tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/fake-news-in-africa-93022/articlesFake news in Africa – The Conversation2021-06-24T14:46:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629612021-06-24T14:46:37Z2021-06-24T14:46:37ZPunitive laws are failing to curb misinformation in Africa. Time for a rethink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407682/original/file-20210622-20-seczce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many laws passed in recent times are not aimed at correcting false information, but punishing its publication.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Harish Tyagi</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Misinformation, best understood as false or misleading information whether or not it was intended to mislead, <a href="https://www.icfj.org/news/short-guide-history-fake-news-and-disinformation-new-icfj-learning-module">has long been recognised as a problem worldwide</a>. Together with disinformation, which is spread deliberately to misinform or mislead, it constitutes a key part of the <a href="https://rm.coe.int/information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-researc/168076277c">information disorder</a> distorting public debate around the world.</p>
<p>Concern about the effects of misinformation on individuals and society has grown globally since 2016, when it was seen by many commentators as driving the political upheavals of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great-british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy">Brexit in the UK</a> and <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/11/donald-trump-won-because-of-facebook.html">the election of Donald Trump</a> in the US.</p>
<p>In Africa, interest in the subject grew in particular after news emerged of disinformation campaigns run by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-pr-giant-bell-pottinger-made-itself-look-bad-83529">Bell Pottinger</a>, the British PR firm, on behalf of the Gupta family that stirred up racial tensions in South Africa in 2016 as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/04/business/bell-pottinger-guptas-zuma-south-africa.html">counter-narrative</a> to the growing public anger at the family’s central role in grand corruption and state capture.</p>
<p>In Nigeria, concern about disinformation rose after news emerged of the role that disinformation orchestrated by the UK political consultancy Cambridge Analytica played <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/21/cambridge-analyticas-ruthless-bid-to-sway-the-vote-in-nigeria">in its 2015 election</a>. Similarly in <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1233084/channel-4-news-films-cambridge-analytica-execs-saying-they-staged-kenya-uhuru-kenyatta-elections/">Kenya</a>, when the firm supported the campaign of President Uhuru Kenyatta in elections two years later. </p>
<p>With concern <a href="https://www.afrobarometer.org/blogs/african-governments-are-cracking-down-news-media-their-citizens-might-be-okay">rising among politicians and the public</a>, governments around the world have since 2016 passed a flurry of <a href="https://theconversation.com/governments-are-making-fake-news-a-crime-but-it-could-stifle-free-speech-117654">laws and regulations</a>
penalising the publication or broadcast of what is deemed to be “false information.” </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/books/m/10.16997/book53/">study</a> we examined the changes made to laws and regulations relating to the publication of “false information” in 11 sub-Saharan countries between 2016 and 2020. We also looked at how they correlate with misinformation, to understand the role they may play in reducing harm caused by misinformation. </p>
<p>We found that while these laws have a chilling effect on political and media debate, they do not reduce misinformation harm. This matters as the laws curtail public debate, yet fail to curb the harmful effects of misinformation. </p>
<h2>‘False information’ laws</h2>
<p>We first identified laws and regulations relating to “false information” in a sample of 11 countries laws – large and small, Anglophone and Francophone – from across sub-Saharan Africa. The countries studied between 2016 and 2020 were Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. </p>
<p>We then compared the terms of the laws passed with what is known about the types, drivers and effects of misinformation. This was based on studying 1,200 claims identified as false by one or more of 14 fact-checking organisations in Africa. Finally, we assessed the effects of the laws’ enforcement.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.uwestminsterpress.co.uk/site/chapters/m/10.16997/book53.b/">In our research report</a>, we found that in the 11 countries studied, the number of laws against “false information” almost doubled from 17 to 31 from 2016 to 2020.</p>
<p>The problem we identified is that these laws <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/05/east-africa-now-is-the-time-to-stand-up-for-media-freedom-1/">restrict freedom of speech</a>. And they don’t reduce the actual – or potential harm – that misinformation causes. </p>
<p>This tells us that the punitive approach does not appear to work. </p>
<p>By contrast, an approach favouring better access to accurate information and correction of false information may do so.</p>
<p>Describing the “chilling effect” that <a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/uganda-suspends-39-journalists-covering-politicians-arrest">the laws have had on public debate in Uganda</a>, an analyst in Uganda told us </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Self-censorship has increased in the recent past due to the state’s continued arbitrary application of the law.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Punitive approach</h2>
<p>First, we found, the majority of laws related to “false information” took a punitive approach. They were not seeking to correct the false information or facilitate improved access to accurate information. Their aim was to punish publication with fines and <a href="https://rsf.org/fr/actualites/burkina-faso-lamendement-du-code-penal-doit-etre-declare-inconstitutionnel-2">terms in prison of up to 10 years</a>. </p>
