------------------5922FF  240908Z /38    
R 240904Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 8238
INFO AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 
AMCONSUL DURBAN 
AMCONSUL CAPE TOWN

UNCLAS PRETORIA 000821 
 
DEPT FOR AF/S - RMARBURG 
DEPT FOR AF/PD - LALLISON, RBROOKS 
DEPT FOR IIP/AS - CBERGIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SA KDEM SF
SUBJECT:  Media Coverage of South African Elections 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: Across the spectrum - from the daily newspapers to television broadcasts to community radio - coverage of the 2009 elections in South Africa dominated the media in the weeks leading up to the April 22 vote, and ruled the airwaves on election day itself.  In what is widely considered South Africa's most competitive elections, the media was a player not only in information dissemination, but also served a critical role in voter education. END SUMMARY 
 
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Who, What and Where, but Not Why and How 
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¶2. Coverage running up to the elections focused largely on individual leaders and campaign events.  Two  particular stories that received many column inches were the now-dismissed corruption charges against ANC president (and the presumed next South African president) Jacob Zuma and the provocative statements of Julius Malema, leader of the ANC Youth League.  Despite tremendous voter concern over poverty, service delivery, crime and education, the media almost completely failed to delve into these issues with substantive analysis or investigation of party positions. 
 
¶3. According to some analysts, including independent human rights NGO Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) and Media Tenor South Africa, voters were shortchanged by this lack of coverage of party platforms and key voter concerns.  MMA specifically cited concerns that media reports focused on party leadership, rather than substantive issues, and that stories lacked context and were confusing to voters.  A report by the Open Source Center quoted Wadim Schreiner, CEO of Media Tenor South Africa, noting that the SA media failed to assist the "undecided to make an informed choice" and focused more on 
"sound bites rather than assessment." 
 
¶4. South African media outlets did provide detailed guidance on the logistics of voting, including detailed diagrams of the physical set-up of voting stations, exact reproductions of the ballots and simple step-by-step 'this is how you vote' articles.  In the two weeks leading to the elections, 'how-to-vote' diagrams, maps and articles appeared more than a dozen times in daily press. 
 
¶5. As is traditional, editorial boards of the major daily newspapers did not formally endorse candidates, although individual columnists did. Instead, column inches were dedicated to reminding voters of 
their profound responsibility in voting, and underscoring that the struggle for democracy in South Africa is honored through voter turnout.  Several editorial cartoons, too, which typically have no qualms in lampooning party leaders, took a solemn tact on April 22, respectively portraying a vote as the highest honor, and the culmination of history, in South Africa. 
 
¶6. On election day itself, the government-funded South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC) and the free-to-air station eTV ran nearly full-day election coverage, with local reports from major SA cities with man-on-the-street interviews, updates on voting queues, and special coverage of political leaders voting, including Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma.  All major news outlets established reporting bases 
at the Independent Election Commission Results Operations Center.  Both SABC and eTV broadcast directly from the 'ROC' on election day and continue to as the vote count is completed. 
 
(7) COMMENT: The South African press is diverse, politically engaged and relishes its role as a watchdog.  It has been referred to by numerous South African analysts as the real political opposition.  Qnumerous South African analysts as the real political opposition.  At the same time, it is largely focused on personalities, scandals and events in South African politics, rather than policies, issues and initiatives.  There is a lack of depth and diversity in reporting due in large part to young, poorly-trained journalists, 
who must cover a wide array of issues.  Additionally, the South African media is experiencing the same economic hardship as American media - two of the largest newspaper groups, Media24 and the 
Independent papers, have recently gone through major restructuring and layoffs.  As MMA's William Bird notes, "The media need to realize that part of their agenda as South Africans that enjoy 
constitutional guarantees to freedom of expression, is that [the media has] a duty and responsibility to devote time and space to reporting issues that enable citizen participation." END COMMENT. 
 
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