The long-awaited Human Rights Commission report on racism in the media urges journalists to "sensitise" themselves on racial matters to avoid inflicting pain. The HRC report stops short, however, of recommending legislative action to excise racism from newspaper columns and over the air.
The 100-page report, released today, is a sequel to public hearings on media racism after allegations by the Black Lawyers' Association and the Association of Black Accountants against two newspapers, the Mail & Guardian and the Sunday Times of Johannesburg, for practising "subliminal racism".
But the report does not justify fears aroused before and during the hearings, held in March and April, that the HRC was conducting a witch-hunt on behalf of the ruling African National Congress with the ultimate aim of curtailing press freedom through restrictive laws.
The central findings fall short of a blanket indictment of the media - large parts of which are controlled by white press magnates, including Dr Tony O'Reilly's Independent Newspapers, SA - for racist reporting and commentary.
Thus, while it states that the "South African media can be characterised as racist institutions", that statement is qualified: the media is racist "to the extent" that it reflects a persistent pattern of racist expression.
The section of the report summarising its findings does, however, contain one sentence which seems to exonerate most journalists from the gravest of charges: that they are wilfully pursuing a racist agenda: "Generally speaking we have found no evidence of the mainstream media indulging in blatant advocacy of racial hatred or incitement to racial violence." It distinguishes between media racism and poor journalism, thereby dismissing attempts to explain racism as the product of incompetent journalists.
It recommends occasional immersion of journalists into cultures outside of their daily experience.
"These would help all South Africans understand and appreciate the value of cultural diversity in our country", the report states.
It urges independent media institutions to conduct regular workshops on clauses in the Bill of Rights and the Promotion of Equality Act, which prohibit racism and promote equality and dignity. "Public scrutiny is good for the health of the media in a democracy".
While balking at the idea of control through restrictive laws, it recommends a continuation of the public debate on the role and responsibility of the media in a democracy.
In a finding bound to interest the media moguls - including Dr O'Reilly, who controls a major chunk of the newspaper industry -the HRC presses for "greater impetus" to be given to the drive to establish an agency to encourage greater diversity in media ownership.