Shooting the messenger

Mmegi Editor | Friday May 16, 2014 18:09

 

The section in question makes it a criminal offence to “publish any false statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace”.

The section places the onus on the accused to prove he took measures to verify the accuracy of his statement prior to the publication, thus effectively making the publisher guilty until proven innocent, contrary to the fundamentals of our criminal law.

This draconian section is tucked away in an antiquated corner of the Penal Code, which also includes punishments for defamations of foreign princes and piracy on the high seas!

Makgophe’s statement stems from media reports of a “weekend of madness” in which BNF leader, Duma Boko’s house was broken into and labour leader, Johnson Motshwarakgole, attacked in separate incidents. At a subsequent rally, opposition leaders spoke of being on a “hit list” by state-sponsored assassins.

The Office of the President responded strongly dismissing the “hit list”, while President Ian Khama also took pot shots at both the opposition and the claims of assassination schemes.

Throughout the period, the media have faithfully conducted their role, from initially reporting the “hit-list” allegations, to the arrest of Boko’s supposed assassin, the subsequent revelation that the young man was a mere petty thief, to Boko dropping break-in charges against the thief.

This is what journalists do: they follow the story as accurately, as fairly and with as much balance as is humanely possible within the limitations of time and space.

There have been instances, admittedly, when the media has got it wrong in terms of fair reportage, but the “hit-list” affair is not one of them. Batswana were able to factually follow the story as it unfolded from the initial incident, the claims, the responses from Khama and the Office of the President and the eventual courtroom pardon drama.

At no point did the media fabricate any of the news items around the “hit list” story or attempt to cause “fear and alarm.” Instead through vigilance, the story was followed to the conclusion that the “hit list” was the product of either fertile or paranoid imaginations.

Rather than tackle the owners of these “imaginations” Makgophe dusts off an out-dated section of the Penal Code and throws it at the media. Rather than simply end his statement at saying police have investigated the hit-list claims and found nothing, Makgophe uses the opportunity to take a swipe at the media.

This, in mass communication theory, is classic example of displacement or the tendency to attack what you view as a feebler opponent, when angered by a formidable opponent.

This is thus an opportune time to inform Makgophe that the media is neither feeble nor under any illusions about the undertones of his statement.

                                                               Today’s thought

“A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.”

 

                                                                – Albert Camus