The sad decline of the Sunday Times, part II

Introduction

It is the principal function of any newspaper to report the news. Intrinsic to that requirement is the ability to identify which stories constitute news and then to report those stories in a manner that is both accurate and objective. Much of the debate surrounding news reporting in South Africa concerns the latter part of that ability - the nature of reportage - and perhaps not enough attention is given to the former - the content of those stories. How often do newspapers fail to report issues that are newsworthy?

The answer, of course, is all the time. There is no real limit to the number of news stories that exist at any given time. Indeed, almost every current affairs issue is news, in the strict sense of the word. There is, however, a filter that newspapers rely on to distil those myriad stories down to a set of key issues that are of interest to their readership and reflect the most important matters of the day.

That process requires some skill and, on the margins, it is possible to argue most stories one way or the other. But at the extremes there is little argument; and the best way to distinguish those stories from more debatable issues is retrospectively. This is perhaps a cruel test for a journalist, because they rarely have the luxury of being able to survey the response of other media to an issue before making a decision. But it is an indisputably good test none the less, and one I wish to apply to the Sunday Times.

The news

Last week Tuesday the Democratic Alliance gave an exclusive story to the Sunday Times. We did so for two reasons: first, because the Sunday Times, being a newspaper with a substantial readership and, thus, considerable impact in the country, is a powerful platform from which to break a story we felt to be of some significance; and, second, because the Sunday Times is a weekly newspaper, by giving the story to them early in the week they would have some time to research it, to supplement it and to investigate it in a manner the DA could not. At the eleventh hour the newspaper declined to publish; at which point the DA put the story out nationally and to all media, the vast majority of which gave the story great prominence and extensive coverage the following day.

The story in question was the following: On 19 January 2009 senior officials of the Msunduzi Municipality (Pietermaritzburg) retrospectively authorised payment of just over R1 million for an event called ‘The Nkosi Mlaba Cultural Day'. The actual event supposedly took place on 18 January. However, as far as the DA could ascertain, there was no evidence it ever took place at all. Instead, the only event to take place on 18 January was an ANC election rally at the Qokololo Stadium, attended by some 50 000 supporters. In other words, it appeared that the ANC had misappropriated R1 million worth of public money for a party political purpose.

In support of its case, the DA gave the Sunday Times a series of documents. They included:

• A payment approval form, signed by various senior members of the municipality's administration;
• Two approved quotes; and
• A copy of the booking sheet for the oval where the event was supposed to take place (it showed that, on 18 January, the oval was booked for a cricket match).

The DA also gave the Sunday Times a statement from our national spokesperson on the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Mark Steele MP, who had been leaked the story in the first place. In summary then, the Sunday Times had the requisite hard evidence, a statement from the official opposition and a series of powerful leads which suggested something serious had gone wrong.

We gave the story to the Sunday Times on the condition that, when it was written up, the DA would be given due credit for breaking the story and that the paper would, of course, run the story in the coming Sunday edition. Significantly, we made it clear that the paper was under no obligation to run the story - that decision was at its own discretion - but if it did want to run the story, that it should give us that assurance and, in turn, we would not give the story to other media.

After talking to Mark Steele and looking at the available evidence, the Sunday Times agreed to all these provisions, convinced that it was indeed an important story and well worth being covered by the newspaper.

How the Sunday Times shot itself in the foot

It is difficult to ascertain exactly how the Sunday Times decides which stories should make its final edition and which stories should not but, if the recently commissioned report into how its various malfunctioning reporting lines work is anything to go by, it is something like this: A potential story is flagged with a conference of the great and the wise on Tuesday morning; that story is either approved in principle or vetoed; if it is approved, it is then written up and, once again, put before that conference later in the week, where a final decision is made.

The members of that conference might also suggest a rewrite, or emphasize a certain news angle over another; they might also intervene at a late stage to determine the final make-up of the Sunday paper.

That conference is also obviously deeply problematic. I have set out before the way in which it manufactures news. The Sunday Times' internal report (referred to above and the full version of which has yet to be made public) routinely cites it as the cause of many problems, including the "top heavy" influence of a "proliferation of senior managers" and the sidelining of weekly diary meetings in its favour, all of which manifests in "rewriting by senior editors", who would effectively manipulate average stories into front page "splashes".

