SECTOR 4 4.4 Journalists and other media practitioners are organised in trade unions and/or professional associations, which effectively represent their interests. There are a number of media organisations, including the South African Editors’ Forum (Sanef) and the Southern African Freelancers’ Association (Safrea). The SABC as an institution cannot be a member of Sanef, although individual SABC employees can. It is well known that freelancers in this sector are the most underrepresented and most poorly paid. Trade unions such as the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and the Broadcasting and Electronic Media Allied Workers Union (BEMAWU) are open to broadcasters only and focus on wage issues. SABC journalists can join these unions, but they do not give specific support to journalists on editorial issues or working conditions, for example. Sadly, the South African chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) appears to be completely inactive at the moment. The Professional Journalists Association (ProJourn) was launched in March 2010 as a pressure group for the interests of working journalists, and not as a union, which would negotiate salary levels and working conditions. ProJourn started off as a free association but now it is asking members to pay membership fees (R240/year for freelancers, R300 for full-time journalists). Unfortunately people don’t want to pay, and this is what is holding up the association from becoming fully fledged. “It is overly ambitious trying to get journalists organised. There are too many different salary levels, journalists are so politicised, and the media houses are so different and all seem to operate in silos. Journalists are also snobbish and there is a sense that they don’t belong in ‘blue-collar’ unions.” At Primedia, there is no union representation. In commercial radio in general, it is difficult to establish a union considering the gap between the various types and levels of skills required. For instance, there are substantial discrepancies between presenters and background workers. At the Times Media Group, senior management has shown hostility towards union activity: their staff can join a union but they tend not to. “Journalists are not very organised now and management is getting away with a lot. If we stand together, however, we can achieve a lot.” AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER SOUTH AFRICA 2013 65