Deur Johannes Froneman

Die Duitse navorser Corinna Arndt het van 2005 tot 2011 intensiewe navorsing gedoen oor die politisering van die SAUK. Dit loop in 2018 uit op die publikasie van haar doktorale proefskrif by die Universiteit van Oxford.  Die titel: “The Post-Apartheid Politicisation of the South African Broadcasting Corporation”.

Daar was deur die jare talle artikel, verhandelings, proefskrifte en boeke oor die SAUK in al sy gedaantes, onder meer verskeie publikasies deur Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, Pieter Fourie en Attie Gerber. Hierdie studie (waarvan ek per toeval op die internet kennis geneem het), se invalshoek is bepaald multidissiplinêr en belig talle hoeke. Ek laat haar liewers self verduidelik:

“The study links an intra-organisational analysis of journalistic practice with the macrolevel of the political field and the micro-level of individual actors. It explores in detail the unconscious processes inscribed in the SABC’s culture and subcultures, as well as their interplay, before approaching the understudied problem of agency in newsrooms, in particular agency-as-resistance to politicisation.” 

Hierdie is geen maklike leesstof nie, maar die moeite werd om van kennis te neem. Diegene wat kennis dra van die sterk gepolitiseerde SAUK in die pre-1990-jare, kan self besluit in watter mate Arndt se bevindings dalk ook op die SAUK van die ou bedeling van toepassing mag wees. Maar dit gaan hier oor die SAUK in die jare 2005 tot 2011. (Mens kan dus aanvaar dat dit nie noodwendig meer vandag net so van toepassing is nie.)

Die fokus is swaar op organisasiekultuur, maar sy wys tog uit dat daar geen enkele kultuur aanwesig was (is) nie. Belangrik is ook haar klem op die rol van individue. So skryf sy: “Every journalist, within the limitation set by structural factors, cultural dynamics and group processes, ‘chooses’, for instance, to self-censor or not to self-censor.”

Hierdie keuse wat individue het, is natuurlik altyd gevaarlik binne ideologiese burokrasieë — of dit nou die ou of nuwe SAUK is, en of dit ‘n Naspers-koerant voor 1990 was. Keuse is een saak, gevolge ‘n ander.

Ek haal enkele dele van Arndt se samevattende hoofstuk uitvoerig aan en beklemtoon enkele belangrike sinne. Sy skryf:

“Throughout the organisation, many SABC journalists habitually and consistently behave in ways that conflict with the professional standards and aspirations enshrined in the SABC’s mandate.

“Four patterns of behaviour that manifest in highly politicised environments have been identified: over-reliance on official sources and uncritical reporting, excessive upward referral and self-censorship, the structural blurring of accountability, and withdrawal and self-absorption.

“These patterns were wide-spread but rarely acknowledged by those who exhibited them: they had become an unquestioned part of the organisational culture. In their presence, the every-day work of journalism could be carried out, but only just.

“Adverse effects included uncritical news and current affairs reporting, the stifling of initiative and creativity, low-quality coverage and journalists disengaged from their professional roles as well as from their audience.  

“Levels of politicisation as reflected in the prevalence of these patterns fluctuate over time, and these intra-organisational phenomena are associated with macro-level political developments in the country.

“A historical analysis points to five distinct periods between 1993 and 2013 which suggests that politicisation has been a non-linear and neither uni-directional nor teleological process. The process, however, seems to have traversed at least three phases during this time:

De-politicisation (linked to the political transition),

Re-politicisation (associated with the ANC’s entrenchment of power and a renegotiation of relations between journalists and the political establishment), and

Overidentification (reflecting journalists’ attempt to navigate unprecedented factionalism within the ANC).

“It could also be shown that some integration of experience has taken place subsequently resulting in renewed de-politicisation and the strengthening of professional autonomy despite continued high levels of politicisation on board and senior executive level.

“This is but one indication that politicisation is far more than a top-down phenomenon. Having identified, traced over time and studied in their interaction drivers, enablers, and inhibitors of politicisation I conclude that factors related to organisational culture affect the SABC’s susceptibility to politicisation.