Read between the lines and you have a conference loaded with people who do not possess the requisite skills to make good news judgements, determining the content of the paper. No doubt this is what happened in this case. And, once again, they made the wrong call.

The Sunday Times spent the whole week working on the DA's story. After an initial buy-in from the conference, the paper's hard news journalists (who are clearly not to blame) did sterling work investigating the story, phoning the various parties and regularly consulting with the DA to check the facts, to get to the bottom of the matter. At 11am on Saturday, as a courtesy, a final version of the story was read to Mark Steele. Judging by that story, it was clear there was indeed an issue worthy of the public's attention - the evidence held up and there was certainly something amiss in the Msunduzi Municipality.

On top of what the DA had provided, the newspaper had uncovered that the person after whom the ghost event was supposedly named - Nkosi Mlaba (a chief from KwaXimba, near Cato Ridge) - was entirely unaware of any event to be held in his honour. It had managed to confirm that no event took place at the venue identified in the documents, and that a cricket match had indeed taken place instead. It had also managed to obtain from the Msunduzi Mayor, Zanele Hlatshwayo, an admission that there was "something suspicious" about the matter and an undertaking to investigate. Significantly, it had also had a denial from the municipal manager about the event or payment for it, despite his signature appearing on the payment approval form.

Here was a news story.

At 9.30 pm on Saturday, however, the DA received an SMS to say that the story would not be carried on Sunday because "the Sunday Times was too tight". Instead, it would be carried in the daily Times, on Monday.

Someone at the Sunday Times had decided at the last minute, for whatever reason, the story in question was not newsworthy enough for the newspaper.

That decision, as we shall see, was a spectacularly bad piece of judgement.

The DA's response

Having reneged on its agreement (a cause for some concern in and of itself) the newspaper now wanted the best of both worlds. Not only did it deem the story not worthy of its flagship publication, it wanted the right to run it exclusively in the Times (a publication with a substantially smaller readership and far less influence). That sort of arrogance has unfortunately come to define the paper's attitude over the past few years.

The DA, of course, was having none of it and proceeded to release the story - in the form of a Sunday press statement - along with the accompanying documentation, to the entire national media core. The Sunday Times had failed to properly identify a big news story and, in the DA's opinion, no longer had a right to break that story.

The media's response

The media's response to the DA's statement was overwhelming. Various internet news sites picked up on it immediately. Virtually every national and regional radio station ran the story on Sunday and Monday morning. SABC news covered it on television and various national and regional newspapers (including the Natal Witness, which ran it as a front page banner headline) carried the story prominently on their current affairs news pages.

Here is a brief - and by no means conclusive - summary of that coverage:

Radio News (all these bulletins are from 6 July, there were also numerous stories on 5 July):

• Algoa FM (5:31 am), (6:01 am) and (6:29 am)
• Gigasi FM (11:02 am)
• 5FM (6:00 am), (7:01 am)
• Radio 2000 (6:00 am)
• Lotus FM (6:00 am) and (8:01 am)
• RSG (5:03 am), (6:04 am) (6:21 am) and (6:10 am)
• Motsweding FM (6:00 am) and (7:02 am)
• Phalaphala FM (6:01 am); (7:01 am) and (8:03 am)
• Thobela FM (7:02 am) and (8:03 am)
• Kaya FM (12:02 pm)
• Ligwalagwala FM (5:59 am)
• Lesedi FM (7:02 am)
• Umhlobo Wenene (7:01 am)
• Ukhozi FM (6:02 am)
• SAfm (5:30 am), (6:01 am), (6:30 am), (7:01 am) and (7:33 am)
• Metro FM (6:01 am) and (7:01 am)
• Fine Music Radio (8:00 am)
• OFM (6:02 am)

Television News:

• SABC 2 Morning Live News (6:06 am) and (7:03 am)

Newspapers:

