Daily Maverick 24 hour closure: Democracy threatened without journalism

Daily Maverick stressed the importance of a democratic system that benefits all citizens, not just a select few, for economic growth and the provision of essential services.

PRESS FREEDOM AT RISK: DEMOCRACY IN PERIL WITHOUT JOURNALISM

The suspension of Daily Maverick went beyond safeguarding investigative journalism; it aimed to uphold the pillars of truth and trust in a time of uncertainty.

It underscored the significance of maintaining platforms that foster confidence and protect communities.

It emphasised the value of preserving high standards and dedicating sleepless nights and diligent days to critically and responsibly reporting on a society facing rapid upheaval.

The Daily Maverick 24-hour shutdown was to highlight the global state of emergency in journalism, which stated it was experiencing a market failure and it is at risk of collapsing.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, CEO of Daily Maverick, Styli Charalambous, stated that the 24-hour shutdown comes after being in journalism for 15 years and trying to do a perfect job of public interest journalism for the country in prying times whilst the global media industry have been going through massive disruption and made worse by the state of South Africa and its politics.

“It has been really difficult to grow the organisation, we’ve seen many of our colleagues leave the industry we estimate that the losses are around 70% since we started in 2009.

According to Charalambous, the state of our cities, service delivery, and the breakdown in water have all been aided by the collapse of journalism.

The Daily Maverick really wanted to highlight the importance of the impact of good journalism and a healthy functioning democracy and a growing economy.

Charalambous stated that they are trying to plug many holes we see in coverage in local news, education and climate they have seen a massive challenge in able to fund their growth by themselves.

The Daily Maverick is trying by all means to make sure that this scenario does not occur again.

Media houses, civil society organizations, courageous whistle-blowers, and individuals of unwavering conviction and bravery often work together on this task.

‘JOURNALISM: A VITAL PUBLIC SERVICE’ – WILLIAM BIRD ON DAILY MAVERICK’S TEMPORARY HALT

William Bird of Media Monitoring Africa expressed his hope that the action would underscore the critical importance of journalism to the public.

Daily Maverick’s “temporary pause” has been hailed as a significant measure to bring attention to the challenges impacting the journalism sector.

According to Eyewitness News, on Monday, the publication closed its operations to underscore what it terms as “the worldwide crisis in journalism.”

Media Monitoring Africa’s William Bird said he hopes the move highlights to the public just how important journalism is.
 
“It would be nice to think all newsroom journalists should shut down. But that would be like asking all emergency responders not to go to work for one day to highlight the crisis in emergency services.

“And obviously that sounds like a good idea but you can’t, which highlights the fact that journalism is a fundamental public service. It’s something that’s essential for democracies to function.”