All the attention given to Julius Malema's court case, is it warranted?
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I am perturbed by the attention given to the sentence meted out to a respected politician who discharged a firearm in public.
My concern is this: has the newspaper become desperate for relevant, meaningful material? Does a court sentence become fodder for fatuous, frivolous, and shallow argument? Is the assurance that a contributor writes in a personal capacity an excuse for mischievous speculation that surreptitiously undermines the rule of law?
Tim Robbins, in his novel Villa Incognito, warns that the road leading to the rainbow’s end is littered with torn-up Lotto tickets and frivolous lawsuits.
Then there is the coverage of very real war crises that threaten to decimate human existence. The paper flaunts passion-driven, hegemonic, and near-hysterical opinions that dominate daily reading. Before someone raises the banner of freedom of speech, allow me to point out the syntactical ellipse of “meaningful”. We seem to have sprouted a phalanx of correspondents who have become international commentators overnight.
Please, Mr Editor, I am myself an ex-columnist. After seven years of promoting literacy as a worthwhile national imperative, with very low reader buy-in, I stepped aside gracefully to allow those who know better to continue the educational farce that issues matric certificates for 30% memorisation skills.
It is of concern that blame-and-shame has been diluted from robust debate. Shallow pontification sullies a newspaper that physically appears undernourished. Can we do something to save our beloved newspaper from becoming a ghost, like the present incumbent ministers in government? Is there not an incentive to raise standards that we can invoke?
We are still purchasing our daily read, but we are watching it die as it casually mentions the many forms of death in our streets as mere space-fillers. Retribution and repair are always a day late and a dollar short. Let us do something worth restoring our own sense of self. We are caught in untenable silos of race, partisanship, profit motives, and a dread of change for the better.
As things stand, I do not see much that will remain in the near future. As Yeats warned, things fall apart; the centre cannot hold. Let us stop the rot. | Alexander Carl Tabisher Cape Town
Editor responds to concerns
You have raised serious concerns about the state of this newspaper and public debate more broadly.
The sentencing of public figures, including politicians such as Julius Malema, is news. Our courts are a pillar of the rule of law, and how they apply it to the powerful is a matter of public interest. Opinion pieces on those decisions will always differ, sometimes drastically, from the original report. We label opinion clearly and carry bylines. “Writing in a personal capacity” is not an excuse for mischief; it is a reminder that columnists do not speak for the Daily News, but to it, and to you.
From an international standpoint, war, crime, and societal collapse are not space-fillers. They are the realities our reporters and readers live with daily. Please do not extinguish the light of our journalistic passion; we strive, with limited resources, to provide accurate and meaningful news. When we make mistakes, we correct them. Where we host contestable views, we invite rebuttal. Your letter is a strong example of that tradition.
You are correct that blame-and-shame has too often been replaced by shallow commentary across media. I do not want the Daily News to become that paper. Literacy, education, and the quality of public argument matter deeply to us, as does the concern around “30% memorisation”. Readers still buy this paper and watch it closely, as you do.
I will not claim we always get it right, but I will say this: the Daily News is not a ghost. It is a newsroom of people striving, under pressure and constraints, to produce the best edition possible for readers who care enough to write in.
Thank you for your years promoting literacy, and for not stepping away entirely. I extend an invitation: send me the piece that raises standards. If it is as robust as your critique, I will gladly publish it. The rot stops when readers and editors do the work together. | Ayanda Mdluli Editor
The present mayhem in the Middle East, particularly in the Straits of Hormuz, is once again being attributed to Donald Trump.
Critics argue that actions such as the alleged blockade of Iranian ports, shortly after the straits were opened to shipping, suggest a preference for continued conflict rather than peace. They question the legitimacy of such moves and raise concerns about their impact on the global economy.
Further controversy surrounds online content attributed to Trump, which some have condemned as offensive and inappropriate. This has led to renewed scrutiny of the role of the US Congress, with critics questioning why stronger action has not been taken against a leader often described as heading the “free world”. | Colin Bosman Newlands
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