— 03/06/2008 The best qualities of western journalism focused on South Africa
A FAREWELL SALUTE TO OUR READERS
Paul Trewhela
Ever-fasternews managed to find a balance between reportage and analysis. The reportage came from South Africa, mostly from reports in the South African press published online, then copied, sub-edited and posted on ever-fasternews. This was journalism often of the highest quality. Analysis came from individual articles from the South African press published online (frequently from editorials or regular columns written by established writers), from contributions by readers which may or may not have been published elsewhere, and from original interpretation by members of the editorial team. Original analysis derived from a wide-ranging and varied combination of experience of South African political conditions of over fifty years as well as from immediate contemporary experience. The criteria of selection for posting of articles related to the best qualities of western journalism.
A synthesis to widen political education
Ever-fasternews was able to provide a reliable, accurate, comprehensive and intelligent synthesis of the most important material for an assessment of current conditions in South Africa, grounded in historical knowledge both of the apartheid-era political superstructure and of its illegal, imprisoned or exiled adversaries. This permitted judgments – with the speculative element always carefully distinguished from fact – which probed the political class in South Africa with perceptions that deserve continued, ongoing attention. In the case of the interpretive writing by the website’s founding co-editor, James Myburgh - educated at the universities of Cape Town and Oxford, now editor also of www.politicsweb.co.za, based in Johannesburg - interpretation of current South African political behaviour and political character was informed by lucid access to the political theory of Hannah Arendt, George Orwell, Niccolo Machiavelli, Aristotle and Voltaire. To this degree, ever-fasternews has functioned also as an educator, enabling readers to widen their political education, with issues of the contemporary held vividly in mind.
In line with a corps of first-rate black journalists
These qualities allowed ever-fasternews to place itself alongside major events, in some cases anticipating them. It gave careful attention to the writing of a growing corps of first-rate black journalists in South Africa, one of the most optimistic signs in an otherwise often bleak picture. Courage, independence of mind, an attention to detail and first-hand access to important sources of information and analysis made the writing of these journalists, copied from their newspapers’ online websites, a crucial element in ever-fasternews’s wide coverage, and an example of contemporary South African culture at its best. All in all, the combination of these sources enabled ever-fasternews to pioneer high-quality political blogging focused on South Africa, edited in its last year from both inside and outside South Africa.
The future of internet journalism relating to South Africa
Online journalism of this kind is a medium that will develop ever more strongly in the immediate future. It will make despotic and corrupt government ever more difficult. No funding whatever was needed for ever-fasternews to provide this service, which until Myburgh entered into his relation with Moneyweb and then with Politicsweb was edited and produced with no commercial support at all. World quality online journalism of a professional standard was provided on an entirely voluntary basis. Others are free to emulate this example. In the light of threats from the Mbeki government to monitor (ie, to gag) the hard copy press in South Africa - threats that have been intensified from the Zuma camp - the internet threatens the political autocracy with a truly democratic capacity for scrutiny, at little cost. Dysfunctional government and politicians should beware the internet!
A celebration of independent journalism
In this way, ever-fasternews demonstrated the possibilities of blogging as a way of producing high quality journalism in news and analysis, and of connecting up a wide variety of readers and contributors. It has shown how independent thinking, even when unfunded by any organisation or interest group, is able to make active fruitful connection with the major issues of the day. There are several other important blogs relating to South Africa; ever-fasternews equalled the best of them, and on occasion also posted pieces from these blogs, participating in a growing fraternity of the net. This was a crowning achievement for Stanley Uys, the principal editor of ever-fasternews, culminating a professional career as political columnist and as editor of over half a century. Ever-fasternews comes to an end at a high plane, with the highest ever number of visits to its website recorded last month.
Stanley Uys's career in South African journalism began in the first decade of the government of the National Party and continued into the second decade of government by the ANC. With initial tuition in administration of an online website from James Myburgh (from a much younger generation!), Uys was able on ever-fasternews to salute the brave editorship particularly of Mondli Makhanya of the Sunday Times, the biggest selling newspaper in South Africa, represented over 30 years ago as Political Editor and Associate Editor by Uys himself. Makhanya’s editorials, reproduced on ever-fasternews, are proof of the continuity of one of the country’s finest civic traditions, its tradition of independent journalism. Illness finally called the blog's end.
Restriction on access for the great majority of the population
Over half of all visits to ever-fasternews have regularly come from the United States, the second biggest fraction from South Africa. It has been read as far afield as China, and helped inform the BBC World Service. There is reason to believe that members of the political class in South Africa read ever-fasternews very widely, as do journalists active in the media there. For general South African readers, however, there is an economic barrier to access defined very broadly by class: an ironic commentary on a government whose members had a very general schooling from Karl Marx. Prohibitive usage rates charged by the telecommunications monopoly, Telkom - in which government has a major financial stake - place broadband access out of the reach of the overwhelming majority of the population, including a major section of the professional middle class (outside of work), and the overwhelming majority of schools. Under current world conditions, this serves to act as an effective censor on information, to the political benefit of the ANC in government, which in adddition brazenly employs the public broadcaster as its private propaganda organ. The effect of this statist, self-serving, semi-totalitarian policy of the ANC as the dominant single-party controller of government is disastrous for the country's economy, polity and culture, and can only have increasingly destructive effects through time. [See 'Wikipedia co-founder slams Telkom monopoly' (27 February 2008)]. The influence of ever-fasternews within South Africa does then seem to have been mainly by a process of osmosis, through filtration of information and interpretation via other media, or by word of mouth. The nearest comparison is to the role of banned and underground journalism under apartheid (a forum in which the current writer played a part). This is not a bad accolade in the context of modern South African history, and not one from which a problematic governing party can derive much comfort, despite still relatively very weak access by black readers to the net. The poverty of the great majority was not ultimately a secure shield for its predecessor. The truth will out.
A salute to our readers
Ever-fasternews concludes with a salute to our readers, and a big thank you for your support. We urge readers to consult www.politicsweb.co.za, edited by James Myburgh with youthful zest, with as much attention as you have given previously to this site. Regular contributors to ever-fasternews hope to place occasional articles on politicsweb in the coming months, and look forward to meeting with our readers again there. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to serve your interest in South Africa .
Websites that readers may wish to consult:
Politicsweb (ed. James Myburgh): www.politicsweb.co.za
Arms Deal Virtual Press Office: www.armsdeal-vpo.co.za
Democratic Alliance (official Opposition): www.da.org.za
Sunday Times, Johannesburg (updated daily): www.sundaytimes.co.za
Mail&Guardian (weekly, on Wednesdays): www.mg.co.za
The Sowetan (daily, Monday to Saturday): www.sowetan.co.za
City Press (Sundays): www.news24.com/City_Press/Home
The Star, Johannesburg (part of the Independent group): www.thestar.co.za
Business Day (daily, Monday to Saturday): www.businessday.co.za
Financial Mail: www.free.financialmail.co.za
Die Burger (English edition also): www.dieburger.com
ANC Today (weekly newsletter from ANC president’s office): www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/anctoday
Southern Africa Report: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Southern+Africa+Report
SABC News: www.sabcnews.com/south_africa
SA National Editors' Forum: www.sanef.org.za
Andrew Feinstein (former ANC MP, expert on arms deal): www.commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/andrew_feinstein/
Institute for the Advancement of Journalism: www.journalism.co.za/wits-journalism
Anton Harber (teacher of journalism and former editor): www.theharbinger.co.za/wordpress
Gavin Evans (former SACP, ANC and Umkhonto operative): www.gavinevans.net
Steve Hayes (independent critic): www.methodius.blogspot.com