With October 19 commemorating the 45th anniversary of Black Wednesday also marked as National Press Freedom Day, Media Monitoring Africa hosted a media freedom festival and the topic for the night was the state of media in South Africa. The Gazette asked the audience for their thoughts about the topic and this is what they
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JENNY TENNANT: I think tonight's discussion was valuable. It was important to raise the issues the media in South Africa continue to face. The state of freedom in South Africa is horrifying and has a long way to go.
With October 19 commemorating the 45th anniversary of Black Wednesday also marked as National Press Freedom Day, Media Monitoring Africa hosted a media freedom festival and the topic for the night was the state of media in South Africa. The Gazette asked the audience for their thoughts about the topic and this is what they had to say…
AYANDA SISHI-WIGZELL: I think the state of media freedom is in trouble because our media spaces are still not diversified. The hiring practices of media also need to be regulated because black people are not being included.VIKESH ROOPCHAND: I think the discussion around the state of the media in the country needed to be explored further with where we are currently. Such discussions are important to be had so that we don’t lose media freedom.SIMA NJO: The state of freedom in South African media is worrying. One of the panellists mentioned that some journalists face intimidation and threats for doing their jobs and that is worrying.
