Media reactions to watered-down bill

And small wonder, because history has shown – even recent history in the South African context – that it is not so much the letter of the law that matters but how that law is interpreted and implemented.

There is no doubt that our news media would have preferred to have seen their exemption from the entire act reinstated. Because many of them quite rightly see media freedom as something complete and unadulterated – absolutely black and white with no grey areas at all.

But, in spite of discomfort and distinct nervous twitches among media owners, there is some solace in this compromise if one is prepared to look hard enough and allow for a bit of optimism.

Press freedom

When one looks at the original draconian amendments and what has now been proffered, it is clear that the ANC does by implication concede that South Africa has an excellent track record of press freedom since it came to power and that this track record is good for the image of the country. If it didn't believe that and given the way it steamrollered anti-smoking legislation onto the media and advertising industries a few years ago, it would not have budged from its original stance on the amendments to this bill.

Because, just as anti-smoking legislation was linked to enormous public pressure from within the country and even greater pressure from global heavyweights such as the World Trade organisation and World Bank, so too has Government come under pressure from inside and out with regard to clamping down on child pornography.

Perceptions count

And in spite of the country's news media believing that they are responsible enough to censor themselves with regard to this scourge, they more than anyone else should understand that facts and reality have very little influence on social sentiment. Perceptions are what publics and parliamentarians react upon. Rightly or wrongly.

And the very nature of the new rash of highly successful tabloid newspapers in this country will certainly have created the perception that child pornography might well become their stock in trade even though there is absolutely no evidence to prove this.

It's rather like a local insurance company some years ago putting a enormous premium on policies covering a BMW convertible model. And even though there was no record whatsoever of one of these cars ever having actually been stolen, it stuck up the premium simply because in its own words: “It just looks like a car that will get stolen a lot.”

Tabloids to blame?

Certainly during the long arguments in parliament over these amendments, ANC members kept honing in on the country's tabloids. And reacting to perception mostly and reality rarely.

Whether or not the watering down of these amendments is sufficient enough only time will tell. It will all come down to implementation. It will depend on policing and how seriously individual complaints by the public are taken by those charged with implementing the Act.

If complaints are treated objectively and with purpose the way the Broadcasting Complaints Commission does things, news media will be able to breathe easier. However, if complaints are treated the way the Advertising Standards Authority approaches things, then the media could well be in for a absolute nightmare.

If the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law is doggedly applied in terms of these new amendments, then there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that this will be the end of SA's status among those countries in the world boasting the most free press.

Mother Grundies

Because the amendments don't draw any distinction between the overt and the subtle. All of which will mean that we might well have a recurrence of that absurd situation in a platteland dorp all those years ago of some Mother Grundy succeeding in getting a stop owner to cover up his copy of Michelangelo's David.

The danger is that these amendments are still significant enough to result in small groups of do-gooders deciding on acceptable elements of taste and decency for the entire population of the country.

Censored

When an innocent display of subtle or artistic nudity is considered by a minority as sufficient to propagate child pornography, that is when the news media will find themselves well and truly censored.

That's always the problem with legislating against what the population of a country might or might not read or look at in its media. There is never any satisfactory compromise. The law is either toothless or completely abused.