The nature of the beast

BYexecuting its mandate of serving the interests of the public, a credible newspaper such as the Zululand Observer will at times inevitably come into conflict with certain parties who would like negative or unsavoury information to be kept from public scrutiny.

When such material is published, the affected individuals or groups usually react in an immature fashion, trying to deflect the negative consequences of their own actions by accusing the newspaper of having an agenda to deliberately discredit it.

It is nonsense, of course, but an ongoing malady the media has to live with.

The Zululand Observer last week again experienced this kind of reputation trashing attempts.

Our Monday edition’s front page story about serious internal strife between senior officials in the uMhlathuze Municipality and accusations of political bullying, elicited venomous responses from certain quarters.

Social media comments ranged from ‘… there are journalists who are being paid to do this’, ‘… we are about to fire a first warning shot… to these puppets’, to ‘We have to wipe this newspaper off from here in Zululand’ and ‘…lies they publish so it tarnishes our black leaders.’

Not once in the article did the Zululand Observer express an opinion or take sides. In accordance with professional journalistic standards, we merely reflected the comments of officials involved in the squabble and referred to documented facts which are already public knowledge.

As subscriber to the South African Press Code principles of reporting news truthfully, accurately and fairly, we don’t create news, we merely reflect issues that come our way and which we deem to be of public interest.

Conflict among municipal officers – the servants of the people – and accusations of maladministration certainly falls within this ambit.

The unsubstantiated claim that one of our journalists is paid to pursue a specific agenda, is also rejected with contempt.

In the Zululand Observer’s 45-year history, no journalist has ever been guilty of so called ‘brown envelope’ journalism. In the news business this is probably the most despicable offence and grounds for instant dismissal.

Despite the pressures and false accusations, this newspaper cannot be intimidated to protect or promote selected parties.

The only criteria is that our communities are truthfully informed on matters which affect their lives.