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The following is extracted from the IFEX Communique.


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 **  *****  *****    ***           COMMUNIQUE # 4 - 24
 **  **     **      ** **          19 June 1995
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International Freedom of Expression eXchange Clearing House
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SOUTH AFRICA: ALTERNATIVE PRESS COLLAPSES AS PRESS BARONS GAIN

The alternative press in South Africa has collapsed along with
the apartheid system that once made it so strong, reports Guy
Berger, former Editor of the Cape Town paper "South", in the
latest issue (Volume 24 3/1995) of "Index on Censorship". The
article, part of a feature section on South Africa, tracks the
downfall of the alternative press which unexpectedly resulted
from the lifting of the ban on the African National Congress
(ANC) in 1990. At this point, "the old white mainstream press
began to encroach on `alternative press' turf: black politics,
human rights abuses, even investigative and educational
journalism." The alternative media survived the revolution in
South Africa, but "succumbed after liberation to the commercial
realities of South Africa's skewed market-place," writes Berger.
"Democracy did not touch the pricey printing and distribution
systems sewn up by the mainstream, nor the needs of advertisers."

The "Index" article analyses the corporate makeup of the
mainstream media in South Africa, noting its disadvantages and
its benefits. Although black South Africans have still not
benefited as owners or readers, one media mogul, Tony O'Reilly,
introduced affirmative action among journalists and appointed the
first black editor of a white paper. Although Berger says things
are changing and black media ownership is not far off, he notes
the inevitable caveat that "as the racial character of ownership
becomes less of an issue, other matters are raising their heads:
further foreign ownership, cross-ownership, and editorial
independence." The last item remains the most important as the
media become more competitive, commercialized and foreign-owned.
Berger warns that concerned journalists and editors are trying to
keep owners "at bay;" while owners are trying to close down the
Press Council, which editors need to settle disputes with owners.

In a separate piece, Gabu Tugwana, Editor of the "New Nation" in
Johannesburg, discusses the turgid nine-year history of his
paper, "born from the belly of a vicious censorship machine,
which banned at least seven editions and shut down the
publication for three months." Founding Editor Zwelakhe Sisulu
was detained without trial for more than two years, the offices
were ransacked by the secret police many times, and a staff
photographer was bribed, albeit unsuccessfully, to spy on the
paper. "All this in the name of preventing the newspaper from
publishing material allegedly a threat to the maintenance of
public order or likely to delay the termination of the State of
Emergency under apartheid," comments Tugwana. Although freedom of
expression is now guaranteed under the Constitution, "New Nation"
continues to face intimidation from disgruntled targets of its
reporting. A story in April on the convicted murderers of an ANC
leader elicited a response from the right-wing Africaaner
Weerstands-Beweging (AWB) that threatened the reporter
responsible. Soon after, a Taiwanese clothing factory
unsuccessfully sought an injunction from the Supreme Court in an
effort to prevent the paper from publishing a story on "inhuman
working practices."


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