CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The Rand Daily Mail (RDM) was arguably one of the most influential and important English newspapers in South African history. It was held in high esteem internationally for its pioneering reportage of African issues and the way it dealt with these. At home it met with mixed opinions. Many saw it as a prime example of the strengths of liberal journalism in South Africa. Others felt it illustrated the limitations of liberal journalism within the country. The main aim of this thesis is to evaluate whether either of these perspectives adequately captures the nature of the RDM and the form and context of its news coverage. Newspapers are, by definition, complex entities and although a newspaper, as a business organisation, is constructed of a number of departments including editorial, managerial, advertising and administration, the main focus of this thesis will be to investigate the nature of journalism at the RDM within the editorial department, but the research will not look at this department in isolation from the rest of the organisation and will remain sensitive to the impact other departments, management and owners had on this department and its policies. Furthermore, it is not possible to cover the editorial department’s entire history. One key moment in the history of South Africa and the newspaper – the 1976 Soweto Uprising - will therefore be used to evaluate and demonstrate how the newspaper operated. This period will also be used to test the actions of the RDM’s editorial staff against their claimed beliefs and practices. The professed aim of the RDM, starting in 1958, was to be a liberal newspaper. It did not believe that apartheid held any merit and set itself the task of speaking out vociferously against the notion and its practice. Shortly after his appointment as editor in October 1957 Laurence Gandar set about making the newspaper more relevant to its readers. He is quoted as saying: “Apartheid is meaningless because it cannot, on the highest admission, bring separation to the economic sphere. Apartheid is unrealistic because it is geared to a timetable that will be surely and completely overtaken by events. Apartheid is a sham because there is no evidence of any willingness to face the sacrifices it involves. Apartheid is unworkable because it is set to run counter to the massed forces of world opinion and the tides of contemporary human progress,”(Gandar in Pogrund 2000: 53). The RDM’s supporters claim it lived up to this ideal in the crusading role it played in offering more balanced and varied news than its contemporaries. It was held up as a model of liberal journalism. In this thesis the researcher will look at whether this is a true reflection of the newspaper’s practice in terms of its internal organisation of values and its news coverage. Also to be examined is the strongly-articulated opposing view, that, while the newspaper attempted to be liberal it was in fact an example of the way liberal journalism failed in 1970s South Africa. Several key areas must be examined in this thesis. These include: • Staffing – how were the black staff treated by their white bosses and contemporaries, were they given any training which would allow them to aspire to higher positions at the newspaper and if so how well was this training conducted? • Working conditions – what were the working conditions at the RDM? Did conditions differ for different racial groups? How were complaints dealt with and negative situations remedied? • Government-imposed laws – how stringently did the government impose restrictive laws? What were the ramifications of contravening these laws? How did the RDM deal with these laws? To what extent can the newspaper be accused of hiding behind these laws to avoid doing what the black majority saw as the “right thing” in accordance with the struggle? • Liberalism – was the newspaper a successful working example of a liberal newspaper? How true was the newspaper to the values of liberalism and the values the newspaper claimed to believe in? Was there a place for liberal journalism in South Africa in the 1970s and, if so, how did the newspaper practise liberal journalism and how did the public respond to this style of journalism? • Soweto Uprising - what does the newspaper’s coverage of the 1976 Soweto Uprising reveal about the nature of the RDM? Finally, in looking at these areas, the overriding question “How did the RDM perform during the time under review?” must be answered taking, into account the various 2 elements mentioned above. 1.1 Liberalism To fully appreciate the work of the RDM one must start with a firm grasp of the concept of “liberal journalism”. In the abundance of literature on the notion of liberalism, one overriding definition becomes apparent – the need for individual freedom and democratic reforms within society. This necessarily extends to a search for equality across all groups, irrespective of race, gender or creed. Amid the myriad definitions of liberalism are the central tenets of equality for all and the freedom of everyone to be educated, speak on their own behalf and have their ideas and beliefs heard by those in power. Each theorist consulted sets out liberalism, and by extension liberal journalism, as a slightly different idea of the central notion of equality. Leatt et al (1986) contend that there is no simple definition of the term because it is such a multifaceted idea. For this reason, what appears below is the working definition used in this thesis to test the RDM’s policies and actions, rather than a comprehensive definition of the term in all its aspects. At the core of the definition given by Marquard (1965) is the idea that liberty is the ability to do anything the individual desires, as long as this does not interfere with the free will of others and their ability to carry out their desired actions. All members of society must be allowed to enjoy the same rights in equal proportions and practicing these should not infringe on another’s rights or dignity. In addition Marquard (1965) states all citizens have a right, either personally or through a chosen representative, to play a part in the making of laws and how these are applied. Laws should apply equally to all citizens and each person should receive the benefits of education and the materials and opportunities necessary to make the most of this education. He adds: “Law should be the same for all whether it protects or punishes,” (Marquard 1965: 3). Gray (1995) takes the definition of the quest for liberty for all a step further. “Liberty involves more than having the legal right to act. It signifies, primarily and centrally, 3 having the resources and opportunities to act so as to make the best of one’s life,” (Gray 1995: 36). Looking to South Africa, one can consult Leatt et al (1986: 63) who contend: “South African liberals share with others certain convictions, among them the beliefs that: all men share a common humanity; differences between men are secondary. Man is viewed optimistically; as naturally good, capable of and responsible for shaping his own destiny.” The individual is the basic unit of social analysis. Rights of individuals should not be overshadowed by the community. This is particularly important in South Africa where the rights of non-whites were completely discarded in favour of white rights. In a country like South Africa where everyday living was charged with racial tension, it is natural that the people saw race as a central issue to be dealt with in every facet of life. 1.2 Liberal Journalism With an understanding of liberalism, one can look at the place of liberal journalism. Curran (in Curran and Seaton 1997) feels the liberal press acts as a two-way communication between the government and the governed. It also fulfils other supplementary roles of articulating the agreed aims and values of society, helping a community adapt and change, and protecting members of the public from wrongdoing or exploitation. The democratic role of the liberal press is to act as a check on the state, to monitor the State’s activities and to expose human rights violations being committed by those in authority. Curran (Curran in Curran and Gurevitch 2000: 123) believes: “State should be the main target of media scrutiny because the State has a monopoly on legitimated violence, and is therefore the institution to be most feared.” Krugman (2000: no page) believes “liberal journalists come up through the newsroom ranks, a culture that demands a show of intellectual independence from politicians” showing liberal journalism requires the ability of newspapers and journalists to remain independent from external pressures in order to uncover the truth. It requires that those involved make their own decisions, based on the facts presented to them, no matter what 4 the government of the day would have them publish. Supporting this is Skjerdal (2001) who comments the root of liberal journalism lies in the idea that the liberal media “enjoys full independence from the government. A full-grown libertarian system encourages the press to challenge official government policies,” (Skjerdal 2001: no page). 1.3 Liberal Journalism in South Africa and at the RDM Looking to a South African context, Matthews (in Rich 1993: 92) “stresses the role of co- operation between whites and blacks, in furtherance of the multi-racial goal”. Matthews (in Rich 1993: 92) believes this is a more active notion than that of racial integration, which implies a passiveness, which sees events happening to the individual instead of the individual consciously participating in his own destiny.