TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/030689/03068900.005

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 4KB | 66 lines

PRESS, Page 58

Filling the South Africa Void

An independent TV show keeps the spotlight on apartheid


    Young men flinging stones at tanks. Streets blockaded by
burning tires. Helmeted troops firing into crowds of rioters. Night
after night, such images once gave television viewers around the
world a chilling picture of South Africa's racial and political
turmoil. But when Pretoria declared a state of emergency in June
1986 and imposed tough new press-censorship regulations, the scenes
of violence suddenly disappeared. So, to a large extent, did
television's interest in the story. As a result, there has been a
significant drop in network coverage of South Africa.

    Filling that void is the mission of South Africa Now, a
privately funded half-hour TV-magazine show that strives to keep
the spotlight on southern Africa. The weekly broadcast is produced
by Globalvision, a small independent production company, with the
Africa Fund, an antiapartheid organization. Launched last April,
the show airs on about 45 broadcast and cable stations across the
U.S.  Says Globalvision's vice president, Rory O'Connor: "We saw
a need for a program on South Africa and decided to jump in both
feet first."

    Housed in a cramped Manhattan loft and operating with more
conviction than cash (the budget is $10,000 a week -- minuscule
compared with the money available to most network shows), South
Africa Now presents a lively look at a tumultuous region. Twelve
full- and part-time staffers and a host of volunteers put together
programs of spot news, background reports and cultural features.
The result is a show that is spunky and creative, though uneven in
quality. Interviews sometimes drag on, and occasionally the picture
and sound quality are poor.

    Material comes from a variety of sources, including free-lance
journalists in South Africa and the frontline states and
independent video agencies and documentary makers in Western
Europe. Some of the taped footage is smuggled out of South Africa.
"Journalists who work for us are willing to take incredible risks
to get their stories out because they know we are willing to put
them on the air," says Carolyn Craven, senior producer and
co-anchor.

    Since television has tended to define the South Africa story
in terms of violent conflict, South Africa Now tries to offer a
broader perspective. The show routinely taps the antiapartheid vein
that runs through the work of such South African artists as Hugh
Masekela, Miriam Makeba and the country's hot multiracial band
Savuka. Its more reportorial pieces have documented the detention
and alleged torture of black children, analyzed the causes of
black-on-black violence, aired footage of the war in Angola and
exposed the activities of the White Wolves, a right-wing terrorist
group. Critics charge that the show crosses the line between
journalism and advocacy. But staffers insist they are open to many
views and regularly solicit South African officials for comment.
"We strive for journalistic credibility," says O'Connor, "but we
have no problem being identified as antiapartheid."

    After two seasons of struggling hand to mouth, South Africa
Now seems likely to endure. Its producers have received badly
needed funding in the form of a $100,000 grant from the Rockefeller
Foundation and $25,000 from the Carnegie Corporation. The show has
also won a satellite slot that will make it available to the
nation's 334 PBS stations by late spring. Far from fearing
competition from the upstart broadcast, many network staffers are
actively rooting for its success. That is one piece of good news
about South Africa that everyone can share.