Special Hearings — Media Hearings — UNKNOWN

UNKNOWN: The Forum of Black Journalist was formed roughly 24 months ago. It did take centre stage and attracted public attention when it was officially launched here at the SABC in January this year.  The surprising aspect of it is that although we have been operating quite above the ground, we were equally taken aback by the amount of or the surprise that the launch of the FBJ caused especially amongst our white colleagues in the industry, in the profession in the craft.	We started this Forum of Black Journalists basically to come together as a monolithic group, we shared same values, same experiences, the same problems, same joys, same sorrows in our career as journalists, as black journalists.  Although from time to time we have been misconstrued to be a union, we had been at pains to explain to all and sundry that we are not, rather we are a pressure group, we are an interest group of Black Journalists whose main aim is to advance the training and development of black Journalist.  As a cardinal point we recognise the fact that as black Journalist, by and large, we have been less trained and less skilled than our white counterparts in the news rooms and also the fact that our, if any development on our part, by our bosses, that kind of development and advancement has been determined by how good a boy or a girl you are unto them.  We had decided that the time had come for us determine our own, to shape our own future, determine our own destiny within the profession.	These are the basic aims on which the Forum of Black Journalist was found, but it is not an antagonist group towards the establishment as some critics may want others to believe, because since January this year we have been working in close contact with the bosses, I mean with editors with the proprietors of the media in this country we are, we had been in close contact with, for an example, Sanef, at its highest level, through also, members of us who happened to be black editors.  That is about it.

UNKNOWN: So, training and development of black journalists is one of your measure aims?

UNKNOWN: I would say it is the key aim.

UNKNOWN: It is the key aim.

UNKNOWN: To train and advance black journalists.

UNKNOWN: Okay.  I should think that that is important, as I have indicated that over the past few days that has been of major concern.  You, in your presentation you have just mentioned that in the past people who were struggling for liberation, for a cause of, for a cause of liberation were punished and those, at the same time opportunities were created for people to serve the States in operations which were anti-liberation struggles.  As Forum of Black Journalists by virtue of your formation, are you not at risk of ending up being heavily influenced by your ideological position?

UNKNOWN: You can answer that.

MONDLI MAKHANYA: Yes, in answer to that I will say that we are professional journalists, we know the distinction between what I, myself, may consider to be an ideology to me and what I have to do in carrying out my craft and there is no way, I think, that we can be influenced in that way.  If there, if such a development were to happen it would be indicative of lack of professionalism on the part of particular members of the Forum of Black Journalists.

UNKNOWN: May I also add on that, Mam.  We in the FBJ whenever people come to join the FBJ we do not require of them to disclose their ideological alignings or so.  So, as a result you have, in the Forum of Black Journalists, people who probably would belong to the ANC, the National Party, the DP, Azapo and some, of course, who belong nowhere.  So, really, that is not a determinate factor of people operating within the Forum of Black Journalists.  There are no politics that are involved there.  The only politics that I can talk of is the advancement in the training of black journalists.  Not politics as far as political organisation or parties are concerned.

UNKNOWN: Thank you.  In your presentation, also, you referred to racism as have been a major obstacle in the development of journalism in this country.  In my understanding of racism, I mean in simple terms, is the setting whereby race is used as a factor in setting up structures, creating opportunities, determining who can do what and in calculating certain values which are formed by ones race.  In this Forum of Black Journalists is race an issue?  There is, I mean, I am asking that because I see the formation as having a risk of modelling after what you hated the most in the past?

MONDLI MAKHANYA: There is no risk of that developing out of the Forum of Black Journalists.  The Forum of Black Journalists, essentially, our reason for existence is to change, is to act as a body to change the inequalities which developed in the past and we are a pressure group, we are a group that is very active in the media industry in changing both the composition of the media establishment and the mindset of the media establishment.  We hope that we will, if we are successful in our endeavours we will work ourselves out of existence.

UNKNOWN: Yes, the reason I am saying that, because yesterday we heard from other witnesses, Pat Sidley saying, giving an explanation for a certain position which they took on grounds that, well, basically we are a white middle class.  So, that is why I am thinking that it is important for us not to take naive and informed positions about our behaviours.  I am saying this not as a critique of what you are doing, but as a way of assisting us to understand who you are, what you stand for and how can this forum contribute towards improving most of the problems that we are talking about.  As a formation which, as I understand what you are saying, is informed by where you come from, the oppressed group, so to say, how are you going to deal with the risk of over identifying with the present Government in view of the fact that they are also an emerging survivor group, so to say.  This, for us, is very, very important, because we have heard the risks of naive or, what can I say, blind alliances between the media and the State.

UNKNOWN: Mam, over and over again we have been asked the same question about our relationship with the Black Government and we have over and over again made the position very clear that we are a group of black journalists, professional journalists and that the Government is the Government in the way we look at the Government and there is no conniving whatsoever between us and the Government.  There is no way Forum of Black Journalists will be, ever, be used as some extension of the Government or some surreptitious group that has been planted there to push the line of the Government.  That is not the case.  In fact, we are more closer to our white colleagues in the news rooms than we are closer to anyone who walks around in that Parliament under the name of the, the title of an MP.  If that makes sense.

MONDLI MAKHANYA: As, just in addition to that, we have monthly forums at which we invite various speakers to put their points across to a body, I mean, like, to a body of journalist from all over Johannesburg, from various media institutions.  Basically, we call these Imbizos.  What happens there is that we bring people from across the political spectrum, from all organisations they have been there, we have called academics and we have called people in the business sector to come and address us and basically it is to give journalists a full view of everything that is happening across South African society. 	So, there cannot be anything that should paint the FBJ as something that is or might in, at some future stage, come closer to, let us say an ANC led Government. Of course, we are on our guard, we are wary that because we are journalists people will try to manipulate us, people will try to get us on to their side, we are conscious of all that and we are alert.