See no evil, hear no evil, speak and publish no evil: the relationship between P.W. Botha and the pro-establishment Afrikaans Press during the 1980s

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Title:	See no evil, hear no evil, speak and publish no evil: the relationship between P.W. Botha and the pro-establishment Afrikaans Press during the 1980s
Authors:	Stemmet, Jan-Ad Barnard, Leo
Year:	2004
Periodical:	Historia: amptelike orgaan
Volume:	49
Issue:	1
Pages:	154-166
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	media history censorship
Abstract:	In the history of apartheid the Afrikaans newspapers of the 'Nasionale Pers' stood steadfastly behind the National Party and its policy of separate development. With the eruption of the political crisis of the 1980s, the government of P.W. Botha tried, to a growing extent, to place media coverage of the country's political crisis under State control through a series of laws. Gradually the situation started to affect the government's relationship with the Afrikaans press. The latter undoubtedly still was a supporter of the National Party, but its relationship with the government started to sway. While the Afrikaans press, compared to its past, became politically more independent, the Botha government demanded greater loyalty. Previously, problems between press and Party had been solved behind the scenes, but now the government - and the State President in particular - did not hesitate to berate the press publicly. This article focuses on how the once warm, symbiotic relationship between the National Party and the Afrikaans press cooled drastically in the 1990s. Notes, ref., sum. in English and Afrikaans. [Journal abstract]