Who exactly, is the media responsible to? Who do they account to for their actions? I believe there is some ombud or similar body that ordinary Joe Public like me may complain to and hopefully get some redress. The redress is often in the form of an apology and comes after the damage is done. I don’t know what the alternative should be so don’t ask me. The media houses are also businesses and the nature of such beasts is to make some money for their shareholders and other beneficiaries.
To think that somehow the media can (especially in an overzealous democracy like ours) be expected to behave honourably is probably foolhardy. So, I do not wish to write to the editor, be he or she of the public kinds or otherwise (ok maybe I should). I also do not wish to engage the services of some watch-dog. I wish to engage the media itself and appeal to the human beings (believe you me they are in there somewhere) inside the media houses. I do this with the full appreciation of all the other imperatives that they seek to heed, not least of which ought to be, at least in my mind, to be human.
In order to illustrate my plea (yes, it is coming just bear with me) to the media houses, I upfront and unreservedly beg the indulgence of the Sowetan newspaper. You see, this newspaper ran two articles in the Friday, 20 November 2009 edition about Mokgadi Semenya. Even before I read either, I found myself wondering: at what point do we collectively say that she has gone through enough already? I of course appreciate that the matters Sowetan reported on are news-worthy. I also appreciate that there are those who would like to know the matters reported on. However, I can’t help but wonder whether this and similar reports are really necessary or indeed fair. Maybe fairness is not and should not be test or what the media may or may not report.
Mokgadi is in her teens (very late teens but teens nonetheless) she has her whole life ahead of her. A life throughout which she will always have the debacle of her sex (please, pretty pleas not gender) constantly overshadowing all else that she does. At what point does the media say: folks, we have milked this one for all it is worth, maybe it is time we let it go. How about we let the poor kid go? Please, do not get me wrong, I have conceded in this very space that what was callously done to Mokgadi is of great benefit to our society. What happened to her has raised one of the issues our society refuses to deal with. What I regret is how the media went about it. To this day, the tests apparently performed on Mokgadi are still referred to as “gender tests”. Folks, Mokgadi’s gender needs no testing. She is a woman, that is her gender. She has lived her life as a woman (girl if you like). About this there should be little doubt. Her sex, like the sex of many of us, is another story. I have dealt with this issue in this space too.
This is not me dictating to our media what to print and what not to print (as if I would; as if they would care). I am suggesting that the (salacious) details of Mokgadi’s sex have surely passed their sell-by date. Whatever it is that the IAAF, ASA, SASCOC, Mr Malema, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela and whoever else, are in the future going to do or say about the tests, is no longer relevant, at least in my view. This to me takes the broader social issues no further and adds nothing to the fabric of our society (if there is such a thing). What the continued reporting of these details does do, is to inflict unknown pain on a human being that we all agree is innocent. I am yet to come across a report (not an op-ed or editorial) that seeks to re-assure Mokgadi, many others like her and us that she is not a freak. None of the reports I have seen even attempt to give her the benefit of the doubt.
The media plays both the information and the education role. It has the privilege and benefit of some of our brightest human beings. I appeal to them to use this opportunity to educate the rest of us on the matters and complex issues raised by the misfortune of Mokgadi. This, in the stead of constantly hanging her out to dry, as it were.
I ask that the media leverage its immense influence to teach the rest of us, and that way reassure Mokgadi that there is nothing wrong with her. That is the truth, there is nothing wrong with her, she is not a freak. She should not (like Saartjie Baartman many years before her) be put on show, probed, poked and debased. We need this message to come out loud and clear from our media.
We need some education on Sex, Gender and Identity rather than perpetuation of lies, inaccuracies and misinformation. Nothing illustrates the fundamental and crucial differences between sex and gender than this whole regrettable episode in Mokgadi’s life.
We cannot afford to miss these opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the development of our society. Especially the development of a culture of respect, tolerance and care.
We can do this, with the help of each one of us but more so with the help of those best placed to help – our beloved fourth estate.
To think that somehow the media can (especially in an overzealous democracy like ours) be expected to behave honourably is probably foolhardy. So, I do not wish to write to the editor, be he or she of the public kinds or otherwise (ok maybe I should). I also do not wish to engage the services of some watch-dog. I wish to engage the media itself and appeal to the human beings (believe you me they are in there somewhere) inside the media houses. I do this with the full appreciation of all the other imperatives that they seek to heed, not least of which ought to be, at least in my mind, to be human.
In order to illustrate my plea (yes, it is coming just bear with me) to the media houses, I upfront and unreservedly beg the indulgence of the Sowetan newspaper. You see, this newspaper ran two articles in the Friday, 20 November 2009 edition about Mokgadi Semenya. Even before I read either, I found myself wondering: at what point do we collectively say that she has gone through enough already? I of course appreciate that the matters Sowetan reported on are news-worthy. I also appreciate that there are those who would like to know the matters reported on. However, I can’t help but wonder whether this and similar reports are really necessary or indeed fair. Maybe fairness is not and should not be test or what the media may or may not report.
Mokgadi is in her teens (very late teens but teens nonetheless) she has her whole life ahead of her. A life throughout which she will always have the debacle of her sex (please, pretty pleas not gender) constantly overshadowing all else that she does. At what point does the media say: folks, we have milked this one for all it is worth, maybe it is time we let it go. How about we let the poor kid go? Please, do not get me wrong, I have conceded in this very space that what was callously done to Mokgadi is of great benefit to our society. What happened to her has raised one of the issues our society refuses to deal with. What I regret is how the media went about it. To this day, the tests apparently performed on Mokgadi are still referred to as “gender tests”. Folks, Mokgadi’s gender needs no testing. She is a woman, that is her gender. She has lived her life as a woman (girl if you like). About this there should be little doubt. Her sex, like the sex of many of us, is another story. I have dealt with this issue in this space too.
This is not me dictating to our media what to print and what not to print (as if I would; as if they would care). I am suggesting that the (salacious) details of Mokgadi’s sex have surely passed their sell-by date. Whatever it is that the IAAF, ASA, SASCOC, Mr Malema, Mrs Madikizela-Mandela and whoever else, are in the future going to do or say about the tests, is no longer relevant, at least in my view. This to me takes the broader social issues no further and adds nothing to the fabric of our society (if there is such a thing). What the continued reporting of these details does do, is to inflict unknown pain on a human being that we all agree is innocent. I am yet to come across a report (not an op-ed or editorial) that seeks to re-assure Mokgadi, many others like her and us that she is not a freak. None of the reports I have seen even attempt to give her the benefit of the doubt.
The media plays both the information and the education role. It has the privilege and benefit of some of our brightest human beings. I appeal to them to use this opportunity to educate the rest of us on the matters and complex issues raised by the misfortune of Mokgadi. This, in the stead of constantly hanging her out to dry, as it were.
I ask that the media leverage its immense influence to teach the rest of us, and that way reassure Mokgadi that there is nothing wrong with her. That is the truth, there is nothing wrong with her, she is not a freak. She should not (like Saartjie Baartman many years before her) be put on show, probed, poked and debased. We need this message to come out loud and clear from our media.
We need some education on Sex, Gender and Identity rather than perpetuation of lies, inaccuracies and misinformation. Nothing illustrates the fundamental and crucial differences between sex and gender than this whole regrettable episode in Mokgadi’s life.
We cannot afford to miss these opportunities to contribute meaningfully to the development of our society. Especially the development of a culture of respect, tolerance and care.
We can do this, with the help of each one of us but more so with the help of those best placed to help – our beloved fourth estate.
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I truly agree. Thank you for highlighting this.
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