• The Mercury (6 July 2009): ‘Taxes funded KZN rally' - Pg 2.
• The Witness (6 July 2009) ‘R1mln council fund ‘hijack' - Pg 1.
• Cape Times (6 July 2009) ‘DA calls for probe into ‘council cash used for rally' - Pg 5.
• Citizen (6 July 2009) ‘ANC ‘used R1 million on rally'' - Pg 4.
• The Star (6 July 2009) ‘Funding of ANC rally queried' - Pg 6.
• The Daily News (6 July 2009) ‘DA cries foul over R1 million ‘cultural event'' - Pg 2.
• Ilanga (6 July 2009) ‘Uvelephi u-R1m we-ANC?' - Pg 1.
• The Times (6 July 2009) ‘Rates spent on ANC' - Pg 3.
• The Sowetan (7 July 2009) ‘Ratepayers' money spent on rally' - Pg 3.

 There can be little doubt then, using the retrospective test I identified in my introduction, that the DA's story was unquestionably newsworthy. And not on the margins either, it was big news, that generated significant coverage across the board. Even those hard news journalists who wrote the story up for the Sunday Times knew it was newsworthy, because they called the DA on Sunday to express their dismay at the party having put the story out nationally (indeed, The Times story, the story that would have run in the Sunday Times, is testament to this).

Given that fact - and the extent of the coverage the story generated in the media - the question is: why did the Sunday Times choose not to run the story?

An inability to identify the news

The short answer is, who knows?

But you can be sure it has everything to do with a dysfunctional newsroom and a series of senior editors who cannot properly identify a news story; and whose intervention cost the Sunday Times a big story that would have made a significant impact.

Certainly it had nothing to do with the other stories run by the paper this past Sunday. Its front page lead - an innocuous story about how South Africa's 'super' rich are getting poorer - was distinctly underwhelming. It had nothing exceptional to report on its politics pages; indeed, the biggest item on the page was a photo of Jacob Zuma (see here).

There is no plausible reason why it chose not to run the story about the Msunduzi Municipality. It had everything going for it: breaking news, a substantial amount of evidence and, at its heart, a scandal where the South African public - its own readers - had apparently been fleeced of R1 million worth of their hard earned money. More to the point, it had the story as an exclusive. No one else had any idea it even existed.

One is led inevitably to the conclusion that one of South Africa's great publications - a newspaper which once boasted ‘its not news until it appears in the Sunday Times' - has lost the very ability to properly identify the news in the first place. This, along with a number of other problems, has seen it slide steadily downhill over the past few years and it is now teetering on the brink.

That shortcoming hurts no one but the Sunday Times itself - all the more so in the current economic climate when advertisers and readers alike are scrutinising the value they get for the money they spend.

The competitive nature of professional journalism means South Africa's mainstream media will never let a good news story slip past unnoticed. Unless the paper begins to put the news at the top of its agenda, as opposed to the many other factors which seem to influence its decision making, its complete transition from considered read to vacuous tabloid fanfare is as good as complete.

This article first appeared on the Democratic Alliance weblog - The Real ANC Today.

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter

Services Subscribe to newsletters News feeds Share this article Facebook Google Laaik.it Yahoo! Digg del.icio.us

Comments

If you come across comments that are injurious, defamatory, profane, off-topic or inappropriate; contain personal attacks or racist, sexist, homophobic, or other slurs, please report them and they will be removed.

 

responses to this article

Spiking the Lead In "journo speak" it is called "Spiking the Lead". This is when the senior editorial staff of a newspaper have a breaking story of some significance in their posession, but don't recognise it's importance, and then choose instead to "Spike it", (in other . .more words discard it). It is only when all the other publications run it, that it becomes obvious that they have made a faux pas. . .less by Fred on July 07 2009, 23:44 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

