We (MEDIA) are not evil

This opinion piece was published on The Star national newspaper on 17 August 2015 and The Weekly newspaper which is a provincial newspaper in the Free State, South Africa on 14 August 2015.

Dear celebrities, rappers, actors and fallen media personalities. As the people’s eyes and ears we are not out to kill your 15 minutes of fame. I could list you the main reasons for our existence and waking up in the morning to write about how you got slapped or how your wife cheated on you and all that but like any other professional it’s our duty to report.

I was amazed when reading an interview by a free provincial  newspaper (The Weekly) where the Bonginkosi “Zola” Dlamini went on a rant while being interviewed on how the ‘mighty evil’ tarnished his image with fabricated stories. Eight questions in, including him telling the interviewer that he\she isn’t experienced enough to know that news agencies do write lies on celebrities- he goes on to talk about the past.

From my view Zola hasn’t really moved on with his life which he denies has been tough. As a reader I really wanted to know about how he plans to make his new show a success, the lessons his learned and what to anticipate from him in the future. Not how the media ruined his 15 minutes of fame.

As if the interview wasn’t plentiful to frustrate me but as I browsed into Twitter one of my favourite hip hop rapper’s AKA was on his usual ‘I didn’t do it’ statements after reports surfaced of him allegedly  breaking a champagne bottle a man’s head yet later apologising. “This bottle incident? ... A false, sensationalist, poorly researched story combined with my team not entertaining bullshit.” Tweeted AKA.

This is just two in a million episodes that journalists and the media have to put up with celebrities getting into situations then blaming them for their downfall when all we do is report on what we know and have been told. Though I do not deny that we have a few thorns in garden but we do best in entertaining, educating and informing the public that buys your music, watches your shows and buys your clothing so respect us and we respect you. Remember any publicity is good publicity.

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