<p>Second, one third of the laws studied – from the <a href="https://rsf.org/fr/benin">Code du Numérique (2018) in Benin</a> to the <a href="https://www.nta.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/1494416213-NBC-Code-6TH-EDITION.pdf">Broadcasting Code of Conduct in Nigeria (2016)</a> – require no evidence that the allegedly false information caused or risked any form of harm, for its publication to be declared an offence. Six other laws punished “crimes” not recognised under the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx">Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ Article 19 on Freedom of Expression</a>. An example is the “annoyance” of ministers. </p>
<p>Together, more than half the laws are thus not related to reducing harm as recognised by international law.</p>
<p>Third, we found that how law courts should determine what information is “false”, or what constitutes “harm”, is in general not defined. Decisions are, therefore, arbitrary and open to political abuse. </p>
<p>Our study found the majority of those punished under these laws are opposition politicians or journalists. Not one was a government official or a politician from the ruling party. This does not correlate with what we know of misinformation and the role of some politicians in contributing to the problem.</p>
<p>Fourth, we found the laws take effect on a tiny scale compared to the cases of misinformation in circulation. The <a href="https://www.disinformationtracker.org/">Disinformation Tracker</a> project, set up in 2020 to study the implementation of laws on misinformation and disinformation, found that just 12 “law enforcement actions” were taken in three months in the 11 countries. Only one quarter of these actions had an “objectively legitimate aim”. </p>
<p>This pales in comparison to the hundreds of cases of misinformation tackled by the growing number of <a href="https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-05/041521_Africa%20Facts%20network_case%20study_v9%20%281%29.pdf">fact-checking organisations in Africa</a>, and the millions of <a href="https://unherd.com/2021/02/how-facebook-won-the-internet/">content moderation decisions made worldwide</a> by tech platforms daily, many of which made to counter misinformation.</p>
<p>Where laws or regulations are used to prevent the continuing spread of genuinely harmful misinformation, as in cases we examined in <a href="https://www.pmldaily.com/news/2018/03/ucc-switches-off-23-radio-stations-over-airing-witchcraft-content.html">Uganda</a> and <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-04-07-steven-birch-appears-in-court-over-fake-news-video-on-covid-19-tests/">South Africa</a>, it’s plausible they may directly reduce harm.</p>
<p>But, our study suggests these cases are the exception, not the rule.</p>
<h2>What works against misinformation</h2>
<p>Our study shows that the punitive legislative approach is not working, and suggests alternative approaches can be more effective. </p>
<p>This includes efforts seen across the continent to improve <a href="https://www.africafex.org/access-to-information/22-african-countries-that-have-passed-access-to-information-laws">access to accurate information</a>. Examples include setting up an independent watchdog of the quality of official statistics, <a href="https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/">as exists in the UK</a>, and an independent body to ensure public access to that data, <a href="https://www.informationcommissioners.org/south-africa">as in South Africa</a>. </p>
<p>This is essential to counter misinformation. </p>
<p>It can be seen in the <a href="https://www.macra.org.mw/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/COMMUNICATIONS-ACT-2016.pdf">“right of reply”</a> written into legislation in Malawi, that obliges broadcasters to air “counter-versions” from “entities affected by an assertion of fact” if the “fact” can be shown to be false.</p>
<p>It can also be seen in a <a href="https://lequotidien.sn/conseil-pour-lobservation-des-regles-dethique-et-de-deontologie-mamadou-thior-porte-a-la-tete-du-cored/">new and improved press code in Senegal</a>. Introduced in 2017, it requires all news operations to observe a code of professional ethics. This includes a focus on verification, with work overseen by an independent regulatory body. </p>
<p>Another approach is enabling the growth of independent fact-checking organisations seen across the continent in recent years. These alternative approaches can reduce the harm that misinformation causes, without reducing free speech. </p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/assane-diagne-445576111/?originalSubdomain=sn">Assane Diagne</a>, director of Reporters Without Borders for West Africa and lecturer at the L’Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme, des Métiers de l’Internet et de la Communication in Dakar, Senegal, was part of the research team.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162961/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Funding used to support the research was provided by the Facebook Journalism Project, the Google News Initiative and Luminate. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Finlay and Anya Schiffrin do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The majority of those punished under the laws to combat false information are opposition politicians or journalists.Peter Cunliffe-Jones, Visiting Researcher & Co-Director Chevening African Media Freedom Fellowship, University of WestminsterAlan Finlay, Lecturer: Journalism and Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandAnya Schiffrin, Director, Technology, Media, and Communications specialization, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1578942021-04-06T14:35:19Z2021-04-06T14:35:19ZSocial media users in Kenya and South Africa trust science, but still share COVID-19 hoaxes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393141/original/file-20210401-15-h0pyp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenya and South Africa have a high exposure to disinformation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic has led to widespread <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/busting-coronavirus-myths">disinformation</a> circulating on social media globally. This includes false information about the virus, its origins and possible cures for the disease it causes. Much of the inaccurate information was related to China, the country where the first cases of an atypical pneumonia were reported in December 2019. This was determined in January 2020 to be caused by <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/interactive-timeline?gclid=CjwKCAjwu5CDBhB9EiwA0w6sLefKI1LGMZ2by2RTlJXHKT-PFdq9Q7YU4DPL5uqMKhNkp50WOF0BoBoC1qAQAvD_BwE#event-7">a novel coronavirus</a>.</p>
