South African Broadcaster's Use of Blacklist Stirs Unease

SOUTH AFRICAN BROADCASTER'S USE OF BLACKLIST STIRS UNEASE
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Craig Timberg]
Rumors had long existed of a blacklist of commentators banned from the airwaves of South Africa's public broadcasting agency. But it took a blunt conversation with a longtime friend to convince Karima Brown, the outspoken political editor of Business Day, that she was on it. A 79-page report commissioned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation on the blacklist indicates that the order emanated from Snuki Zikalala, the top news executive for the agency, a publicly funded behemoth that many here fear is reverting to its apartheid-era roots as a tool for government propaganda. And though spirited public debate remains common in post-apartheid South Africa, the existence of an SABC blacklist has stirred unease in a nation where the ruling African National Congress already controls the presidency, the parliament and all nine provincial governments.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301311.html
(requires registration)