The South African Civil Society Information Service

Mohamed Motala: What Does Civil Society Have to Do to Make Journalists Uncomfortable Enough to Report on an Issue?

24 Nov 2011

Mohamed Motala, executive director of the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE) asked, "what is it that civil society has to do to make journalists uncomfortable enough to report on an issue - including climate change?"

Motala was concerned that the media does not pay enough attention to cross cutting issues such as poverty, class, race, gender and inequality.

Motala made these remarks at a roundtable discussion, which sought to ascertain how the South African media is reporting on climate change in the run up to COP17. The roundtable was co-hosted by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office and the South African Civil Society Information Service. It took place on November 11, 2011.

Keynote speakers at the event included: Brendan Boyle (Editor, Daily Dispatch), Sue Blaine (Environment and Development Editor, Business Day), Prof. Herman Wasserman, (Deputy Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University), Bobby Peek (Director, Groundwork) and Saliem Fakier (Head of the Living Planet Unit at the World Wildlife Fund and SACSIS columnist).

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You can find this page online at http://sacsis.org.za/site/article/468.19.