<p>Although the precise origin of the virus is still unknown, a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00865-8">major investigation</a> by the World Health Organisation found that markets that sold animals were a probable source. Alternative theories, such as that the virus escaped from a laboratory, were almost entirely ruled out. Yet, this is one of the misinformation theories that have been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/12/china-covid-misinformation-li-meng-yan/">circulating widely</a>. The Chinese state itself <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-beijing-only-on-ap-epidemics-media-122b73e134b780919cc1808f3f6f16e8">also engaged in disinformation</a> in an attempt to overturn the narrative.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23743670.2019.1627230">Previous research</a> has shown that media users in Kenya and South Africa believe they are often exposed to disinformation. Research has also shown that Kenyan and South African social media users are very likely to share such information, even if they suspect or know it to be false. This occurs against the background of a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/recq21/40/4?nav=tocList">steep increase in disinformation in Africa</a> in recent years, often linked to a lack of trust in the news media. </p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic provides us with a useful lens through which to study attitudes and practices of disinformation particularly as they relate to China, given the prominence the country and its leaders had in media coverage of the crisis.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>In April 2020, we surveyed 970 adult social media users in Kenya and 991 in South Africa to understand how they engaged with disinformation about China and COVID-19. We focused on Kenya and South Africa as two countries with vibrant media environments. Both countries have active online communities. In South Africa, 43% of citizens <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1851387">say they regularly get their news from social media</a>, followed by Nigeria (36%) and Kenya (25%). </p>
<p>The goal of our study was to investigate the link between social media users’ attitudes towards China and their motivations to share disinformation related to COVID-19 and China. To do so, we showed participants sample hoaxes and debunked rumours related to COVID-19 and China. We then asked them whether they believed the posts were true or not, and why they would or would not share them.</p>
<p>We retrieved the four debunked social media posts from the collection of fact-checks available on the website of <a href="https://factcheck.afp.com/">AFP Fact Check</a>.</p>
<p>The findings of this project were included in <a href="http://disinfoafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/What-Motivates-The-Sharing-of-Misinformation-about-China-and-COVID-19.pdf">a paper</a> that was presented at the <a href="https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/events/narratives-covid-19-china-and-world-technology-society-and-nations">Narratives of COVID-19 in China and the World: Technology, Society, and Nations symposium</a> hosted virtually by the University of Pennsylvania in March 2021.</p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>We found that, at the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Kenyans and South Africans held broadly negative views of China. They believed that China was governed less competently and honestly than the United States. Respondents appeared to acknowledge the positive impact of Chinese economic engagement with Africa, but were still relatively critical of Beijing’s policies on other domains such as its governance, respect for civic rights, protection of the environment and media freedom. </p>
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<p>Nevertheless, respondents offered resistance against certain xenophobic or racist messaging and attribution of blame to China. For example, although 39% of South Africans and 49% of Kenyans strongly supported closing their borders to foreign travellers, the majority agreed that attributing blame to China by referring to the “Chinese coronavirus” or the “Wuhan disease” was racist.</p>
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<p>These findings are important indicators of the prevailing views towards foreigners in two African countries that have often seen xenophobic conflicts. </p>
<p>The majority of South Africans and Kenyans did not believe the hoaxes or rumours, and trusted scientists. But, a significant number showed an interest in sharing the hoax or rumour posts – even if they did not necessarily believe them. For instance, 40% of Kenyans and 29% of South Africans believed the (fake) post about an alleged fight between Chinese and Kenyans on the streets of Wuhan was true.</p>
<p>The most common motivation to share these social media posts was a perceived moral or civic duty to share information (whether true or not) and raise awareness about an issue. There was also a desire to spark debate and solicit other people’s views. Many respondents also said they would share misinformation for fun or entertainment.</p>
<p>There were also some differences between the types of posts. Respondents said they were more likely to share posts about racial injustices to make a statement about their political views, for instance to highlight injustice. </p>
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<p>Overall, we did not find a significant link between negative views of China and social media users’ motivations to share disinformation about COVID-19 and China. Those who believed the posts to be true were most likely to share it out of a sense of moral duty. However, those with stronger negative views of China were not more inclined to do so than those with more positive views. </p>
<h2>Value of the study</h2>
<p>This study contributes to our growing understanding of why African media users share disinformation. The findings confirm <a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/14801/3378">earlier research</a> in six African countries. That research showed that factors such as a sense of civic duty and an inclination towards humorous social media content drove the spread of disinformation.</p>