I would have missed it anyways, as I do not buy the Sunday Times anymore by Walter on July 08 2009, 06:50 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

news There are various rasons for this. Top heavy management: everyone wants to be a manager, no one wants to do any "work". This is a failing in government at the moment. Secondly, ANC "moles": "nuff said. Lastly, sheer plain stupidity resulting from the . .more first point above. . .less by js on July 08 2009, 06:56 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Well written This article is well written and, in my eyes, balanced. It is indeed a real pity that the decision makers at the Sunday Times seem to have allowed themselves to be swayed from covering this alleged abuse of public funds as prominently as it deserved to be . .more covered. Other commentators will come out and attack the DA just because it is the DA but I think there is also a need to look at the merits of the story. As an opposition party, the DA is doing a sterling job of ensuring that there is accountability on the part of government behaviour and expenses - at least they try! I hope they keep up the good work. I also hope that proper investigation will be allowed to take place on this alleged abuse and that the guilty parties, if proven to have abused public funds for party political ends, will be made to suffer the consequences, no matter who they are and what rank they hold! This is not about party politics but the Public Funds Management Act! . .less by Solly M on July 08 2009, 07:03 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

No more Sunday Times I used to subscribe to the Sunday Times and enjoyed reading it for many years over a cup of coffee, but I cancelled my subscription approx 18 months ago, due to the fact that I felt the quality of the paper had been compromised... If changes are not made, . .more I do not forsee a bright future for this paper, which is sad considering the quality it used to produce.... . .less by Not a subscriber on July 08 2009, 07:08 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

silver lining to this cloud Given that far fewer people are reading the Sunday Times it is actually a good thing that they spiked this very important story. This stupidity caused the DA to distribute the story to the general media and far wider readership. A blessing in . .more disguise David Bullard must be loving this . .less by ack on July 08 2009, 07:24 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

I cancelled my subscription to the ST years ago... since when it has become even worse (though I will read it if nothing else is available). It has simply ceased to have any relevance to me or my culture. by Alset on July 08 2009, 07:28 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Same here also cancelled the subscription in the last 2 years. THis story validates what I was pretty sure was going on all along by Valdi on July 08 2009, 07:29 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

While I agree with this Blog... I find it quite amusing that a media company that competes with the Sunday Times can use the platform to consistently criticize their competition. Its like Standard bank constantly posting artciles on how usless Absa is (they would be right of course). . .more I'm sure the next comment will be "we don't compete against print media blah blah blah". Regarding the Blog : If the Sunday Times doesn't feel the need to further the interests of the DA surely that is their choice. To be honest I enjoyed the lead story " Rich South Africans getting poorer" . I believe it is far more important to know that Nicky and Johann have $10 brazillian less to spend on jets etc and that Mpho, Patrice and others are now no longer Brazillionaires but now owe the banks a few million rather than some boring story about the entire democratic fibre of our country fallling in a heap. Sunday Lunch was better without it. . .less by Senhor on July 08 2009, 07:53 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Costs We used to advertise in this paper , the costs and target market , we obtain better milage for our money elsewhere by Advertising on July 08 2009, 08:05 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ST Going Backwards I agree that the Sunday Times is going backwards, fast. I buy the newspaper out of habit, like my parents did - but no more. This article has changed my mind. This weekend I'll browse for a replacement. by William Tell on July 08 2009, 08:06 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

spiking the lead "swinging the lead" more likely by too many top managers with too little to do. However, like Walter, I too would have missed it - for the same reasons. But I do feel sorry for the journalists who did all that really good legwork. Time to form your . .more own paper, chaps, and let this particular ship sink! . .less by john kalala on July 08 2009, 08:09 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Like all things these clowns have touched - The Sunday Times too is BROKEN. One only has to look how the ad revenue has dropped and the product itself which isnow an excuse for a newspaper. by Peter on July 08 2009, 08:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

DA wants to use ST to further its interest While I agree with the DA that the story was front page stuff, I have to commend the Editor of the ST for not running with the story on DA terms. Any newspaper should not be seen advancing the interests of any political party. by Andile on July 08 2009, 08:52 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Why did DA choose the Sunday Times anyway? The rest of SA has acknowldged that the SunTimes has deteriorated dramaticlly and am not sure who still reads it. Interesting that close to my factory, in an industrial area, with low income settlements nearby, the Sunday Times has big banners promoting . .more the sale of their paper for just R7 each weekend. Now starts to get clearer why they are targetting such communities.....all they have left! . .less by Ben on July 08 2009, 08:55 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Sunday Grimes Cannot understand why DA would have given the scoop to Sunday Grimes. It's become nothing more than a scandal tabloid. Next time try the only quality read left, the M&G. by Tim Buck Too on July 08 2009, 09:00 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Senhor I am afraid to say, but you could be a boring and pretentions Senhor. The social and sexy pages for sure that they are far more rewarding to your saucy and bland taste. What you say about that? by Injala Apera on July 08 2009, 09:06 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

