Thread by @AIJC_Conference

Starting in a few minutes, @AntonHarber's virtual book launch of, So, For The Record. He will be in conversation with Jacques Pauw.

Follow this link to join:

The book is described as "an investigation into the investigators, a deep dive into the best and worst of recent South African journalism." Harber and Pauw will chat about the Guptaleaks expose, looking at both the good and bad that came from it @AIJC2020 #SoForTheRecord

Harber: I really wanted to make the book as accessible and readable as possible, so I joined the Creative Writing Master's class at Wits University so I wouldn't write in an academic manner #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Pauw: You are scathing to a number of journalists, you described as a cabal, was it difficult to do that?

Harber: It was difficult to take on colleagues and people I have taught in the past, but it was necessary

"We have to face up to the crisis of journalism and news media in this country... It is important to scrutinise each other... We have a political, moral and social imperative to do so" - @AntonHarber #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Pauw: "Were you surprised by how badly the journalism had been done by the Sunday Times?"

Harber: It wasn't a series of mistakes, there was a deep-rooted culture within the organisation at fault, because the people paying ST for the stories had tried it elsewhere first

Harber: Some of them were young and naive and bought into whatever their leadership wanted. Some of them believed in the state capture story and project. The SSA was drawing from a slush fund to pay these journalists for those stories #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber: There was a systematic attempt to lead the Sunday Times along this path. Some of it was by the SSA, some by the tobacco industry, some by individuals close to stories #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

.@AntonHarber says when he spoke to Stephan Hofstatter he admitted that they did get things wrong but for the most part still believes they got a lot right with those stories. Pete Rampedi and Mzilikazi was Afrika are almost unrepentant #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Pauw: The editors must also be remembered, like Phylicia Oppelt who is accused of inserting facts into some stories.

Harber: In the book I make clear both the political and financial pressures that made those decisions possible #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

.@AntonHarber says The Sunday Times' design of having a huge, screaming headline week after week, in the midst of shrinking newsrooms, is one of the things that probably pushed to make those decisions #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Pauw: The Sunday Times treatment of stories at the time, didn't leave space for anything that wasn't their version of events

Harber: That attitude comes from the 100 years prior that ST was the biggest, wealthiest, most powerful newspaper in the country. "They were arrogant".

Harber: When I found a tape with a recording of an interview with Johan Booysen, Stephan Hofstatter and Mzilikazi wa Afrika - it became clear that they were just ticking boxes in interviews, not asking proper questions to fact-check information they had #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber: Even when they had evidence that proved their narrative wrong, the Sunday Times stuck to their treatment style, which was to follow just one narrative and not listen to or interrogate other versions #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber: In contrast, "slow, good journalism" was done by @amaBhungane to put the brakes on state capture. There is still a lot of good journalism taking place in SA #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber says collaboration across newsrooms was critical in going through the huge data tranche that made up the #Guptaleaks. Competitors came together to bring the stories to light. This is a growing trend in global investigative journalism #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

.@Jaqqs asks if the journalists complicit in state capture are damaged? Can they be rehabilitated?

@AntonHarber: Everyone I spoke to from the ST said the newsroom was toxic and they had been damaged by that. If you can't acknowledge what you have done, you can't be rehabilitated

Johann van Loggerenberg joins the conversation, asks why it isn't front-page news that journalists were coerced by the state capture gang?
Harber: People are mistakingly saying we have to move on. If we are to tackle brown envelope journalism we have to dig deeper #SoForTheRecord

.@Jaqqs says what we need to uncover is who was behind it all - we know it was manufactured journalism with an agenda but who within the intelligence services for instance paid for it #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

.@AntonHarber: Editors have to take responsibility for their role in letting this happen - it happened under their watch (in reference to Ray Hartley at ST). We expect others to be accountable, that includes us #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber: We have to rethink how we do journalism. Stories are complex and nuanced, you have to keep an open mind to the other side. We need a new culture of verification, scrutiny and caution - that aren't rushed into press #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Harber: Some of the journalists I spoke to do genuinely grapple with the fact that they had such a negative impact on the relationship between the media and the public on a trust and credibility level #SoForTheRecord #AIJC2020

Asked if journalists are still being coerced in the same way presently (ie this week perhaps) @Jaqqs says yes. Points out that the IOL story on Ace Magashule's imminent arrest didn't just "come out of thin air" and this kind of manipulation of journalists isn't going to stop soon

In closing, @Jaqqs says #SoForTheRecord is "the most important book about the media since the coming of democracy. It is a vital book for journalism... Everybody should read it."

Signed copies of the book are now available at @LoveBooksJozi