Could you Bring the Bill Please?

Over the last couple of days the African National Congress have been accused of overspending by R318 million. A number of newspaper sites have covered this story and have chosen to provide an angle of the story from the Democratic Alliance’s point of view. This bias in perspective can be seen on all the major news websites such as IOL, Mail and Guardian, iAfrica.com, TimesLive and News24.com. This is because the article about the DA’s accusations is the same article throughout the sites. The story has been taken from SAPA and used by all the news sites; this has, therefore, presented the reader of these sites with little perspective and insight into the story. What one can determine is that SAPA have maintained a biased view. There are no quotes from ANC representatives whereas the DA features prominently throughout the article.

IOL.co.za, however, provided an article that provided in depth analysis into government spending over recent months. Instead of listing the number of cars each minister has just acquired, there is discussion about state owned enterprises and bail outs involving the South African National Broadcaster and South African Airways. I prefer this angle more as it allows the reader to see beyond the R318 million that has gone to petty things such as government cars. This article provides one with a more balanced and all round approach to where the tax payers’ money is going.