Thomas Johnson - The Blog

At the beginning of the month The Press Council of South Africa ordered Daily Maverick to apologise for its coverage of the Pretoria High School for Girls alleged racism story. For context, the mainstream media always assumes such allegations, even if unfounded, are prima facie true before any investigation is initiated and completed. So DM is no exception. I've not seen DM apologise yet, which was to be published in a prominent place on its website. I emailed a DM editor and asked why the delay. I asked if they intend to or have they appealed the decision. There was no response. DM regularly, stridently trumpets the importance of the Press Council and its and media's adherence to the Code of Ethics and Conduct (Press Code). It was scathing of Independent Media's expulsion, or resignation depending who you believe, from the Council. DM claims that when they make a mistake, they apologise and rectify matters. However, regarding Pretoria Girls, they justify their coverage a...

David Bullard To many it was unthinkable Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris and won a second term. In the run-up, American and other commentators were incredulous that the two would be so close given who Trump is and what he stands for. But here we are again. In his column Tuesday November 4 on Politicsweb, David Bullard wrote that while he's not fond of either Trump or Harris, he'd vote for Trump because he has job experience as president. (He conveniently excludes that Harris is vice-president.) He then attacks Harris for her policy of giving $20,000 to black Americans to start a business, which Bullard describes as a "handout", not help. He also criticises other proposed measures for the LGBTQ+ community in a derogatory way. But these were not Harris's only proposed policies. But it suits him that it was. Harris did not spark the imagination of many people, American liberals and around the world, particularly for siding with the status quo on Palestine. But Trump...

Sugar tax activists had hoped the Medium-term Budget would announce an increase in the tax levy on sugary drinks. They claim the tax leads to and was a "huge success" in promoting healthier lifestyles, (Nzama Mbalati, Daily Maverick op-ed ). They claim the tax on sugary drinks per se leads to lower consumption that leads to healthier lifestyles, particularly lower prevalence of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. But escalation of these diseases after the sugar tax was introduced in 2018 prove otherwise.  Obesity   Data on the World Obesity Observatory's website for South Africa show over time, including after the tax was introduced in April 2018, obesity is increasing. The website lists the drivers to obesity: insufficient activity; fruit, processed meat and wholegrain intake, and mental disorders. They don't mention sugary drinks.  Diabetes   The International Diabetes Federation doesn't have a useful website like WOO's but gives basic country info...