<p>Although the study encouragingly suggests that African social media users resisted disinformation they considered racist, the findings, more disconcertingly, confirm that people are willing to share disinformation even when they suspect or know the information to be false. </p>
<p>More research on these sharing motivations remains important. If organisations and fact checkers know what factors motivate people to consume and share disinformation, they can develop interventions that are better suited to particular behaviour patterns and contexts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157894/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Herman Wasserman receives funding from the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS), project ref no BC01/2019/10.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dani Madrid-Morales does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers found that both Kenyans and South Africans have a broadly negative view of China, possibly amplified by the pandemic.Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies in the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape TownDani Madrid-Morales, Assistant Professor in Journalism at the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, University of HoustonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1552572021-02-22T13:17:14Z2021-02-22T13:17:14ZPublic trust in the media is at a new low: a radical rethink of journalism is needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384988/original/file-20210218-14-fsnk9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5307%2C3234&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A recent <a href="https://sanef.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SANEF-ethics-report-OK.pdf">report</a> by an independent panel on the ethics and credibility of South Africa’s news media makes for worrying reading. The panel, headed by retired judge <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/communicationsandadvancement/alumnirelations/theorunion/distinguishedalumniawards/2019recipients/kathysatchwell.html">Kathy Satchwell</a>, was commissioned by the South African National Editors’ Forum following a <a href="https://theconversation.com/journalism-makes-blunders-but-still-feeds-democracy-an-insiders-view-146364">series of ethical lapses</a> by the <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/">Sunday Times</a>. The paper dominated the country’s media landscape for <a href="https://www.newsbank.com/libraries/colleges-universities/solutions/resources-location/sunday-times-archive-1906-today">over 100 years</a>. As the largest by circulation it was also considered the most powerful newspaper.</p>
<p>The lapses included factual inaccuracies in reports on allegations of <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/sunday-times-taco-kuiper-runnerup-award-revoked--a">police killings</a> as well as reports on <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30597414">alleged illegal deportations of Zimbabweans</a>. Another major story was about an alleged <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2014-12-06-sars-suspends-rogue-unit-men-after-expos/">‘rogue unit’</a> within the South African Revenue Service. </p>
<p>The panel <a href="https://sanef.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SANEF-ethics-report-OK.pdf">found</a> that the newspaper had ‘failed in the most basic tenets of journalistic practice’.</p>
<p>These failures included not giving any – or adequate –opportunity to affected parties to respond to the stories pre-publication. Others included failing to seek credible and sourced validation of the allegations made against individuals.</p>
<p>The panel concluded that the failures had caused great emotional and financial harm to the people concerned, their families and their careers.</p>
<p>The newspaper has since <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2018-10-13-we-got-it-wrong-and-for-that-we-apologise/">apologised</a> for the reports, and retracted them. </p>
<p>Having ethical lapses on such a major scale can only further erode the public’s trust in the media. More recently, investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s admission that allegations he had previously made in a <em>Daily Maverick</em> <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-02-17-editors-note-on-retracted-jacques-pauw-column-about-his-arrest-at-the-va-waterfront-and-an-apology-to-our-readers/">column</a> were based on distorted facts led to a widespread outcry. It was <a href="https://mediamonitoringafrica.org/2021/02/17/media-release-jacques-pauw-didnt-merely-ruin-his-reputation-he-dealt-another-blow-to-media-credibility/">pointed out</a> that Pauw not only undermined his own credibility, but also further eroded trust in journalism. </p>
<p>It is clear that South African journalism has much work to do to rebuild this lost trust. Not only for their own sake, but in view of the growing crisis of disinformation. The panel’s report refers to the <a href="https://disinformationindex.org/">Global Disinformation Index</a> which suggests that 41% of South Africans distrust the media. And a worrying 70% have problems distinguishing news from “fake” news. </p>
<p>So, how should this rebuilding of trust be done? Clearly not by merely superficially papering over ethical cracks, nor overhauling the well-functioning <a href="https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/com/article/view/3726">media regulatory system</a>. While apologies for and corrections of mistakes are important to show public accountability, journalists should also recommit to the principles underlying these processes. </p>
<p>The country’s <a href="https://www.presscouncil.org.za/ContentPage?code=PRESSCODE">press code</a> highlights the public interest as the central guideline. This entails, aside from striving for truth, avoiding harm and acting independently, the reflection of a multiplicity of voices in the coverage of events, showing a special concern for children and other vulnerable groups, and being sensitive to the cultural customs of readers and the subjects of reportage.</p>
