One of the profound things I learned at a journalism school is that accuracy is sacrosanct. And one of my lecturers would say if ten people had died in an incident, and you say eleven people, you would have killed that person. This was to emphasise the importance of getting facts right – and getting them right the first time.
These important tenets of good journalism are immortal have no expiration date and are universal. But for some reason, some media practitioners and media institutions have decided to dump these basic principles in an endless pit.
It’s not the first time that the likes of Tucker Carlson and Fox News created the illusion of “white genocide” which is sponsored by the black government. There are both individuals and groups of people that feed Americans with wrong information. This snake of misinformation has once again reared its ugly head – again. This time it is sponsored by President Donald Trump and his financier Elon Musk.
What is more poignant about this is that these guys believe their lies fed by Ernst Roets, Solidarity and Afriforum. We know that Musk is interested in making more money via StarSat and other business opportunities to continue being the richest person in the world. However, StarSat did not comply with ICASA regulations and thus had to close shop. Well, I can appreciate Trump’s stance on using American funds for the American people. But whatever decision he makes should be informed by the truth and accuracy.
Also, Trump might have been irritated by South Africa’s stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and he has nailed his colours to the mast supporting Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime. Netanyahu has been declared a wanted war criminal after Ramaphosa’s government reported him to ICJ.
Every time Trump opens his mouth it shows that he lives by the mantra “ignorance is bliss”. This is a dangerous mantra. He always exposes himself that he is ignorant about a lot of things – which makes him a dangerous person and a disastrous president. Recently he said no one knows Lesotho. In his first term, he called African states “shithole countries”.
Seemingly, Trump is not alone in this quicksand of ignorance. His vice president JD Vance is also another disaster. He berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky for not wearing a suit when meeting them at the Oval Office. To make matters worse, some journalists continued to embarrass themselves by berating Zelensky – showing how ignorant they were. The Tucker Carlson’s of this world are an embarrassment to the journalism profession.
I am glad that there are still journalists who are professional enough to call out Trump and his people on lies and misinformation. These individuals deserve recognition and appreciation for their dedication to the profession. They need to continue to report accurately and factually because if we sacrifice accuracy at the altar to please Trump or Afriforum we might as well not have journalism.
Trump must be honest about the real reasons for despising the South African government, not the white genocide which happens at the figment of Roets and his friends’ imaginations. And American journalists should report accurately on these developments because ignorance is not bliss.
Sandile Gumede is a PhD student in the Media Studies department at the University of Witwatersrand.
