When online fame destroys botho, journalism with it

The public apology issued by Tshepo Sethibe, popularly known as Moeladilotlhoko, was necessary but it was also an admission. An admission that a line was crossed. An admission that harm was done. And, most importantly, an admission that ethics matter, even to those who loudly claim they do not.For days, the public was treated to a crude and embarrassing spectacle as Moeladilotlhoko and Omphile Siphiwe Boikanyo, known as Motaso, traded insults during a live Facebook broadcast. What played out was not journalism, not truth-telling and certainly not accountability. It was rage-streamed in real time, packaged as authenticity and consumed as entertainment. Families were dragged in. Women were demeaned. Decency was abandoned.

Both men are Batswana. That should matter more than it apparently does. Ours is a society built on botho - on restraint, respect and accountability. In any traditional setting, behaviour of this nature would have triggered an immediate intervention and a blunt question: Batho ba batsadi ba bone ba kae? Where are the elders? Where is the shame that once kept excess in check?