<p>This emphasis on diversity of voices and awareness of social context should be the starting point for any attempt to regain the public’s trust. As the code states at the outset: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.presscouncil.org.za/ContentPage?code=PRESSCODE">The media exist to serve society</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One way of doing this is to adopt an <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/how-a-culture-of-listening-strengthens-reporting-and-relationships/">“ethics of listening”</a>. I explore this in my new book <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-ethics-of-engagement-9780190917333?cc=us&lang=en&#">The Ethics of Engagement</a>.</p>
<p>The central theme of my argument is that journalists must reach beyond their usual audiences to include those that normally appear only on the margins of media coverage. And they must review how those voices are reported, and how they appear in the media. </p>
<p>This approach will result in a more genuine dialogue and an approach that’s more participatory. This could, in turn, contribute to a thorough reassessment of the media’s relationship with the public in a way that could rebuild trust.</p>
<h2>Public journalism</h2>
<p>There are some examples of how this could be done. For instance Heather Robertson, former editor of <em>The Herald</em> newspaper in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province, conducted a series of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/37070536/When_an_editor_listens_to_a_city">listening exercises</a> attended by community members, opinion leaders and journalists. Some interesting case studies can also be found in Australia, where community media journalists, media scholars and activists teamed up to design a <a href="https://tanjadreher.net/current-research/">“listening programme”</a>. </p>
<p>To some extent these projects are similar to the much older tradition of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02500167.2020.1862966">“public journalism”</a>. It provides that the media should address citizens not merely as spectators or victims, but empower them to solve their problems. One way this was done was to host public discussions and facilitate meetings to support deliberative democracy. More recently, the potential for<a href="https://digitalpublicsquare.org/"> digital media platforms</a> to connect journalists to audiences has also been explored. </p>
<p>Applying this approach in South Africa would have major benefits. The country is socially polarised and highly unequal. Making the extra effort to actively listen to voices outside the journalists’ normal target audiences, especially marginal voices, would transform the narratives being shared. </p>
<p>This would help journalists gain wider social legitimacy among those who may feel the media is disconnected from their everyday lives. </p>
<p>But ethical listening doesn’t merely accommodate voices from marginalised communities, only to treat them as victims or as objects of pity.</p>
<p>Instead, it requires a fundamental revision of the relationship between journalists and their various audiences, one in which power relations are radically revised or overturned. A more reciprocal relationship with their divergent audiences would require journalists to let go of their desire to control the narrative, or tendency to listen only to obtain answers to questions already formulated. </p>
<p>Of course this does not mean that journalists no longer have any say over their reporting. Nor that they don’t have to take any ethical responsibility for the questions they ask. The difference in this kind of listening is that it creates a true dialogue, in the sense that the responses are allowed to alter, shift and speak back to the original agenda rather than made to fit into it.</p>
<p>Listening can, therefore, be seen as fundamental to democratic politics because it constitutes a public sphere premised on participation, tolerance and inclusion. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>The panel’s report identified much larger, systemic problems in the wider South African media landscape. These include revenue challenges to media outlets, shrinking resources for training and for the effective exercise of editorial checks and balances. It also listed the pressure, fuelled by social media, to break stories ever faster amid competing misinformation and disinformation narratives as well as societal pressures.</p>
<p>Linked to the rebuilding of trust should be a strong commitment to support community media and the public broadcaster to add to the diversity of voices.</p>
<p>There can be little doubt that ethical lapses have added significant dents to the public’s trust in the media. </p>
<p>An appropriate response to the ethical problems plaguing the South African media requires thinking about the question of ethics as a more radical project – one which requires a reaffirmation of journalism’s central values, a recommitment to media diversity, and exploration of new practices that can reconnect journalists to citizens. </p>
<p>These are the tasks that journalists need to take seriously if they are to restore relationships of trust with the public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155257/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Herman Wasserman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To rebuild lost trust in the media will require more commitment and effort than just papering over ethical cracks.Herman Wasserman, Professor of Media Studies in the Centre for Film and Media Studies, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1475092020-10-21T15:45:32Z2020-10-21T15:45:32ZWe must make moral choices about how we relate to social media apps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364456/original/file-20201020-14-nybccz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Social Dilemma/Netflix</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently a South African <a href="https://www.kfm.co.za/Show/kfm-breakfast">radio show</a> asked, “If you had to choose between your mobile phone and your pet, which would choose?” Think about that for a moment. Many callers responded they would choose their phone. I was shocked… But to be honest, I give more attention to my phone than to my beloved dogs!</p>
<p>Throughout history there have been discoveries that have changed society in unimaginable ways. Written language made it possible to communicate over space and time. The printing press, say historians, helped shape societies <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24357082">through</a> the mass dissemination of ideas. New modes of transport <a href="https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?id_clanak_jezik=237992&show=clanak">radically transformed</a> social norms by bringing people into contact with new cultures.</p>
