News fights more than one pandemic

This is the good NEWS – Ed

On Wednesday 18 October 1977, the iron fist of the apartheid government cracked down on the media. A number of newspapers were banned and several well-known journalists arrested. This date is marked every year as a warning.

However, a mere 43 years later, we are seeing the resurgence of an equally pernicious phenomenon. In mutated form and in the company of Covid-19, another virus is consuming the world, not just South Africa. Fake news spreads like wildfire across borders. By means of social media, in a matter of hours, whole populations can be bullied, manipulated and driven to mass panic or aggression. It allows no room for debate, argument or alternative opinions.

The only antidote is the availability of a wide spectrum of independent, thoughtful and unbiased media. In this country we should be proud to have produced some of the best investigative journalists to be found anywhere, who have been afforded the time and opportunity to dig into dark secrets and murky relationships, and untangle webs of corruption.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 8)