3.11 The public broadcaster offers balanced and fair information reflecting the full spectrum of diverse views and opinions. ANALYSIS: The number of information programmes, in many different languages, has increased. But there are doubts about the impartiality of news and current affairs offerings. A case in point is the saga around the blacklisting of certain commentators in 2006/2007. An inquiry found that especially the chief executive for news and current affairs displayed bias towards the ruling party in his decisions and meddled in the day-to-day running of newsrooms. Recommendations on how to remedy the situation have never been implemented. Another example is the coverage of the succession battle in the ANC when Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were competing for the post of ANC president in the second half of 2007. It was alleged that the SABC took sides in favour of Mbeki. One of the root causes of such bias seems to be a lack of understanding in the higher echelons of the SABC of the role of journalists as unbiased reporters and analysts of facts rather than conveyors of political messages or upholders of the status quo. A number of good journalists have left the corporation over the years because they could not accept this unprofessional blurring of identities. Despite clear managerial shortcomings, quite a number of media workers on the ground seem to be doing their level best to produce news which are credible and fair. This goes especially for radio. Radio, by means of a large number of popular talk shows, is also being successfully used as a means of communication for people from all walks of life to express their opinions on all sorts of topics and across the spectrum of possible views. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: 3.12 4, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3 2.9 (2006 = 3.3) The public broadcaster offers as much diverse and creative local content as economically achievable. ANALYSIS: While this might be said by and large for radio, television leaves much to be desired. Local content has increased over the past few years. But SABC TV offers very few really creative programmes. There are a number of different formats but most of them are licenced or copied from other broadcasters, such as game shows (“The Weakest Link” as one example). Locally produced soapies and sitcoms are quite popular and dominate the programme line-up. SCORES: Individual scores: Average score: So This Is Democracy? 2008 4, 3, 3, 2, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3 3.1 (2006 = 3.0) -215- Media Institute of Southern Africa