Censorship In South Africa
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The mass media in South Africa has a large
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...
sector and is one of
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
's major media centres. While South Africa's many broadcasters and publications reflect the diversity of the population as a whole, the most commonly used language is English. However, all ten other official languages are represented to some extent or another.
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
is the second most commonly used language, especially in the publishing sector. Up until 1994, the country had a thriving
Alternative press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
comprising community broadsheets, bilingual weeklies and even student "zines" and photocopied
samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...
s. After the elections, funding and support for such ventures dried up, but there has been a resurgence of interest in alternative forms of news gathering of late, particularly since the events of 11 September 2001.


Press freedom

Press freedom Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
has a chequered history in South Africa. While some sectors of the South African media openly criticised the
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
system and the National Party government, they were hampered by various amounts of government
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
during the years. For example, journalist
Donald Woods Donald James Woods (15 December 1933 – 19 August 2001) was a South African journalist and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. As editor of the ''Daily Dispatch'', he was known for befriending fellow activist Steve Bik ...
became renowned after he fled to live in the United Kingdom in exile after helping to expose the truth behind the death of
Steve Biko Bantu Stephen Biko (18 December 1946 – 12 September 1977) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialist, he was at the forefront of a grassroots anti-apartheid campaign known ...
, the leader of the
Black Consciousness Movement The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was a grassroots anti-Apartheid activist movement that emerged in South Africa in the mid-1960s out of the political vacuum created by the jailing and banning of the African National Congress and Pan Afri ...
, along with renowned journalist and current South African politician,
Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...
. After the end of apartheid in 1994 however, censorship ended and a new
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
was enacted which has a
Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
that guarantees that every citizen has the right to freedom of expression, which includes
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...
and media, the freedom to receive or impart information or ideas, freedom of artistic creativity,
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
, and freedom of scientific research. These freedoms are generally respected in practice and the press is considered relatively free. Laws concerning the media and political control over its content are generally considered to be moderate and there is little evidence of repressive measures against
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
s. In consequence, South Africa is ranked 39th in
Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
' worldwide index of press freedom 2015–2016. However, there has also been criticism of certain aspects of the freedom of the press in South Africa. All the large daily newspapers are owned by the four largest media firms, which could lead to pro-
corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...
bias. In addition, the
South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...
(SABC), the public broadcaster, is funded by the ANC-majority government. Some media aspects of the
Oilgate Oilgate is a South African political scandal in which the petrol company Imvume Holdings was accused of paying R11 millions of state money to the ruling African National Congress shortly before the 2004 South African general election, 2004 General ...
scandal have also been a cause for concern as was the banning of the publication of the cartoons of Muhammad in South Africa by Judge Mohammed Jajbhay on 3 February 2006. According to media reports, the SABC blacklisted certain commentators and analysts which may be critical of the government. Recently, the
Protection of Information Bill The South African Protection of State Information Bill, formerly named the Protection of Information Bill and commonly referred to as the Secrecy Bill, is a highly controversial piece of proposed legislation which aims to regulate the, protect ...
and the proposed
Media Appeals Tribunal The Media Appeals Tribunal was proposed in an African National Congress (ANC) 2010 discussion paper, which, in turn, builds on a resolution adopted at the party's 2007 National Conference in Polokwane. A basic premise of the resolution is the idea ...
has caused controversy both domestically and abroad with allegations that press freedom is under threat.


Newspapers

The history of newspapers in South Africa dates back to 1800, when the governor of the
Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
initiated the publishing of the government-controlled ''Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser''. The first privately owned newspaper, the ''SA Commercial Advertiser'' was published in 1824, with
Thomas Pringle Thomas Pringle (5 January 1789 – 5 December 1834) was a Scottish writer, poet and abolitionist. Known as the father of South African poetry, he was the first successful English language poet and author to describe South Africa's scenery, nati ...
and John Fairbairn as editors. The first
Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language. It is the third most widely spoken Germanic language The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-Europea ...
newspaper, ''
De Zuid-Afrikaan ''De Zuid-Afrikaan'' was a nineteenth-century Dutch language newspaper based in Cape Town that circulated throughout the Cape Colony, published between 1830 and 1930. The paper was founded by the advocate Christoffel Johan Brand on 9 April 1830 ...
'', was published in 1830, the first African language newspaper, ''Umshumayeli Wendaba'', in 1837 and the first
Afrikaans language Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...
newspaper, ''
Die Afrikaanse Patriot ''Die Afrikaanse Patriot'' was the first Afrikaans-language newspaper. The first issue was published in Paarl on 15 January 1876. Initially a monthly magazine, it became a weekly two years later. Even though the first edition had just 50 subscribe ...
'', in 1876. The current newspaper industry is in a fairly healthy state. According to a South African Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) survey in 1996, there were 36 daily and weekly urban newspapers in the country – 29 in English, four in Afrikaans, two in Zulu and one in
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
. The dichotomy between demographics and publishing languages can be explained by different literacy levels, the widespread popular use of the English language, as well as South Africa's history of censorship, which curbed the development of a culture of newspaper readership. There are also a large number of free (advertising-funded) local and community newspapers in several different languages. An estimated 1.3 million newspapers are sold in South Africa daily. There are several independently owned newspapers, most notably ''
Mail & Guardian The ''Mail & Guardian'' is a South African weekly newspaper and website, published by M&G Media in Johannesburg, South Africa. It focuses on political analysis, investigative reporting, Southern African news, local arts, music and popular cultu ...
'', however the majority are owned by four large publishing groups:
Avusa Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and Times Media Group, is a media company in South Africa. Avusa means "to rouse feelings, to revive and evoke action". The name was changed in 2007 in order to ...
,
Naspers Naspers Limited is a South African multinational internet, technology and multimedia holding company headquartered in Cape Town, with interests in online retail, publishing and venture capital investment. Naspers' principal shareholder is its ...
,
Independent News and Media Mediahuis Ireland (formally Independent News and Media (INM) )) is a media organisation that is based in Dublin and publishes national daily newspapers, Sunday newspapers, regional newspapers and operates multiple websites including Independent. ...
(owned by
Sekunjalo Investments Sekunjalo Investment Holdings (parent company of African Equity Empowerment Investments) is a black owned South Africa-based private equity firm specializing in acquisitions, PIPEs, and buyouts. It has principal operations in publishing, Inte ...
), and
CTP/Caxton Caxton and CTP Publishers and Printers ( JSE: CAT) is a South African newspaper company. History The company was founded in 1902 by William Gindra and Edward Green, two Pretoria businessmen who started a small stationery and general printing f ...
.


