I am not sure how true this is but I saw a news report a few days ago about South Africa being second best in the world when it came to the veracity of COVID-19 information.
I would like to believe this because government has gone to extraordinary lengths practically every day to hold media briefings on a variety of aspects of its response to the virus.
On top of which, President Cyril Ramaphosa has shown statesmanlike attributes when talking to the nation. He has not minced his words nor tried to obfuscate the issue. He has, in fact, been the opposite of Donald Trump who has politicised, monetised and personalised the coronavirus issue to such a degree that the United States leads the world in COVID-19 infections and deaths. The US news media had no option but to add to the confusion.
In South Africa, TV and radio stations as well as newspapers and online news platforms have all found themselves happily co-operating with government because they really had no alternative. They were being kept informed straight from the shoulder and regularly. Hopefully now, government ministers as well as provincial and municipal leaders, will have learnt the immense value of regular contact with the media. And that not trying to skirt around and lie about issues will always be best in the long run.
Hopefully too, our mass media will have learnt some hard lessons for this pandemic. And that is to stick to facts. Report on news instead of indulging in ill-considered speculation and guesswork. The team of scientists and medical specialists advising the government and now making themselves available to the media, has proved to be a trustworthy source. Pulling no punches and making no promises.
I sincerely hope that both government and the news media learn from their new relationships forged out of necessity by the pandemic. If they maintain this level of co-operation, both will prosper.
As a consequence, I am convinced that future media research will show that the public of South Africa places a lot more trust in their news sources.
And most importantly, with government threatening retribution on anyone spreading false information on social media platforms, many South Africans have started to think twice about forwarding information their receive on social media just because it happens to appeal to their prejudices or hopes and desires.
Taking a deep breath and checking a source before forwarding information has become the order of the day among many South Africans but certainly not all. Punitive measures against anyone spreading false information on social media is welcome because only a few months ago social media conversations has reached extraordinary high levels of utter bullshit.
The much vaunted ‘citizen journalism’ that was supposed to have completely changed the face of news delivery, has been found to be seriously flawed and untrustworthy. Hopefully, one of the positive side-effects of this pandemic will bring a return to consumers trusting professional news platforms and restricting social media to facts and not fables.
I sincerely hope that both government and the news media learn from their new relationships forged out of necessity by the pandemic. If they maintain this level of co-operation, both will prosper.
Chris Moerdyk (@chrismoerdyk ) is a marketing analyst and advisor and owner of Moerdyk Marketing with many years of experience in marketing and the media as well as serving as non-executive director and chairman of companies.
