One of Swaziland’s
few independent newspapers the Times
Sunday has made a concerted attack on ‘Asians’ in the kingdom, declaring
them to be cheats and scoundrals.
It follows
the decision of the Swazi House of Assembly to set up a committee to
investigate illegal immigration into Swaziland and for the banning of entry
permits to people from Asia.
One of the
anti-Asian cheerleaders is Innocent Maphalala, the editor of the Times Sunday. Writing in his own newspaper on Sunday (24 July 2016), he said
there was an ‘influx’ of immigrants from Pakistan and India, but gave no
statistics to support his comment.
I do not
want to repeat much of Maphalala column as it would only spread his racist
comments to a wider audience. However, he attacked Asian businesses as being
cheats and he complained that shops were closed on Friday mornings, a time
during the week when Muslims go to prayer.
Despite
his fierce attacks he did not interview one Asian person for comment.
Maphalala’s
comments break Article 6 of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists
(SNAJ) Code
of Conduct which says
journalists must not ‘originate material which encourages discrimination on the
grounds of ethnicity, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation’. He quoted
nobody either in favour or against his proposition that Asians were cheats and
is therefore responsible for originating the material.
Although it is
important for SNAJ to have a code of conduct about racist reporting,
unfortunately Article 6 lacks details and is not that useful for journalists
who are trying to do the right thing.
This kind of
racism is not confined to Swaziland. Journalists in other parts of the world
have to confront racists and racist attitudes every day and have created their
own codes of conduct.
One that is more
detailed than that of SNAJ is from the National Union of Journalists in the UK.
Guidelines ratified by the National Union of Journalists (UK
and Ireland) for all its members to follow when dealing with race relations
subjects.
The NUJ believes that its members cannot
avoid a measure of responsibility in fighting the evil of racism as expressed
through the mass media.
The NUJ reaffirms its total opposition to
censorship but equally reaffirms its belief that press freedom must be
conditioned by responsibility and an acknowledgement by all media workers of
the need not to allow press freedom to be abused to slander a section of the
community or to promote the evil of racism.
The NUJ believes the methods and lies of
the racists should be publicly and vigorously exposed.
The NUJ believes that newspapers and
magazines should not originate material which encourages discrimination on
grounds of race or colour, as expressed in the NUJ's rule book and code of
conduct.
The NUJ believes that editors should
ensure that coverage of race stories should be placed in a balanced context.
Race reporting
Only mention someone’s race if it is strictly relevant.
Do not sensationalise race relations
issues.
Immigrant is often used as a term of
abuse. Do not use it unless the person really is an immigrant.
Be wary of disinformation. Just because a
source is traditional does not mean it is accurate.
When interviewing representatives of
racist organisations or reporting meetings or statements or claims, journalists
should carefully check all reports for accuracy and seek rebutting or opposing
comments. The anti-social nature of such views should be exposed.
Do not allow the letters column or
'phone-in' programmes to be used to spread racial hatred in whatever guise.
See also
PREJUDICE
AGAINST MUSLIMS RIFE
ASIANS
EVICTED FROM HOME
ALL ASIANS BANNED FROM SWAZILAND
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