Fight for Democracy : The ANC and the Media in South Africa

In her penetrating and critical scrutiny of the African National Congress's (ANC) treatment of the print media since the inception of democracy in 1994, Glenda Daniels does not hide behind a veil of detachment. Instead, she makes a passionate argument for the view that newspapers and journalists play a significant role in the deepening of democratic principles. Daniels' study goes to the heart of current debates and asks why the ANC, given its stated commitment to the democratic objectives of the Constitution, is so ambivalent about the freedom of the media. What would be the consequences of a revised media policy on democracy in South Africa, and at what cost to freedom of expression? Daniels examines the pattern of paranoia that has crept into public discourse about the media and the ANC, and the conflicting relationship between the two. She argues that the ANC's understanding of democracy, transformation and development entails (amongst other things) the rallying of the nation behind its leadership as the premier liberation movement and democratically elected representative of the majority while morally coercing black journalists and professionals into loyalty. Daniels challenges the dominant ANC view that journalists are against transformation and that they take instruction from the owners of the media houses; in short that they are "enemies of the people." Fight for Democracy is a timely publication in the context of the impending clampdown on media freedom and the twin threats of the Protection of State Information Bill (Secrecy Bill) and the Media Appeals Tribunal, both of which signify closures in South Africa's democracy. --Provided by publisher Fight for Democracy is a penetrating and critical scrutiny of the ANC’s treatment of the print media since the inception of democracy in 1994. In this book, Glenda Daniels does not hide behind a veil of detachment, but instead makes a passionate argument for the view that newspapers and journalists play a significant role in the deepening of democratic principles. Glenda Daniels examines the pattern of paranoia that has crept into public discourse about the media and the ANC, and their conflictual relationship. She analyses this fraught relationship through various popular media stories, such as Manto and Mondli, Zapiro and Zuma. Her argument is that there is some hysteria on the part of the ruling party and its allies, for instance the SACP, regarding the media’s exposés, which partially rests on the problem of conflating party, state and ‘the people’. Daniels presents her argument against the backdrop of the impending clamp down on media freedom, the twin threats of the Protection of State Information Bill (Secrecy Bill) and the media appeals tribunal, both of which, she asserts, signify closures in South Africa’s democracy. The book challenges the view held by the ANC that journalists are anti-transformation and that they take instruction from the owners of the media houses; that they are ‘capitalist bastards’ and ‘enemies of the people’.Indexed in Clarivate Analytics Book Citation Index (Web of Science Core Collection)