DA whinge Maybe the Sunday Times know they're in business to please their shareholders and publicising ANC dirty tricks is not going to do that. How is the DA criticising the choice of reporting a newspaper does any different from that of any ruling party anywhere . .more in the world trying to influence the media? Is it really appropriate for one news organisation to allow its platform to be used to criticise the policy decisions of another? . .less by Frank on July 08 2009, 09:18 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

So what? The ST refused to give your story the prominence you claim it deserved, but agreed to pass it on its sister publication The Times - so whats the big fuss. Does that now mean ST is going down the drain? by Huh? on July 08 2009, 09:21 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

I agree the Sunday Times is a joke not that the Rapport is any better... by Gemini on July 08 2009, 09:23 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

pls spare us the drivel.... ....of "i have cancelled my ST subscription" or "I dont read the ST anymore". You sound like the guys who makes headlines when they emigrate, but when they could not cut it overseas, they return back to sa to a hush-hush reception by I READ on July 08 2009, 09:39 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Sunday Times My biggest issue with the ST is its Business Times section. Two weeks ago it was filled with quotations from acting Transnet CEO,Chris Wells about how well Transnet has been doing,yet the accompanying financials and its operating history do not bear . .more this out.Where is the investigative reporting? . .less by davey on July 08 2009, 09:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

When is Part III out Do you think you'll succeed in "killing off" the sunday times? Shouldn't MNY be concentrating on improving it's P******* share price. Why didnt the author break the story on MNY since it's the mouthpiece of the Democratic Alliance by JM on July 08 2009, 09:49 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Underwhelming story on Sunday about SA's super rich getting poorer was reason I did not buy paper. If it is of any assistance to newspaper editors, here is what I do on Sunday morning... I go to the shops to buy my weekly groceries. While there I look at the newspapers on offer and if the headlines offer something . .more that interests me, I buy that/those papers. Most of the time, the Mail and Guardian makes it into my supermarket trolley, occasionally I replace with Sunday Times. Its all about the story! . .less by Al on July 08 2009, 10:16 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

DA's actions questionable Have to agree with Andile and Senhor. One, this newsletter has positioned itself to be the channel which competitors of the ST can use. What is disgusting is that this is dished up as 'objective' reporting. Two, the DA has been used to exclusive access to . .more certain newspapers and their editors. That has changed as the editorial staff of most newspapers don't come exclusively from the DA anymore - people from different backgrounds and other ideologies are now drafted into the sector. . .less by CH on July 08 2009, 10:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

As it happens This weeks Sunday Times was spectacularly boring. Remember the glory days of the past when they used to have a cutting edge investigative team ? by Sad Days on July 08 2009, 11:49 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Joke One week the main story is Michael Jackson dead, the next Serena wins Wimbledon....come on?? That rag is a joke. by . on July 08 2009, 12:15 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Sclusive shmlusive What I cannot understand is why the DA thinks it is advantageous to give their story to one newspaper in any case. Clearly, in this particular case, when they eventually issued it to the entire media they got a result that was satisfactory from their . .more point of view. So why did they even bother to approach the ST on an exclusive basis? I really don't get it. I know the DA is not the only outfit that has this urge to give one outlet or another an exclusive. It is quite a common thing. But why? Where is the up-side? I can't see it and I have never been able to see it. Obviously there is a potential down-side, as here, where the DA did not get what it asked for, then had to delay, and now has an on-going row with the ST on its hands, which Gareth van Onselen looks determined to make worse, or even permanent. Political parties should not be trying to play the news. They should get their media releases out early in the day to the whole press and electronic media corps, and take their chances. Maybe the DA thought that by giving an exclusive they could have their own spin on the story? If that was so, then the Sunday Times was right to give the DA uphill. . .less by Domza on July 08 2009, 12:18 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

