Steyn Commission

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The Steyn Commission (English: Steyn Commission , officially Commission of Inquiry into the Mass Media [German about: Commission for the investigation of the mass media]) was an official government body working from December 14, 1979 in South Africa during the apartheid period . It was named generally after its chairman, the lawyer Marthinus Steyn , and served to analyze the press sector and its future reorganization according to political guidelines. The two reports published by the commission exerted a significant influence on further government policy and within the legislative process.

Foundation and goals

On September 18, 1979, Alwyn Schlebusch , Minister of Justice and Minister of the Interior, announced in public that he was establishing a press council including a new press code. This body should have the power to take complaints about newspapers and journalists and to impose penalties in the event of violations of the code. The sanctions envisaged ranged from fines against the publisher to the prohibition of publication of unpopular press products. In the case of complaints against individual persons, the temporary or permanent prohibition of their activity as a journalist or reporter was provided. The specific reason for such concepts was the ongoing critical reporting by domestic and foreign media about the actions of the South African Police and the Army (SADF) .

The government set up an advisory commission to implement these goals. With effect from June 27, 1980, the responsible Ministry of Justice appointed Marthinus Steyn, a former general administrator of South West Africa , as chairman of this body.

Basis and results of the commission's work

Political framework

The fundamental guideline of the Steyn Commission consisted of the thesis that the flow of information in public between the state and the population should in future have a hierarchical character. Accordingly, legitimate information is information obtained from government sources. Other sources of information with ideas and positions, especially those that are published in the form of complaints or requests by persons and institutions and that are assessed as a security threat to the state, are potentially considered news from illegitimate sources. Following this point of view, the Commission proposed a “national communication policy” which should be determined and controlled by a “national strategy”. In doing so, the commission used an image of the enemy that set the political framework for evaluating the press sector.

External enemies were " Marxism " and "certain Western countries", which were supposed to be led by the Soviet Union and the United States . It was assumed that these external influences wanted to change the current order of South Africa through radical interventions in another. The internal enemies were not further defined in the report, but all activities were considered to be motivated by those who could “knowingly or unknowingly” endanger the current status quo .

The Steyn Commission came to the conclusion that the “psychological attack” from external and internal “propaganda campaigns” could not be countered by legislative means alone. With regard to coverage of police and military activities in South Africa, it was recommended that foreign journalists be monitored more closely. From these positions fed the view that a national communication policy was needed to combat enemy propaganda through the Total Strategy . This strategy corresponded to a risk assessment since the late 1970s, according to which South Africa must assume a total attack situation ( total onslaugh ) by communists at home and international forces. At that time, South Africa found itself in an increasingly isolated position due to the attitude of the international community towards apartheid. A consequence of this was a massive build-up and restructuring of the military and security apparatus during the reign of Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha as well as massive attempts with these means to destabilize neighboring countries.

In Report I, Paragraph 469, the Steyn Commission describes the interrelationship between the state apparatus and the media as follows:

“The state and the media need each other because the state is one of the main sources of information for the media and vice versa because the state is largely dependent on the media to inform the population. In the event of a conflict between the state and media interests, the interests of the state with regard to national security are paramount. "

This statement defines the sovereignty of the political doctrine of the time over media practice.

Changes for editors and publishers

For the South African mass media of that time, the recommendations of the Steyn Commission meant a strict internal review of their work and topic profiles. Critical editors in particular came to the edge of what is considered to be legal reporting. As a result, all editorial offices were forced to "voluntarily" take over government policy positions. The few remaining opposition media up to this point were eliminated as such. If they wanted to survive as "free" and "independent" editorial offices, they had to respect three guidelines in the future:

  • The press must censor reporting on the activities of the state-defined internal and external "enemies".
  • The press supports and promotes the positive image of security and defense institutions.
  • The press must mobilize public opinion in favor of Total Strategy.

The consequences of press censorship in accordance with these guidelines not only extended to politically sensitive topics, but also to the use of individual words. The use of “freedom fighters”, “gunmen” and “guerrillas” in reporting instead of the officially preferred term “terrorists” was viewed as questionable from the Commission's point of view. These “semantic questions” should be resolved through briefing sessions with officials experienced in security and defense policy.

Structural proposals for the press sector

For the future structure of the South African press, the Steyn Commission essentially proposed the following changes:

  • Formation of a professional chamber for journalists with compulsory membership , which should also apply to foreign colleagues. The entry in a name register was seen as a professionalization of this field of activity.
  • Creation of a new code of conduct for journalists, which should apply as a binding set of rules.
  • The previously existing Press Council will be replaced by a General Council for Journalists (German for example: General Council for Journalists or General Journalists' Council ), which has yet to be created . The proposal for the powers was designed analogously to a higher judicial authority.

The freedom of the press had to be based on national security interests. Any unauthorized reporting on police and military topics could in future lead to drastic punishment. Although such sanction options already existed under the provisions of the Internal Security Act (Act No. 74/1982) , efforts were made to incorporate the state's intention to repression directly into the new press law.

Parliament and Legislation

The Steyn Commission submitted its report to the Parliament (House of Assembly) on February 1, 1982. The results of their work resulted in a law on the registration of newspapers. This is the Registration of Newspapers Amendment Act (Act No. 98/1982), which was introduced and passed at the end of the 1982 session. Its original draft passed the legislative process only with significant corrections.

