WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2004-02-25 Posted By: Jan
From the News Archives of: WWW.AfricanCrisis.Org
Date & Time Posted: 2/25/2004 5:31:04 AM
S.Africa: Top Cop: psychosis of fear, despair and distrust
[See, here they go: its “negative reporting”. How about: ITS THE TRUTH! They say the media “reports negatively”. No you moron, the countries are run by fools and some (not all) of these facts get out. Much is covered up that doesn’t get out – which should. The problem lies in Government and not with the media or anything else. In fact, the media are bending over backwards to make things sound as good as they can – within reason. Jan]
Cape Town – Western Cape commissioner of police, Mzwandile Petros, has accused the media of feeding a “psychosis of fear, despair and distrust in the authorities”.
The claim is contained in a February 4 newsletter from his office, bearing his name and meant for internal police distribution.
However the newsletter was also handed out to journalists at a “relationship building” meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon, attended by Petros and chaired by Western Cape community safety MEC Leonard Ramatlakane.
The newsletter, headed “communicating with the media”, says that according to research, Africa “is seen as a lost media continent due to our media’s insistence on negative reporting, which is regarded by them as commercially advantageous”.
“This leads to the South African public losing perspective about what is newsworthy.”
Petros quotes findings from a magazine, Media Tenor, that the South African media are “predominantly spreading negative news”, singling out the Mail and Guardian and the Citizen as the weekly and daily papers with the largest percentage of “negative” reporting.
“Negative press generates a feeling of hopelessness in our societies and it strikes fear in the hearts of our citizens,” he says.
He says the police have had their image tarnished repeatedly because of irresponsible reporting, and in the light of this, provincial police management had recently decided to “centralise” media liaison.
“The idea of this is to change the perception that the media is in control,” he says.
He says is it however important to be clear that the media are not meant to be doing public relations for the police, but rather that they should act as watchdogs for the community.
“This brings us to an all-important matter, namely irresponsible media feeding, and the feeding of the psychosis of fear, despair and distrust in the authorities.
Learn from our past experience
“What we need to learn from our past experience is that it is crucial for any discussion between us and the media to be conducted in a responsible manner.
“The SAPS member can play an enormous role in creating an awareness in the media of the dos and don’ts of responsible reporting.”
Tuesday’s meeting took place against the backdrop of what journalists in the province – and apparently many police on the ground – thought was a directive that all communication with the media should be channelled through the provincial head office.
However Petros said this was a misunderstanding, and that what was intended was that officers at lower levels who did talk to the media should at the same time inform their area or provincial superiors what was going on.
Petros left the meeting early to catch a flight; responding to journalists’ criticisms of the newsletter, Ramatlakane said he apologised if Petros’ words were construed as media-bashing.
“It is not in us to do that,” he said. “It’s probably unintended consequences and we want to apologise…. we’re now moving forward.”
Edited by Jannie Momberg
Source: News24.com
URL: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/New…br>