@Injala Apera Could you repeat that in English please? I read the main section and the business section. I don't read the saucy and social pages because I have online porn for that. by Senhor on July 08 2009, 12:20 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

News facts It is a well known fact - ask any spin doctor or PR person - that newspapers and radio stations are starved for news on Sundays/Mondays. So this is also why it was pounced on by all and sundry. by LaurenC on July 08 2009, 13:11 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ST is a joke R there people out there who still read the ST? I'm shocked. there's nothing in there except the mass killing of trees. by Vusi on July 08 2009, 13:12 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

The Sunday Times I also used to buy the Sunday Times until i realised that the news is not balanced, unbiased, and impartial. The paper is C***, its part and parcel of the liberal agenda driven through the media. So is the City Press of late. I dont buy newspapers . .more anymore. . .less by Skhokho on July 08 2009, 13:46 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ST coverage of DA news release Gareth van Onselen is extremely politically naive if he really believes that the competitive environment of journalism in south africa would never let professionals miss out on a good story. by pat rogers on July 08 2009, 13:51 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Putting aside the fact that the DA is the Sunday Times of political parties... boo hoo The Sunday Times decided not to be your mouthpiece. Funny thing for an independent commercial enterprise to do. by Herman Greenside on July 08 2009, 14:33 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ZZZZZZ The ST saw through Gareth and co, why did he run to them if they are as incompetent as he potrays them to be. by sleeping on July 08 2009, 15:31 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

DA Did you ever stop to think that this misappropriation of funds is actually no longer newsworthy, and that therefore the decision by the ST is a good one .... we are so tired of the usual "news" that the DA accuse the ANC of stealing this, breaking that, . .more lying about this, etc etc etc. Of course the ANC in PMB were naughty and had a jolly good rally and a few JW Black Labels afterwards .... hey they are the ruling party and the people elected them ... . .less by Mrs News on July 08 2009, 15:41 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Bravo Greenside I think you hit the nail on the head. by Domza on July 08 2009, 15:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

STimes Bad judgement by DA to give any new to the ST. The shier mountain of St's returned from our local Supermarket to be trashed every Monday/Tuesday don't believe many people read the thing any more other than maybe for horse racing and soccer news. by RE on July 08 2009, 16:06 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Are the DA becoming media cissies Of course Mark Steele's scoop on the ANC alleged abuse of ratepayers' funds and the possible fraud around them is a good political news story. Gareth, like some little drip, complains that it was not carried on Sunday. He should get his perspective . .more back. Monday's TIMES would have been fine. The important thing for the DA, is that the story ran everywhere and they should not sulk and whinge because the Sunday Times made an informed decision not to run the story. . .less by Graham McIntosh on July 08 2009, 16:33 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ST sucks! I stopped mu subs way back..when it became a tabloid. Anyway, no newspaper should be influenced by political parties. Imgaine if the roles were reversed and a DA conrtolled council was accused and the ANC succeeded in getting ST to publish the story. The . .more DA would be crying press freedom, ANC controlled media from hills. Good decision not to allow politics to influence editorials at all. We have blogs or opinion columns for that. . .less by GK on July 08 2009, 17:03 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Woof! Woof! Woof! "Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence." - Napoleon Bonaparte Incompetence does not occlude out malicious intent. - me by me on July 08 2009, 19:56 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

The Sunday Times gave their word They wanted exclusivity and the DA gave it to them as long as they ran the story. If it was an exclusive picture of Michael Jackson's last photo alive, they couldn't have said, yes we will run with it and and pay R1m for the exclusive use in SA . .more ... and then on Saturday evening turn round and say "Sorry, we changed our mind". The cut throat world of journalism does not work like that. The DA had a story they wanted to be exposed to the public. The Sunday Times wants exclusive material and liked what the DA brought to them. They made a deal. They then opted out at the last hour. In doing so they prevented other papers from having the time to investigate the story in time for the weekend. It was not a smart move. The Sunday Times will now not be first choice for future exclusives from anyone. And to make matters worse, the paper that they ended up producing that day was really, really boring. A good political scandal might have been just what was needed to add a bit of spice to the blandness. . .less by Sad days on July 08 2009, 23:25 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Sunday Independent good replacement I don't buy Sunday newspapers but I can tell which one is the best. Sunday Independent. by Nwali on July 09 2009, 07:43 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

