Front Page Psychology

IS KILLING A STORY A CRIME IN SA? African National Congress Chairperson Gwede Mantashe is not guilty of any crime. The liberation movement's top six honcho is undeniably morally compromised, following revelations of his alleged 'zoo' affair, where a so-called slay queen labeled him a tiger in bed. Mantashe, who is currently Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, a position once occupied by a former minister who found himself caught up in a similar scandal involving an alleged request for him to be sent images of a C.L.I.T, is definitely no saint, but cannot be said to be a criminal. Even if he did pay those journalists, and that's a big "if," since he is now refuting allegedly admitting to paying for a story 'to be killed,' this does not make him at odds with the law - at least not South African law. For a bit of a background, less than 10 years ago, a friend and colleague, Sizwe sama Yende, found himself trending over a 'Christmas Gift.

How To Deal With Media Scandals, Effectively What do you do when a journalist threatens to expose your skeletons? How do you handle career-threatening questions from the media? How do you ensure that any form of mudslinging doesn’t stick on you? Well, it depends on how innocent or guilty you are. Being honest with yourself is the first and best step to take. If you are guilty, you need to start by admitting that you are in deep shit because you are full of shit. This admission prepares your mind to take rational action. If you remain in denial, you will end up caught in a scandal. The second step is to immediately get yourself a public relations specialist who knows everything there is to know about the media industry. Most leaders in business, government and religion often make the mistake of rushing to their lawyers for defense against the media. They think that newspapers are a court of law. They have no idea that powerful journalists work on facts (gathered) and they d

Corrupt Journalism In South Africa (And Beyond) - Part 4 It is the dream of every journalist to see their stories selling like hot cakes. We all know that without readers, journalists are nothing but ink masturbators who enjoy getting off from self-flagellation. Readers are key, hence the need to deliver the most attention-grabbing stories within the deadline of news relevance. No matter how good a story is, readers prefer it as fresh a muffin from the oven.  I know this because I worked for a press agency that syndicated our news to tens of newspapers in South Africa, and news sites across the world. I remember several years ago we had a journalist who derived pleasure from making his colleagues suffer in the newsroom. Was he a sadist? I may not comment much on that, but I do know that the man had all sorts of weird tendencies, from bringing muthi to the office, to accusing people of bewitching him.   Almost everyone in the office was his enemy. He would often confide in me

Corrupt Journalism In South Africa (And Beyond) - Part 3 Corrupt journalism is a business. It is both a lucrative and dangerous business, for its practitioners and clients. This form of unethical journalism is only aimed at influencing the news narrative against certain individuals or groups and in favour of others - mostly for financial benefit. During my days of investigative work at the defunct international press agency, African Eye News Service (AENS) , I discovered that corrupt journalism was rife within the media industry. In all honesty, AENS journalists were dead broke while the rest of the city was buzzing with moneyed news hounds. It was hard to tell how they were so moneyed: Was it the payslip, or was it the envelope? We could only verify a few salaries, but you could tell that others were running side businesses. That’s when I learned what a corrupt journalist is: a politician disguised as a news reporter. The day you do your homework, you will find out that

Corrupt Journalism In South Africa (And Beyond) - Part 2 Have you ever wondered what it is that journalists do? Oftentimes people become apprehensive whenever someone is introduced as a journalist. We are mistaken for Shwashwi attending a debauched house album launch at Maboneng Princinct or Western Paparazzi invited to some gala dinner in North Hollywood. This has happened to me in different cities, townships, and villages. As soon as they say, “Meet Kgoshii Lerabela, he is a journalist,” people become uncomfortable. Others would beg me not to write about them, even if it is clear that there is nothing to write home about. People assume we can write about anything or get anything printed. They do not know that we must pass a lot of tests before information turns into a story. For this reason, I felt it was imperative for my readers to understand what journalism is, at least at a basic level. Once you understand the basics, we can move on to deeper matters involving this c

Corrupt Journalism In South Africa (And Beyond) - Part 1 Media corruption is a sensitive issue; a holy grail. You dare not. I repeat: you dare not! Attempting to address (or undress) corrupt journalism in public is equivalent to inviting ZCC members to a pork festival. It is both insulting and pejorative, what my street commentators would call a Wrong Turn. Yes, the movie, gorged out eyes and all. Isn't it a tad funny that we, media practitioners - journalists, editors and news publishers - have a tendency to play the Holier-Than-Thou card with pristine hypocrisy? When did we arrive at the mafia level where you dare not accuse a journalist of taking the brown envelope, even if it is a matter of public interest? This reminds me of the late Tupac Shakur’s hit soundtrack, Made Niggaz, where the rapper and his protégés are arrested for gun and drug possession, only for the police boss to instruct the unit to let them go. His reason, “They are made Niggaz.” The same thing ha