Magazines

South Africa has a very robust magazine industry with an estimated 280 locally published titles available; imported magazines add to this number considerably. The industry's annual turnover in 1998 was estimated to be about R 1.7 billion. While the mass consumer market sector is dominated by only a few publishers (Naspers, Perskor, CTP Holdings, TML), the specialist consumer and trade & technical sectors are very fragmented and contain a large number of small- and medium-sized publishers in addition to the aforementioned major players. As could be expected from South Africa's recent history, its magazine market is (still) characterised by definite differences in the readership of magazines amongst the country's different race groups. A decline in traditional mass consumer magazine titles versus the growth of specialist titles also characterises the industry, as does the growth of magazines specifically aimed at black South Africans, such as ''Drum''. Naspers is the dominant player in the mass consumer magazine sector and sells about two-thirds of all the magazines read in South Africa, including imported magazines. The company publishes large national titles such as ''Fair Lady'', ''Sarie'', ''Insig'', ''
SA Sports Illustrated ''SA Sports Illustrated'' was a South African sports magazine published in print monthly. History and profile Founded by Richard Whittingdale in 1985 as owner, founder and editor. The Swimwear edition also founded in 1985 by Richard. Richard ra ...
'', ''Kickoff'', ''Huisgenoot'', ''You and Drum''. The
Afrikaans language Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch dialects, Dutch vernacular of Holland, Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German set ...
family magazine ''
Huisgenoot ''Huisgenoot'' (Afrikaans language, Afrikaans for ''House Companion'') is a weekly South African Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine. It has the highest circulation figures of any South African magazine and is followed by sister ...
'' has the largest circulation of any South African magazine and is followed by ''You'', its English language version; these two magazines have a combined circulation of almost one million copies a week. ''Fair Lady'' and ''Sarie'' are South Africa's largest selling English- and Afrikaans-language women's magazines, respectively. Other large mass market publishers are Perskor (Republican Press), CTP Holdings and Times Media. Specialist consumer magazines are also published by the aforementioned publishers, as well as by Primedia Publishing, Kagiso Media and Ramsay Son & Parker. In the trade and technical sector Primedia is the largest publisher.


Books

The book publishing industry in South Africa is relatively small, but it is nevertheless a key factor in its economy. There are more than 120 publishers in the country, according to the Publishers' Association of South Africa (PASA). Among these are commercial publishers,
university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars ...
es,
non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...
s and one-person privately owned publishers. Of the 120 publishers who are members of the PASA, about 12 are classified as large publishers, 7 as medium-sized publishers and the remaining 101 as small publishers. Books are published in all eleven official languages of South Africa as well as in some non-official and foreign languages. Works published include fiction, non-fiction, children's books, reference works as well as school and university textbooks.
Electronic publishing Electronic publishing (also referred to as publishing, digital publishing, or online publishing) includes the digital publication of e-books, Online magazine, digital magazines, and the development of digital library, digital libraries and catalo ...
is also a growing segment of the publishing industry. While some publishers specialise in the type of books they produce (for example textbooks), the majority of the large and medium publishers publish in several categories. There are also a number of book importers and distributors active in South Africa as the great majority of books sold in South Africa (especially fiction) are still imported, mostly from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and the United States. This has resulted in relatively high prices being charged for books in comparison with the income of the average South African. The South African publishing industry employs about 3,000 people full-time, as well as many freelance workers. In addition, it is estimated that the South African publishing industry employs about 9,000 authors (full- and part-time), who together earn an estimated R 150 million in royalties annually. The book-printing and bookselling are also largely dependent on this industry.


