Newspapers and the Maintenance of Public Responsibility in South Africa

Abstract

The concept of public responsibility is closely linked to normative democratic theory and emphasises democratic control by the citizens of the executive actions of government. To enhance this democratic control the citizens need information. Ideally the Press should play an important role in distributing this information. The Republic of South Africa Constitution Act, 1983, states that it is a national goal to provide for elected and responsible government. This provision implies that the role of the Press should be to distribute information on executive and administrative actions of government. It is often alleged, however, that various governmental restrictions have an inhibitive effect on the role of the Press in the maintenance of public responsibility in South Africa. In this article an attempt is, inter alia, made to investigate this allegation.