<p>Yet these pale in comparison to how the internet is shaping, and misshaping, our individual and social <a href="https://www.counterpointknowledge.org/social-media-as-religion-unexamined-desire-and-mis-information/">identities</a>. I remember the first time I heard a teenager speaking with an American accent and discovered she’d never been out of South Africa but picked up her accent from watching YouTube. We shape our technologies, but they also shape us. </p>
<p>The potentially negative impacts of social media have again been highlighted by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11464826/"><em>The Social Dilemma</em></a> on Netflix. The documentary, which Facebook has <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/facebook-response-the-social-dilemma-1234590361/">slammed</a> as sensational and unfair, shows how dominant and largely unregulated social media companies manipulate users by harvesting personal data, while using <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-social-media-algorithms-erode-our-ability-to-make-decisions-freely-the-jury-is-out-140729">algorithms</a> to push information and ads that can lead to social media addiction – and dangerous anti-social behaviour. Among others, the show makes an example of the conspiracy theory <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-qanon-uses-satanic-rhetoric-to-set-up-a-narrative-of-good-vs-evil-146281">QAnon</a>, which is <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-09-26-qanon-originated-in-south-africa-now-that-the-global-cult-is-back-here-we-should-all-be-afraid/">increasingly</a> <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/qanon-targets-africa-with-new-conspiracy-that-democrats-are-stealing-local-children">targeting</a> Africans.</p>
<p>Despite its flaws, the doccie got me wondering what our relationship should be to social media? As an ethics professor, I’ve come to realise that we must make moral choices about how we relate to our technologies. This requires an honest evaluation of our needs and weaknesses, and a clear understanding of the intentions of these platforms. </p>
<h2>Tug-of-war with technology</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ynharari.com">Yuval Noah Harari</a>, author of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/11/sapiens-brief-history-humankind-yuval-noah-harari-review"><em>Sapiens</em></a>, contends it’s our ability to inhabit “fiction” that differentiates humans. <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/sapiens-yuval-noah-harari?variant=32207215656994">He claims</a> you “could never convince a monkey to give you a banana by promising him limitless bananas after death in monkey heaven”. Humans have a capacity to believe in things we cannot see – which changes things that do exist. Ideas like prejudice and hatred, for example, are powerful enough to cause wars that displace thousands. </p>
<p>The wall between Israel and Palestine was conceived in people’s minds before being transformed into bricks and barbed wire. Philosopher Oliver Razac’s book <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/barbed-wire"><em>Barbed Wire: A political history</em></a> traces how this razor-sharp technology has been deployed from farms that displaced indigenous peoples to the trenches of World War I and the prisons of contemporary democracies. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=344%2C2%2C1572%2C778&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young woman in a bathroom is engaged with her mobile phone, reflected in a mirror." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=344%2C2%2C1572%2C778&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=245&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364455/original/file-20201020-22-1v3ttyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Sophia Hammons as Isla in <em>The Social Dilemma</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Social Dilemma/Netflix</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Technology is in a constant psychological, political and economic tug-of-war with humanity. Yet, some of today’s technologies are much more subtle than barbed wire. They are deeply <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9wq9DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA85&dq=info:gxEdWsbuE_0J:scholar.google.com&ots=5b6P23i9n9&sig=oonwZAiBsas7XNjTpP7e8pXq2XM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">integrated into</a> our lives – they know us better than we know ourselves.</p>
<p>I have thousands of ‘friends’ on social media – far too many to relate to meaningfully. Yet, at times I can be more present to people that I have never met than I am to my family. This is not by chance – social media platforms are <a href="https://www.counterpointknowledge.org/social-media-as-religion-unexamined-desire-and-mis-information/">designed</a> to seek and hold our attention. They are businesses, intent on making money. Harvard University professor <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/04/shoshana-zuboff-surveillance-capitalism-assault-human-automomy-digital-privacy">Shoshana Zuboff</a>, who features in the documentary, explains in <a href="https://profilebooks.com/the-age-of-surveillance-capitalism.html"><em>The Age of Surveillance Capitalism</em></a> that social media “trades exclusively in human futures”.</p>
<h2>We are the product</h2>
<p>Zuboff says that social media platforms exploit our emotions and pre-cognate needs like belonging, recognition, acceptance and pleasure that are ‘hard wired’ into us to secure our survival. </p>
<p>Recognition relates to two of the primary <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Primal_Feast.html?id=TJF_xQAuLOYC&redir_esc=y">functions of the brain</a>, avoiding danger and finding ways to meet our basic survival needs (such as food or a mate to perpetuate our gene pool). These corporations, she says, are hiring the smartest engineers, social psychologists, behavioural economists and artists to hold our attention, while interspersing adverts between our videos, photos and status updates. They make money by offering a future that their advertisers will sell you. </p>