Television

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
is the most tightly regulated media sector in South Africa and is (along with radio) regulated by the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) is an independent regulatory body of the South African government, established in 2000 by the ICASA Act to regulate both the telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in the publ ...
(ICASA). Broadcast rights, especially for television, are issued by invitation only and only two independent television broadcasters have been permitted to operate up to now. Broadcast licenses mandate percentages of local, community and educational content and broadcasters are required to include such content as a condition of their license. As a result, there are only four free-to-air terrestrial television channels in South Africa, the
South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations ( AM/ FM) as well as six television broadcasts to the general public. It is one of the largest of South Africa's state ...
's SABC 1, SABC 2 and SABC 3 as well as
e.tv e.tv (commonly referred to on-air as e) is the first and only privately owned free-to-air television station in South Africa. It is the fifth terrestrial television channel in the country, following three channels that are operated by the sta ...
. The South African Broadcasting Corporation or SABC is South Africa's state-owned
public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
. All broadcasters are subject to the Broadcast Complaints Commission.
Multichoice MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa and GOtv, a minor service operating in over 9 countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the sub ...
is the oldest provider of pay TV and satellite broadcasting in the country, with one terrestrial pay TV channel,
M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...
, and
DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple audio, ...
, a digital
satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
network with over 55 local and international channels that broadcasts to over 2 million subscribers throughout Africa. In November 2008 four new licenses were granted, from a total of 18 applications, for the operation of pay-TV services. Walking on Water (a Christian broadcaster), On Digital Media and e-Sat (the satellite arm of e.tv) were all expected to start direct-to-home satellite broadcasts in mid-2008. This did not happen as only On succeeded in launching its Top TV service. Even
Telkom Media Telkom Media is a pay-TV company based in South Africa. It is intended to be the first provider of IPTV services in South Africa. History South African fixed-line telephone operator Telkom announced the creation of Telkom Media in August 2006, w ...
which was supposed to operate satellite services as well as IPTV services such as video-on-demand, never took off and was subsequently sold to Shenzhen Media South Africa. On Digital Media is 68% black owned.


Radio stations

Radio has always been South Africa's biggest broadcast medium; From the 1960s, South Africa was a world leader in FM radio technology. In 1962, five FM radio stations broadcast, each to a particular language group. The content of the broadcasts ranged widely, over music, sports, religion, current affairs and drama. By the mid 1980s another five languages had their own stations and four music-only regional, commercial broadcasters had been added to the FM network. The sector's deregulation in 1996 led to an even bigger proliferation of radio stations. For example, there are about 4 radio stations available to
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
listeners. Broadcasts range from the country-wide and regional radio stations of the state-owned and funded SABC to fully commercial privately owned stations to community stations that target specific cities, towns, neighbourhoods or ethnic groups. Approximately eighty community radio licenses have been issued, although a quarter of these are inoperative.Donal P. McCracken & Ruth E. Teer-Tomaselli, 'Communication in Colonial and Post-Colonial Southern Africa', in Peter Simonson, The Handbook of Communication History (Routledge, 2013), pp. 424–439, here p. 436. The majority of radio stations broadcast in English, although the other official languages of South Africa are represented on the airwaves as well. The industry is regulated by ICASA.


Internet and telecommunications

In comparison with the rest of Africa, this sector is fairly big and robust. However, it is dominated by the fixed line
monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
Telkom, which has been criticised in recent years for hampering further growth. Telephone and internet access is also available via mobile network operators, such as
Vodacom Vodacom Group Limited is a South-Western African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers. From its roots in South Africa, Vodacom has grown its operations to include n ...
and MTN, but is an even more expensive option.


See also

*
Alternative media in South Africa South Africa has a long history of alternative media. During the 1980s there was a host of community and grassroots newspapers that supplied content that ran counter to the prevailing attitudes of the times. In addition, a thriving small press and ...
*
List of radio stations in South Africa This is a list of radio stations in South Africa. M Note: The list of commercial stations tends to be more stable, with few additions or removals. The list of community stations tends to change quite a bit, with many changes over time (mainly due ...
*
List of newspapers in South Africa This is a list of newspapers in South Africa. In 2017, there were 22 daily and 25 weekly major urban newspapers in South Africa, mostly published in English or Afrikaans. According to a survey of the South African Audience Research Foundation ...
*
List of South African media The is a list of South African mass media, including newspapers, television stations, radio stations and various alternative media. Newspapers National *''Beeld'' (available in 5 of 9 provinces) *''Business Day'' *'' City Press'' *''Daily Mav ...
*
Cinema of South Africa The cinema of South Africa refers to the films and film industry of the nation of South Africa. Many foreign films have been produced about South Africa (usually involving race relations). The first South African film to achieve international ...
* South African literature *
South African comics A South African comic is a book or periodical published in South Africa that contains sequential art stories. South African comics are usually self-published books that cover a wide range of subject matter and styles. List of South African comics ...


References


Bibliography

* *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Media of South Africa
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...