[image: The New Age] 2/10/2011 3:22:00 PM Union against Sowetan journo's censorship
Trade unions on Thursday criticised the Democratic Alliance for reportedly blacklisting a *Sowetan* newspaper reporter, but the opposition party defended its position on the matter. "Numsa abhors the censorship of Sowetan journalist Anna Majavu by the... DA," Numsa spokesman Castro Ngobese said in a statement. The daily newspaper reported Majavu had been "blacklisted" by the DA, after the party accused her of having a "political agenda" because of her previous job as SA Municipal Workers'' Union (Samwu) spokeswoman. DA spokeswoman Lindiwe Mazibuko said the Press Ombudsman had found, on two occasions, that Majavu did not report the news "truthfully, accurately and fairly". "We are under no legal or ethical obligation to distribute our statements to any particular individual or organisation. Seven *Sowetan* journalists receive our press statements every day. We are not barring any publication from receiving our communications." Mazibuko said Majavu appeared to have a particular agenda, and she had "demonstrated that over a long period of time. "She does not seem to be interested in reporting on the facts, she is malicious and her stories project blatant political bias, as is evidenced by the Press Ombudsman''s ruling," Mazibuko said. Ngobese said the DA was a "real threat and enemy" of media freedom. "The DA''s actions are nothing else, but inspired by Nazi''s propagandist Joseph Goebells [sic] of embedded newsrooms and journalistic work to advance a particular political agenda," he said. Samwu also condemned DA''s "immature behaviour". "The DA has decided to blacklist a political reporter for her previous working experience. The *Sowetan*''s political reporter Anna Majavu worked for Samwu before but not anymore," the union''s Walter Theledi said in a statement. "Her previous working experience has no bearing on the work she is currently doing and it does by no means affect her journalistic integrity." - Sapa -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