Originally, an official body was to be established which was to be equipped with the competence to take punitive measures against the press. However, the proposed rules led to clear contradictions in the parliamentary debate, which meant that the government had to withdraw some positions and the law was passed in a weakened form. MP Tarr from Pietermaritzburg described the spirit of the bill as evidence of the government's paranoia . The registration requirement for newspapers was thus introduced, but not for journalists. The ministry was able to determine the media policy control body according to its own ideas.

Institutional impact

To 1983 in South Africa consisted Press Council ( Press Council ) with a code of ethics for fair and honorable journalism, who watched over its observance. Violations were therefore fined up to 10,000 rand. The protection of the freedom of the press in South Africa was taken up by the "English-speaking opposition press", which was pointedly referred to in the apartheid state, as the main topic when reporting on liberal ideas such as individual rights , justice , democracy and civil rights .

Political pressure from the apartheid government and the results of the Steyn Commission led to the establishment of the Media Council in 1984 . Although it was not a legal body, the council was officially recognized at the government level. Its main purpose was to establish a journalistic code for reporting and commenting. Under the Registration of Newspapers Amendment Act (Act No 98/1982), the Home Secretary could terminate the registration of a newspaper if the publisher had not submitted a request to the Media Council. Although the Media Council was supposed to be officially an independent body, this practice aroused great concern among the editors.

At the beginning of 1994, the Council to a previous name came Press Council ( Press Council ) back without changing its previous action. In 1996 Print Media South Africa (PMSA) was established as an umbrella organization for various publishing associations, which resulted in changes in this area. On August 1, 2007, the Press Council of SA was founded , ushering in a new period in South Africa's media history.

International criticism

The International Press Institute themed at its 35th General Assembly in 1986 in Vienna , the policy of repression of the South African government to the media and to this end adopted a resolution . It criticized the increasing violation of human rights, including the “restriction” and “harassment” of the press by official bodies. The actions of state officials in South Africa to prevent meaningful reporting of unrest and use of violence during demonstrations, the use of firearms and other physical attacks on journalists and photographers in the exercise of their duties was strongly condemned by the participants in the 35th General Assembly. The harassment of foreign journalists and the government attempts to refuse or the delayed accreditation were also criticized . A disruption of the free flow of information was recognized in the media policy of the Botha government , which would hinder the international public in its right to information about the actual situation in South Africa and its effects on neighboring countries.

Publications of the Commission

  • Failed van die Kommissie van Ondersoek na die Massamedia. Pretoria, State Printer 1981
  • Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Mass Media. Pretoria 1981
  • Aanvullende failed van die Kommissie van Ondersoek na die Massamedia. voorgestelde wetgewing. Pretoria, Staatsdrukker, 1982
  • Supplementary report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Mass Media. proposed legislation. Pretoria, 1982

literature

  • Pieter J. Fourie (Ed.): Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society: Policy, Management and Media Representation . Volume 2. 2010, pp. 92-93
  • Jack Abner: The Steyn Commission: An Annototated Bibliography . In: Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies. Vol. 2, Issue 3, 1982

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Petrus Frederik Barend Jansen van Rensburg: Covert action as an option in National Security Policy: a comparison between the United States of America and South Africa (1961-2003) . Dissertation University of Pretoria, Department of Political Science, 2005. PDF document page 68 ( Memento from December 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Les Switzer: Steyn Commission 1: The Press and Total Strategy . (PDF; 275 kB)
  3. ^ South Africa - Total Strategy. on www.nelsonmandela.org (English)
  4. ↑ Christoph Sodemann: The laws of apartheid . Bonn 1986, p. 135 ISBN 3-921614-15-5
  5. ^ Robert Fuller: South African Press under Attack. The Struggle for Hearts and Minds . In: The African Communist. No. 89 (2), London 1982 ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ISSN 0001-9976 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.disa.ukzn.ac.za  
  6. ^ MA Tarr (MP Pietermaritzburg South): Those the Gods Wish to Destroy . Section: Reform of South Africa . In: Reality, Vol. 14, No. 5, September 1982, p. 13 ( Memento of the original from April 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , ISSN 0034-0979 (English; PDF; 6.9 MB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.disa.ukzn.ac.za 
  7. ^ Christoph Sodemann: The laws ... Bonn 1986, pp. 135-136
  8. ^ Jack Abner: The Steyn Commission: An Annototated Bibliography . In: Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies. Vol. 2, Issue 3, 1982
  9. ↑ Review 0f Press Council of South Africa. ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.presscouncil.org.za
  10. ↑ IPI Report, June 1986, 35th General Assembly ( Memento of the original from November 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English; PDF; 78 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freemedia.at

further reading

  • Jakobus Johannes Roelofse: Towards rational discourse: An analysis of the report of the Steyn Commission of Inquiry into the Media . Pretoria, JL van Schaik, 1983 ISBN 0-627-01282-5
  • John Dugard : Human rights and the South African legal order . Princeton NY, Univ. Press, 1978 ISBN 0-691-09236-2
  • Robert Daviesa, Dan O'Meara: Total strategy in Southern Africa: an analysis of South African regional policy since 1978 . In: Journal of Southern African Studies, Volume 11, Issue 2, 1985 pp. 183-211

Web links