09 July 2015 OPINION on ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG

35 Schubert Street P O Box 96146 Windhoek West Windhoek Tel: +264 61 225344 Email: [email protected] Fax: +264 61 244481 Mobile: 0811298158 09 July 2015 OPINION ON ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG PUBLICATION ON SWAKOPMUND KARNEVAL 1. I have been requested by the Editors Forum of Namibia to provide an opinion on the publication of certain photos of the Swakopmund Karneval by the Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on 29 June 2015. 2. Namibia Media Holdings (NMH), the owners of the Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, issued an unequivocal public apology to all Namibians for the insensitive and offensive photos published and indicated that it “deeply regrets the error of judgment and bad journalism”. 3. The offensive photos referred to are two photos. In one photo three members of the public participating in the Karneval wear Ku Klux Klan (KKK) outfits and in the second photo three members of the public wear Blackfaces. The Karneval was held under the theme “30 years Küska with the Swakopmund Mafia". 4. The following caption appeared under the photo with the KKK outfits: An imaginative/resourceful costume that requires little description: Armin Schommarz, Erik Kolb and Tommy Kittel (from left to right) were dressed as KKK. 5. The following caption appeared under the photo with the Blackfaces outfits: Put much effort into their Make-Up: Tanya Uys (disguised as a ghost), and the "staff" of Salz-Gossow: Aubrey Brooks, Lee and Zander Coetzee (from left to right). 6. The following short article (translated from German language) appeared on the page with several photos including the two “offensive photos”. Colourful and vibrant costumes at Küska Maskenball Once again, many visitors attending the Masked ball of the Swakopmund Carnival “Küska” made a lot of effort with their costumes. It was unfortunate Media Ombudsman: Clement Daniels – Website: www.mediaombudsmannamibia.org though that the number of visitors has declined once again like is has over the past few years – this is a nationwide trend. Still, it was hard for the jury to choose the best costumes, the winners were awarded with a money prize. As expected many people dressed up according to this year's motto "30 years Küska with the Swakopmund Mafia" and subsequently wore suits. Others were in many other ways very resourceful. 7. The KKK is a self-declared white supremist organisation based in the United States of America (USA) that is responsible for the killing of many black Americans and their so- called white “supporters” or “sympathisers”. Many sources classify the KKK as a "subversive or terrorist organization". Recently, on 17 June 2015 a member or sympathiser of this organisation shot nine black people during a church service in a historical “black” church in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Currently there is an ongoing campaign of arson attacks against “black churches” in the USA. 8. “Blackface” is the term used for the characterisation of black plantation slaves and freed slaves by white actors and performers to ridicule black people and originated in the USA in the 1800’s. This type of caricatures took a firm hold on the American imagination that audiences expected any person with dark skin, no matter what their background, to conform to one or more of the blackface stereotypes 1. To quote from the Blackface webpage (http://black-face.com/blackface-clowns-history.htm): Every immigrant group was stereotyped on the music hall stage during the 19th Century, but the history of prejudice, hostility, and ignorance towards black people has insured a unique longevity to the stereotypes. White America's conceptions of Black entertainers were shaped by minstrelsy's mocking caricatures and for over one hundred years the belief that Blacks were racially and socially inferior was fostered by legions of both white and black performers in blackface. 9. From the above paragraphs it is quite clear that the dressing up as KKK members and Blackface characters could be regarded as very insensitive and offensive to the majority of Namibians who suffered under racial prejudice, discrimination and apartheid not so long ago. In my view it would be the same as dressing up as Nazi SS or Gestapo members on the one hand and Jewish concentration camp prisoners on the other hand. The NMH was therefore correct to describe these images as “insensitive” and “offensive” in the Namibian context. 10. Whether or not the action of the Karneval participants could be regarded as their freedom of expression under the Namibian Constitution is for the courts to decide, but what is very clear is that it could be offensive to the vast majority of Namibians. 11. The question to be addressed in this opinion is whether or not the action of the Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper in publishing these pictures and the accompanying captions are against the Namibian Media Code of Ethics. In my view the publishing of the photos in itself is not offensive because it was a public event, factual and possibly in the public interest to show the ignorance of certain members of the Namibian society. What is however of concern is the captions and the accompanying “story” that is quoted above. In the accompanying story and captions the newspaper is oblivious to the potential harm and offensive nature of these images. It would even appear that the newspaper supports this offensive behaviour, because there is no reference to the fact that the majority of Namibians might find this offensive. 12. I am therefore of the view that the newspaper failed to present a fair and objective view of the offensive behaviour and did not act in the best interest of the public by indirectly supporting such behaviour. 13. The owner of the newspaper has issued an unequivocal apology for its error of judgment, but is this enough in the circumstances? I would expect the owners to take some form of disciplinary action against the journalist and editor, conduct some racial sensitivity (anti-racism) training for its staff and publish a series of anti-racism articles to educate its readers on the dangers of such offensive conduct. 14. I trust that this clarifies my opinion on this unfortunate matter. Yours sincerely Clement Daniels Media Ombudsman 1 See http://black-face.com/blackface-clowns-history.htm .

Load more