Three publications from Media24 have been found guilty of breaching the Press Code by the Press Council. This comes after ActionSA national chairperson,, Michael Beaumont complained to the Press Ombudsman after publications, Rapport, City Press, Netwerk24 and News 24 published an election poll report and withheld its source. The report was first published by Rapport newspaper which was later carried by the other publications.
THE POLLING DATA
The media outlets published the article titled: "MK Party could rule KZN as it enjoys mounting support, threatening ANC' last month. The report claimed that MK Party has the support of 28% of registered voters in KwaZulu Natal, with the ANC in second at 27%, the DA in third place with 19% and the IFP in fourth place with 15% and the EFF standing at 6%. According to the publications, the polling data was confidentially shared with them with an 'excellent' track record, and it is done daily by phone among 898 demographically representative registered voters. "The poll is a summary of the average of 14 days of data (23 February to 8 March), has a margin of error of 3.8% and is modelled for a voter turnout of 66%,' the report said.
THE COMPLAINT
ActionSA which complained to Press Council, said in their complaint that there were strong indications that the poll was conducted by the Democratic Alliance and that this means the figures should be read with caution as parties use polling figures to mislead the electorate about their levels of support. In response, Media 24 outlined the approach it applied to anonymous sources saying several attempts were made to get the source of the polling data to go on the record, but without success. "The information then had to meet higher standards before making it into print, and the editorial team satisfied themselves of the reliability of the polling, having access to details of methodology as well as the identity of the organisation involved. Later polling yielded similar results,' Media 24 said in their response, adding that the article cannot be read as pro-DA propaganda as the party hardly appears in the publications.
THE OMBUDSMAN RULING
In his ruling, Krüger said he found that the publications breached clause 1.2 of the Press Code by omitting material information on the originality of the poll. "The failure to name the DA as the organisation behind the polling amounts to the omission of a material fact," he said. "Accordingly, the publishers, being Rapport, in print and online on Netwerk24, and City Press in print and online on News24, are directed to add a prominent statement about the responsible organisation, indicating whether it is fully independent or has any direct stake in the upcoming election, as a party or otherwise. The addition should be clearly linked to a note at the foot of the online report, which includes "Correction' in the headline and explains the reason for the change,' the ruling read. It continued to say the note should make it clear it is in line with a ruling by Krüger after a complaint lodged by ActionSA and published on the Press Council website. Krüger also ruled that similar notes be published in the next edition of both Rapport and City Press, and that the publication is to provide the draft notes for print and online (in Afrikaans and English) for approval by the Deputy Press Ombud before publication.
RULING WELCOMED
Action SA has welcomed the ruling and said it accepts the need to protect the identity of confidential sources but that the link to the organisation behind the poll is a different matter. "The fact that this will be the Press Council has directed that the veil be lifted on an anonymous poll, and for the publishers to reveal if the origins of that poll are politically invested in the outcome of this election, is a major victory. The ruling reflects an increasing recognition of the influence of polling, and the relative depiction of political growth and decline, as was recently conveyed by the South African National Editors Forum,' Beaumont said, adding that the party will await with anticipation the publication of the information of the provenance of the poll published. He added that ActionSA harbours no ill-will towards the media outlets concerned or the journalist in question. The publications have seven days from the day of receipt of the ruling to apply for leave to appeal the decision.
