{"id":99973,"date":"2025-08-20T14:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=99973"},"modified":"2025-08-20T14:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T12:28:14","slug":"media-junkets-raise-outcry-activists-question-integrity-of-south-african-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/media-junkets-raise-outcry-activists-question-integrity-of-south-african-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Media junkets raise outcry: Activists question integrity of South African journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read
\n20 August 2025 | 14:24 CAT<\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 The pursuit of truth in journalism comes under scrutiny as activists question media independence amid Israeli-funded junket revelations.<\/p><\/div>\n

As the war on Gaza rages, questions are being raised closer to home about the independence of South African journalism. Veteran activist and journalist Hassan Lorgat has lodged a formal complaint against three major media houses, accusing them of failing to disclose that their editors and reporters participated in Israeli-funded junket trips.<\/p>\n

Lorgat argues that these trips undermine public trust and press freedom. \u201cWhen you pay for the trip, you actually pay for the thinking,\u201d he said, warning that such sponsorships amount to covert propaganda.<\/p>\n

The activist detailed how The Sunday Times, The Citizen and Business News ran stories featuring identical interviewees after these trips, raising red flags of coordinated messaging. \u201cThree senior editors with 90 years\u2019 combined experience don\u2019t just make the same mistake. This was deliberate,\u201d Lorgat stressed.<\/p>\n

He was particularly critical of The Sunday Times, accusing the paper of avoiding accountability. \u201cThey\u2019ve slid far from being the people\u2019s newspaper,\u201d he said, highlighting an editorial written a month after the Hamas attacks which argued it was time to \u201cmove on\u201d from Gaza. \u201cThat was weeks before South Africa took Israel to the ICJ over genocide. To call for neutrality in that moment is a moral failure,\u201d Lorgat added.<\/p>\n

Central to his complaint is the issue of false balance in reporting. \u201cIn the height of a genocide, you don\u2019t ask the rapist why he did it while the victim lies in silence. That is not balance, it\u2019s propaganda,\u201d he argued, pointing to the absence of Gazan voices in much of the coverage.<\/p>\n

Lorgat has called for an independent inquiry into media ethics and credibility, similar to the one held five years ago. \u201cJournalists say they are the fourth estate. But if they weaken themselves by taking junkets, they can\u2019t hold politicians accountable,\u201d he warned, noting that politicians, too, have accepted expensive trips to Israel with little scrutiny.<\/p>\n

There has, however, been some movement. The Citizen has since confirmed it will no longer send staff on sponsored trips to Israel. Activists welcomed this step, but Lorgat insists that broader reform is needed. \u201cThe numbers are not a criteria for genocide. What matters is intent and South African journalism must stop hiding behind excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Hassan Lorgat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read 20 August 2025 | 14:24 CAT As the war on Gaza rages, questions are being raised closer to home about the independence of South African journalism. Veteran activist and journalist Hassan Lorgat has lodged a formal complaint against three major media houses, accusing them of failing to disclose that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":99974,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Truth.jpg?fit=2000%2C1333&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-q0t","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-17 10:04:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}