<p>Or, as former Google and Facebook employee Justin Rosenstein, says in <em>The Social Dilemma</em>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Our attention is the product being sold to advertisers. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>If our adult brains are so susceptible to this kind of manipulation, what effects are they having on the developing minds of children?</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uaaC57tcci0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for <em>The Social Dilemma</em>.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The documentary also reminds the viewer that social media has a more subtle and powerful influence on our lives – shaping our social and political realities. </p>
<h2>Fake news and hate speech</h2>
<p>The documentary uses an example from 2017 in which Facebook use is linked to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-india-content-idUSKBN1X929F">violence</a> that led to the displacement of close to 700,000 Rohingya persons in Myanmar. Something that doesn’t really exist (a social media platform) violently changed something that does exist (the safety of people). Facebook was a primary means of communication in Myanmar. New phones came with Facebook pre-installed. What users were unaware of was a ‘third person’ – Facebook’s algorithms – feeding information that included hate speech and fake news into their conversations. In Africa, similar reports have emerged from <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonpatinkin/how-to-get-people-to-murder-each-other-through-fake-news-and#.cfxZRym4z">South Sudan</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-vicious-online-propaganda-war-that-includes-fake-news-is-being-waged-in-zimbabwe-99402">Zimbabwe</a>.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/netflixs-the-social-dilemma-highlights-the-problem-with-social-media-but-whats-the-solution-147351">Netflix's The Social Dilemma highlights the problem with social media, but what's the solution?</a>
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<p>Another example used is the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/17/the-cambridge-analytica-scandal-changed-the-world-but-it-didnt-change-facebook">Cambridge Analytica</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-facebook-is-the-reason-fake-news-is-here-to-stay-94308">scandal</a>, which also played out in <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1089911/bell-pottinger-and-cambridge-analyticas-work-in-south-africa-kenya-is-raising-questions/">Africa</a>, most notably in <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-nigerian-and-kenyan-media-handled-cambridge-analytica-128473">Nigeria and Kenya</a>. Facebook user information was mined and sold to nefarious political actors. This information (like what people feared and what upset them) was used to spread misinformation and manipulate their voting decisions on important elections.</p>
<h2>What to do about it?</h2>
<p>So, what do we do? We can’t very well give up on social media completely, and I don’t think it is necessary. These technologies are already deeply intertwined with our daily lives. We cannot deny they have some value. </p>
<p>However, just like humans had to adapt to the responsible use of the printing press or long distance travel, we will need to be more intentional about how we relate to these new technologies. We can begin by cultivating healthier social media <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9wq9DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA85&dq=info:gxEdWsbuE_0J:scholar.google.com&ots=5b6P23i9n9&sig=oonwZAiBsas7XNjTpP7e8pXq2XM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false">habits</a>.</p>
<p>We should also develop a greater awareness of the aims of these companies and how they achieve them, while understanding how our information is being used. This will allow us to make some simple commitments that align our social media usage to our better values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dion Forster receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>As more comes to light about the money-making tactics of social media platforms we need to reevaluate our relationship with them.Dion Forster, Head of Department, Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463642020-09-17T11:32:55Z2020-09-17T11:32:55ZJournalism makes blunders but still feeds democracy: an insider’s view<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358415/original/file-20200916-18-1m52ofg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Sunday Times, South Africa's largest weekend newspaper, was used to spread disinformation. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Anton Harber, the veteran South African journalist, editor and journalism professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, has a new book out. <a href="https://www.graffitiboeke.co.za/en/a/Search/0/date_publish%20DESC/Anton%20Harber"><em>So, For the Record: Behind the Headlines in an Era of State Capture</em></a> is a deep dive into the conduct of the media as mega corruption and state capture engulfed and eventually brought down President Jacob Zuma’s administration. Politics editor Thabo Leshilo asked the author to provide the highlights.</em></p>
<h2>What prompted you to write the book?</h2>
<p>For one thing, it is a great story to tell, complete with all the ingredients of a thriller: brothels, spies, brown envelopes and honeypots, all laced with intrigue, deceit and backstabbing. My interest, though, came from a concern that our community of journalists was not dealing properly with the series of journalistic fiascos at the <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/">Sunday Times</a>, the country’s biggest and most powerful newspaper. </p>
<p>I was on a panel commissioned to conduct an <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/home?code=bEk4K3BwY1NMOEVqQndtdVNuMEQ0dz09&state=">internal investigation</a> at the paper in 2007, after a similar series of journalistic disasters. Our far-reaching recommendations were not implemented. And so, perhaps inevitably, the paper went off the rails again in 2011-6 with another series of stories that boosted those trying to capture state institutions for corrupt purposes. The paper had to retract and apologise for these disastrous stories. </p>
<p>As journalists, we hold those in power to account and demand full transparency from them. But we also wield public power, so I think it is crucial that we hold ourselves to account when we mess up. If we don’t, the politicians will step in and that would be a disaster. </p>
