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Press freedom 'not anarchy'
16/05/2007 19:10 - (SA)
Cape Town - Freedom of the press does not mean anarchy, but the freedom for newspapers to regulate themselves, Parliament's homes affairs portfolio committee heard on Wednesday.
The committee is examining the controversial Films and Publications Amendment Bill, which seeks to remove provisions from the act exempting news media from seeking approval before the publication of certain material.
Briefing members, media lawyer Ashoek Adhikari said the environment in which newspapers operated was robust and dynamic, but did not need this type of legislative regulation.
"A press code of self-regulation is a more-dynamic and robust instrument than legislation," he said.
Newspapers had been around for centuries, were a "pivotal and absolute important pillar of any democracy", and able to regulate themselves as the circumstances and times in which they operated changed.
Addressing concerns about the content of so-called tabloid newspapers, he said there was no way the industry would "sell that type of heritage down the road over a few hundred sales on the street on a given day".
Adhikari argued that the newspaper industry itself should have exemption, not individual newspapers.
Tabloids have 'time to mature'
He said: "There are checks and balances. When it comes to the press code (of conduct) as far as consultation is concerned, it's an open process.
"We are not in a mode where we believe we are the know-all and end-all of everything that is appropriate in terms of press freedom, the press code, the constitution and so forth.
"At the end of the day, newspapers are an industry, and they must produce something that the public would want sustainably."
"Where you have a novel situation such as tabloids, there is a time for them to mature. That maturity will come. This industry will make sure we don't sell our heritage over a novelty."
The industry's position was that as far as the exemption was concerned, it should be retained, he said.
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