The eMedia news broadcasting channel eNCA is embroiled in yet another censorship scandal.
eNCA staff says broadcaster censored Jacob Zuma
As reported by Pretoria News, the news channel’s editorial team drafted a memorandum that was passed on to higher-ups, containing claims that journalists were prevented from providing live coverage of Jacob Zuma’s media briefing held in his Nkandla homestead, on Sunday 2 July.
No names are listed in the memo seen by the cited publication but it’s alleged that eNCA management made the call to censor the former president that night.
Zuma had addressed the media for the first time since he was convicted to 15 months for contempt, by the Constitutional Court. Tensions were high in the country’s political arena and millions of concerned South Africans were tuned in to hear Zuma’s side of the story.
Except, eNCA was the only local 24-hour news channel that did not broadcast the live presser. According to staffers who penned the memo, “there is clearly a chain of command that determines which voices are to be snuffed out of the airwaves at eNCA.”
“It is ironic that some of the decisions taken end up costing the channel significantly in viewership numbers, which invariably translates to pressure on desk, field, studio and on-air teams to account for plummeting numbers,” the memo read.
Is eNCA a biased news organisation?
In reading the memo penned by disgruntled staffers, a lingering question remains: Why did a broadcasting channel with great influence and a slogan that claims to represent the full spectrum of the news cycle “without fear or favour” neglect to showcase Zuma’s version of the prison saga to millions of its viewers?
According to the organisation’s employees, censorship at eNCA is a “tendency has been creeping in gradually, and arguably quite insidiously, over a period of time.”
However, in the view of the channel’s Managing Editor John Bailey, not only is this widely untrue, but the allegations detailed in the internal memo “are without substance.”
Bailey vehemently dismissed claims that of censorship at the channel’s newsroom. In fact, the managing editor shrugged off eNCA’s controversial decision to not broadcast the Zuma address as a decision taken by senior editorial staff and management.
“Even though eNCA did not cover the media briefing live in the traditional manner, the events taking place at Nkandla were widely reported on throughout the day. The fact that any one or more persons did not like the way that eNCA decided to report on the event is irrelevant. The fact of the matter is there was no censorship and eNCA reported on the events in the manner it deemed was appropriate,” Bailey said.
The editor confirmed that the contents of the memo have been addressed with the concerned staffers. However, nothing has surfaced on the actions the broadcaster aims to take to root out censorship in a newsroom that purports itself to be unbiased and independent.