<p>Media self-criticism is not just important to improve our journalism, it is a political, professional and moral imperative. That is why I thought it important to take a deep dive into what happened at the Sunday Times.</p>
<p>The other reason is that this same period saw some of finest and most effective investigative journalism in this country. The <a href="https://www.gupta-leaks.com/">#GuptaLeaks exposé</a> in particular contributed to bringing down a president. The email leaks provided the evidence of the extraordinary and malign influence the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-22513410">Gupta brothers</a>– who stand accused of having captured the South African state for their enrichment – had over the president and his family.</p>
<p>Taken together, I thought these parallel tales would provide insight into the highs and lows of journalism, showing its importance and value, but also its limitations and problems. I hope to enable a better public understanding of the work of journalists and the media, as I think that there is confusion over what we do and don’t do in our newsrooms. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/jurgen-schadeberg-chronicler-of-life-across-apartheids-divides-145390">Jürgen Schadeberg: chronicler of life across apartheid’s divides</a>
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<p>This was not just a Sunday Times issue, but it was about the nature and state of our media, and hopefully I offer some insight into that.</p>
<p>As someone who was involved in the 2007 report, knew all the characters well, and who had been part of judging panels for the <a href="https://journalism.co.za/tacokuiper/">Taco Kuiper Award</a> for investigative journalism, which recognised the Sunday Times for one of these stories and then <a href="https://www.politicsweb.co.za/documents/sunday-times-taco-kuiper-runnerup-award-revoked--a">withdrew that recognition</a>, I had a rare personal perspective on events.</p>
<p>In a way, the book is a personal account from an insider, and I hope I bring to bear an understanding of journalism derived from 40 years of practice, including my own fair share of journalistic blunders.</p>
<h2>Why do your findings matter?</h2>
<p>I hope that I show how good journalism nourishes and feeds citizenship and democracy, but also that it is an imperfect profession working in imperfect structures in an imperfect society - and we need to face up to the reality of what this means.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=909&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358561/original/file-20200917-16-a56ee9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1143&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Journalism can do some good, and it can do a lot of harm, and it usually does both. We have to try and understand how to try and do more good and less harm. This is particularly important at a time when the work we do is facing the triple onslaught of political, financial and disinformation storms.</p>
<p>An important element of the story is how state structures, such as the <a href="http://www.ssa.gov.za/">State Security Agency</a> and <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/about/stratframework/annual_report/2010_2011/6_prg4_crime_intelligence.pdf">Police Crime Intelligence</a>, deliberately and malevolently interfered to distort and harm our journalism for their own purposes. The question to ask is:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>what was it about the Sunday Times that made this newsroom fall for these tricks, when others didn’t? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We have a lot to fix in this country, and as journalists we can start by trying to fix our journalism and our media.</p>
<h2>What are the implications for the media?</h2>
<p>What I highlight is that this is not a problem affecting one newspaper. The problem runs deep in the structure and history of our media. Hopefully, those reading my book will get a better understanding of this and be better equipped for a discussion about what needs to be done to make our media and our democracy work better. </p>
<p>We are facing an onslaught of disinformation, enabled by social media, and we cannot counter it unless we rebuild journalism so that it is a valued and trusted part of our society.</p>
<h2>How can media houses and journalists fix the problems you identify?</h2>
<p>First we need to understand the problem and its causes. That is what I explore in the book. Part of this is to see that this is not a problem for media houses or journalists alone. This is a social, political and economic problem that can’t be solved by the media industry on its own. We have to work with the private sector, the public sector, the philanthropic sector, civil society and the state to ensure we have a media that meets our society’s needs. </p>
<p>We cannot deal with the issues of professionalism and accountability without solving the problems of the fundamental economic structure of the industry. To be a quality industry, we need to be a strong one, and to do this, we need to find a new way to restore its financial foundation.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/journalism-of-drums-heyday-remains-cause-for-celebration-70-years-later-142668">Journalism of Drum's heyday remains cause for celebration - 70 years later</a>
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<p>We are in the extraordinary position where philanthropically funded journalism appears to be more sustainable than the traditional advertising-driven model. This is an inversion of what we always accepted as reality. We are caught in a bind: we need citizens to value us enough to pay for our services in some form, but we don’t have the resources to produce the journalism that would show that value. We first have to recognise that this is a national and societal problem, not just a media one, and then we can tackle it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anton Harber was a member of the internal panel appointed in 2007 to examine problems at the Sunday Times. He was a judge in the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism and the Global Shining Light Awards, both of which recognised one of the stories dealt with in the book. The Taco Kuiper Award panel withdrew Sunday Time's 2011 runner-up award in 2018.</span></em></p>Media self-criticism is not just important to improve journalism, it is a political, professional and moral imperative.Anton Harber, Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.