The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the amendment of the South African Broadcasting Corporation Editorial Policy (SABC) to among others include the establishment of an independent ombudsman at the public broadcaster.
The party believes that this would minimise perceived interference by senior management in content and speed up the resolution of internal disputes relating to news coverage.
The DA made the proposal during its submission to an inquiry that is investigating allegations of external editorial interference at the public broadcaster.
As part of ensuring the independence of the SABC the party’s Phumzile Van Damme submitted that they also wanted journalists to have the authority to decide news stories instead of senior managers who she said often gave in to political pressures.
“Have your FINAL SAY, the SABC has issued the draft editorial policies for FINAL comment by interested parties following consultation with members of the public. The closing date is 31 JULY 2018.
The draft editorial policies are available on the SABC Website for downloading at www.sabc.co.za/editorialpolicy or contact Call Centre at 011 714 9111 / 9797 or FAX at 011 714 4508
Hard copies are also available from all our SABC offices in the 9 Provinces.
