The one-sided nature of the mainstream media
Written by: Adrian Luppnow
An open letter to the News Editor of eNCA
What are we becoming as a society when a reputable media organisation such as yours, is complicit in the demonization of a societal sector?
Much has been said about the attacks on the mainstream media during the American elections – I am of the opinion that such attacks are warranted if I merely consider what is happening in our own country.
Racism is an ill which is unacceptable, but your organisation has used this very ill to demonize and stereotype white people in South Africa.
You gave as much coverage as is humanly possible to the now-infamous Penny Sparrow case and more recently to the “coffin case” – spending entire mornings covering court proceedings in respect of the latter case. If your organisation was objective in the manner in which you report racist incidents, I would have no problem with this but, you are not impartial in the way that racism is covered.
Your reporting seems to have placed special emphasis on the fact that, “a white man who forced a black man into a coffin was denied bail”. In respect of the numerous (almost daily) farm murders in South Africa, which you don’t seem to find important enough to cover, do you think it would be apt to report that “a black man tortured a white farmer before killing him and his family”?
Well, I suspect that you wouldn’t, because it’s seemingly unfair and promotes racial stereotyping. While the coffin case was found to be an act of racism because of the use of the “K word”, it would probably only be the machinations of a white supremacist mind to suggest that farm murders are racially motivated because some politicians advocate “kill the farmer, kill the boer”?!
It is seemingly also not newsworthy to highlight the recent Facebook issue where one Sinazo Kwahanya Bambeni posted, “On military training to kill white people and take the stolen land back. One settler, One bullet”. Think again of the racism involved in murders on marginalised white farmers. I remind you too that white people who were “on military training” (the infamous “Boeremag”, seemingly to kill black people) are still in prison after many years. Is it of no interest, at all, that there seemingly exists a militia training program in South Africa aimed at killing white people?
If the media wishes to be treated with respect, then you ought to ply your trade without fear or favour – eNCA is not doing this at present and, quite frankly, by your one-sided journalism you are tacitly vilifying and stereotyping white South Africans as being racist rather than pointing out criminality within the ranks of this ethnic group.
Adrian Luppnow is a guest writer.