Liberal, not lickspittle
From Mr John D.Battersby Sir: R.W. Johnson (`Stand up and be count- ed', 24 June) accuses me of being a 'guilty white liberal-turned-ANC supporter'.
I have never belonged to the African National Congress, but I do believe in the principle of collective responsibility, which is why I apologised publicly in 1996 for the role the English-language media played in upholding the vile system of apartheid. I returned to this theme in my submission to the Human Rights Commission investiga- tion into racism in the media in April but at no time had I 'begged forgiveness from the commission and promised to try to clean out [my] mind more thoroughly in future'. In fact, my submission culminated with a profound and open interchange with the chairman of the commission, Barney Pityana. I believe that the grand gesture that is needed from those who benefited from apartheid towards the victims has not yet taken place.
Johnson's claim that Independent News & Media carried frequent articles attacking the Democratic party as being `neo-Nazi' after its gains at the polls in the 1999 elec- tions is, at best, an example of hyperbole. One columnist used the term and a robust debate ensued. Newspapers in the Indepen- dent News & Media stable support the val- ues that the ANC brought in the place of unjust apartheid rule — democracy and non-racialism. This does not make its news- papers fawning apologists for the faults of the ANC government, which are rigorously highlighted and exposed. Independent Newspapers has led the way in making good the media's shortcomings during the apartheid era, and are leading the way in affirmative action and in making news- rooms and the people who run them more representative.
John D. Battersby
Editor, Sunday Independent, Johannesburg
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