My friend Kyle on media culture in South Africa:

Why isn’t the media stronger in South Africa? Sure you could say it’s young, but I don’t buy that – especially since we’re supposed to have a very activisty past, complete with Journos Risking Their Lives for Truth™. Besides, one doesn’t need much money to take a satirical, popular, entertaining jab at politics. No, instead the media suffers from a chronic lack of ambition. You see, normally the ambitious are rewarded for their efforts, encouraging others to be ambitious too, but in South Africa I think this is discouraged by the wire-cutter in the wings.

The wire-cutter in the wings is the looming punishment presented to those who push the envelope. In other words, media impedance is reactionary: only once a sleeping bear has been prodded with the abrasive, outspoken pole of critique might it run onto the stage wielding a pair of wire-cutters with the intention of snipping media expression. Take the Zapiro TV show for example; it received funding from the SABC for a pilot, but once it was created it was canned for being too controversial. Or the Nando’s ad involving Julius Malema, when ANCYL threatened violence and forced Nando’s to do that clever little shuffle of blurring the Julius puppet out. Anticipating the effort of making severe commentary, most of the media battery just up and buggers off, coming to a cool equilibrium with the societal and political forces that could offer resistance.