“It follows that organisational culture must be taken into account when trying to understand and/or influence processes of (de-)politicisation. Seeking an in-depth understanding of the function of patterns of journalistic practice I was able to link them to collective unconscious processes aimed at managing high level of anxiety originating from the nature of journalistic work, the SABC’s organisational history, journalists’ exposure to violence and suffering, and politicisation itself.

“In their function as social defences against anxiety … the patterns act as stabilisers of the organisation in a volatile political environment, but at the cost of its journalism. I conclude that unconscious collective processes as inscribed in organisational culture are therefore centrally implicated in the broadcaster’s susceptibility and response to politicisation.

“With regard to politicisation, the SABC’s organisational culture is not homogeneous. Journalists behave in varied ways despite sharing the same organisational environment. This can be seen as evidence that there is considerable space for agency, and thus for resistance to politicisation. This space, however, is rarely taken up – certainly much less so than, for instance, at some established public broadcasters such as the BBC.

“I have argued that much of this seems to have to do with the subcultures present at the SABC and the ways they interact and reinforce each other. Of these subcultures I identify and analyse four:

Partisans,

Independent-minded Professionals,

Black Old Guard, and

White Old Guard.

“They are distinguished by demographic markers, the use of the patterns identified previously, and by how journalists relate to the task of the SABC.

“I found only one of these subcultures to be de-facto aligned with the SABC’s mandate, which led me to conclude that it constitutes a counter-culture. Subcultures act in various ways to drive, enable, or inhibit politicisation. I have also shown how subcultural alignments can explain why collective resistance to politicisation has been so difficult to sustain.

“Subcultures were shown to affect group dynamics in daily newsroom interactions. This has consequences for a group’s capacity to conform or resist politicisation and can, for instance, result in newsrooms becoming rapidly politicised at times… 

“Group dynamics, in turn, impact on individuals, including those with leadership responsibilities. This goes against the prevailing view in public discourse on the SABC that it is only or predominantly leaders that shape culture, and it has consequences for thinking about de-politicisation.

“The question of agency-as-resistance to politicisation – left unresolved within the group relations tradition – necessitated a move from collective dynamics on the interorganisational level to the micro-level of individual actors. Every journalist, within the limitation set by structural factors, cultural dynamics and group processes, ‘chooses’, for instance, to self-censor or not to self-censor. 

“However, I found this decision-making to be far from a purely rational process. Having shown how journalists are often at odds with what they are supposed to do (their task), as well as at odds with each other, it appears that they are also at odds with themselves. They are inconsistent in their behaviour, contradict themselves, and often behave differently to their stated beliefs. When confronted with such inconsistencies they tended to respond defensively, with expressions of shame, guilt, anger, or confusion.” 

Arndt meen haar bevindinge daag konvensionele verklarings uit  “that rely either exclusively or predominantly on formal, structural or otherwise more ‘obvious’ factors such as de-jure independence, funding challenges, or direct political pressure. They suggest that the literature be revised to recognise organisational culture as an important variable, both for explaining failed transitions and predict the success of ongoing or future ones… 

“My research strengthens the view that editorial independence is not simply defined by the absence or presence of direct pressure and introduces the concept of ‘spectator journalism’. It also refutes the widelyheld assumption that journalists strive for a maximum of autonomy (Curran 1990; Tunstall 1971; Waisbord 2000) by showing that voluntary conformity and collusion, indecision, internal conflicts and unconscious motivations are commonplace and influence levels of politicisation in many ways…. 

“Finally, I employ psychoanalytic concepts to analyse the unconscious dimensions of the SABC’s organisational culture. So far, the psychoanalytic study of organisations has derived most of its empirical data from health care, social work, and education with other sectors, such as the media, receiving limited attention.

“My contributions in this area consist of a modification of Menzies’ (1960) theory of social defences to take into account a wider range of work-related sources of anxiety and identify some that are specific to journalism, and public broadcasting in particular...