Filling The South Africa Void

By Naushad S. Mehta

Young men flinging stones at tanks. Streets blockaded by burning tires. Helmeted troops firing into crowds of rioters. Night after night, such images once gave television viewers around the world a chilling picture of South Africa's racial and political turmoil. But when Pretoria declared a state of emergency in June 1986 and imposed tough new press-censorship regulations, the scenes of violence suddenly disappeared. So, to a large extent, did television's interest in the story. As a result, there has been a significant drop in network coverage of South Africa.

Filling that void is the mission of South Africa Now, a privately funded half-hour TV-magazine show that strives to keep the spotlight on southern Africa. The weekly broadcast is produced by Globalvision, a small independent production company, with the Africa Fund, an antiapartheid organization. Launched last April, the show airs on about 45 broadcast and cable stations across the U.S. Says Globalvision's vice president, Rory O'Connor: "We saw a need for a program on South Africa and decided to jump in both feet first."

Housed in a cramped Manhattan loft and operating with more conviction than cash (the budget is $10,000 a week -- minuscule compared with the money available to most network shows), South Africa Now presents a lively look at a tumultuous region. Twelve full- and part-time staffers and a host of volunteers put together programs of spot news, background reports and cultural features. The result is a show that is spunky and creative, though uneven in quality. Interviews sometimes drag on, and occasionally the picture and sound quality are poor.

Material comes from a variety of sources, including free-lance journalists in South Africa and the frontline states and independent video agencies and documentary makers in Western Europe. Some of the taped footage is smuggled out of South Africa. "Journalists who work for us are willing to take incredible risks to get their stories out because they know we are willing to put them on the air," says Carolyn Craven, senior producer and co-anchor.

Since television has tended to define the South Africa story in terms of violent conflict, South Africa Now tries to offer a broader perspective. The show routinely taps the antiapartheid vein that runs through the work of such South African artists as Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and the country's hot multiracial band Savuka. Its more reportorial pieces have documented the detention and alleged torture of black children, analyzed the causes of black- on-black violence, aired footage of the war in Angola and exposed the activities of the White Wolves, a right-wing terrorist group. Critics charge that the show crosses the line between journalism and advocacy. But staffers insist they are open to many views and regularly solicit South African officials for comment. "We strive for journalistic credibility," says O'Connor, "but we have no problem being identified as antiapartheid."

After two seasons of struggling hand to mouth, South Africa Now seems likely to endure. Its producers have received badly needed funding in the form of a $100,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and $25,000 from the Carnegie Corporation. The show has also won a satellite slot that will make it available to the nation's 334 PBS stations by late spring. Far from fearing competition from the upstart broadcast, many network staffers are actively rooting for its success. That is one piece of good news about South Africa that everyone can share.