruption and a poor economy) and explain why his house was worth more than a breadwinner’s life. that is news. but that is also wishful thinking. Note abt the those 45 families: Its not that i dont care about 45 people. its that i’m not prepared to single them out from 1000s. use your media power.
“today, while zuma was finishing off the painting of the staff tuckshop, 45 mineworkers were killed.”
“today, while zuma sniffed the petals of his red roses in his R250 00000 estate, (amt) children failed maths.”
“today, while zuma was looking for yet some more roses to bloom, stats prove that the majority of the population admit they are unable to read and write, while his blooming offspring will get private education and live on a R250 000000 estate.
sorry, you may wonder about my connection to thick skinned rhinos and reporters. i think we have a thicker skinned problem.
I think your input into the debate following the announcement that the rhino is the newsmaker is (in my opinion) the most sober and revealing view/opinion I have seen so far. The NPC is positioning itself as an organisation that is sadly out of the touch with the industry it purports to defend. It has once again divided the country along racial lines and not suprisingly, considering that the rhino’s survival is not a priority to a man worrying about how he is going to feed his children or find a job. Anton you have exposed the warped news agenda or at the very least that of the NPC. The very least they can do is learn from this.