ST a big rip off R15 for a newspaper? It is not worth it. by SP on July 09 2009, 08:33 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Stoped reading it when Ballard was fired......... For saying what we all think. Like the SABC the Sunday times is no longer an independent news source. You cant have an independent voice if you are trying a "socialist" experiment in Government. You might as well read the ANC's blogs for free . .more if you want to know what they want you to know and think.(all say baaaa baaa black sheep)(together now) With the Nats we had the ou Krokodil and SABC(proof read by Gov) for news (we all were convinced that Tutu was Dr Evil .. ), with the previous (old) ANC we had the Volstruis (Mbeki with head in sand on most real issues) Now we have the camelion with everyone striking because they were offered 10% increases instead of 12% when the economy has done a duck of 6% (1 2 =27??)Feed people with too much (artificial)good news (smug Trevor with his superior fiscal plan)("we wont be affected by the global downturn") and you have people expecting to be paid more and then it all goes pair shaped when reality sets in (the real economy)and those same strikers get fired by their newly appointed black bosses (so much for Ubuntu) Ubuntu new definition ..."Share with your fellow man if you are white and he is black..If however you are black and have been shared with keep it and spend it on yourself... Fire some "waakers" if required to still afford your johnny walker. Bet the Scots are having a good giggle . .less by Fred on July 09 2009, 09:19 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Too busy kowtowing to the rich Of course they couldn't cover the story, they had to leave space for that incredibly crucial story on how the (boo hoo) rich are now less rich! by possum on July 09 2009, 09:51 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

They to investigate and find stories. Then we had NPA/DSO directors who started to spoon feeding then, telling them what to about other people, leaking confidental and classified documents to them. They just wrote and started to forget about the need to search for the truth in the news and . .more slowly became a gossip newspaper. Is the a difference between Sunday Times and Sunday Sun? . .less by Spoon Fed on July 09 2009, 12:11 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

The monarchy of South Africa It is the media's choice if they want to run a story or not and the public's choice if they want to read it. It is just incredibly sad that some readers ignore this story because it is not 'anything new' or because the source was the DA. Look at the . .more truth, the issue at hand, and ask yourself - how corrupt is a country where public funds are used for the ruling party's campaining (not the same as "policy decisions" Frank!!). Yes, it happens all over the world, but at least it cause public outrage anywhere else.. I am so tired of all these commentators getting irritated with the official opposition party critising the ruling party! That is how a democracy works. Or maybe most South Africans didn't really want a democracy, they wanted a monarchy. In a monarchy you may not critisise the rulers.. . .less by Fifi on July 09 2009, 14:02 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

This is our concoction, enjoy I stopped reading this paper when it became clear that it was partisan in the Zuma vs State matter. Many white readers were enjoying that diabolical reporting dismissing our our plea for objective reporting. These are the same things we . .more observed with the state organs such as the Scorpions, even the justice system. Today we are reaping the benefits of ignoring our principles in order to catch our most hated enemy. The scorpions are gone, the state organs have lost credibility, we have a broken country and journalist who have sunken to the gutter. Pitty, we must now feast from our bitter concoction. . .less by Gambu on July 09 2009, 14:25 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Theft of R1mill is hardly news in SA these days - it's chicken feed! and happens EVERY single day - like rape and murder... by GungetsTuft on July 09 2009, 14:36 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

! I have the pleasure some would say displeasure of meeting the editor and a few of his journos. I commended him on the increased readership. At but the lambasted him on the mockery that he has created in the content of the newspaper. For *** sake this is a . .more national icon that the editor has turned into a gossip news paper. I told that I now read the horoscope 1st as its more accurate that the stories in the paper. After 5 minutes he ran away, I guess he believe the paper is on the right track. DA stop complaining or create your own newspaper. The Suntimes has the right to publish which ever story it deems fit no matter the useless of the content. . .less by Editor on July 10 2009, 14:25 Find this comment inappropriate? Report it

Name
Subject
Comment