When the facts are scarce, a sceptical reader must be persuaded that the inferences made are sound.
Balance isn’t enough when writing comment and opinion pieces, says Franz Krüger. Competing views have to be lucid and fresh.
The art of writing headlines is a difficult one: they need to be accurate and attractive and it is easy to fall into the trap of overselling a story.
News reports have two very different audiences: most readers read with the interest of an outside observer – sometimes more, sometimes less.
Not since the xenophobic attacks of 2008 have South Africa’s underlying and unresolved patterns of violence burst as clearly into the open.
Newspapers can earn good money by publishing sponsored content but it must be clearly distinguished from editorial or risk the newspaper’s reputation.
Twenty years on, the events of the massacre are contested and people remain divided and angry, writes the M&G’s ombudsman Franz Kruger.
In any week there are readers who are unhappy with some aspect of the Mail & Guardian. Franz Kruger discusses two articles that upset readers.
Transkei has seen a dramatic increase in guerrilla attacks over the past year — much of it unreported.
There are several positive suggestions in the Press Freedom Commission report on press regulation, writes Franz Krger.
Joe Thloloe, South Africa’s press ombudsman, has been honoured with the Order of Ikhamanga (silver) during one of media’s most difficult times.
The lack of trust in security structures is spilling over into reports about them.
The press commission’s system of self-regulation, generally seen as ineffectual, is certain to face an extensive shake-up, writes Franz Kruger.
Last week’s parliamentary vote for the Protection of State Information Bill shows us the country we could become.
The Libyan fighters who dragged Muammar Gaddafi from that stormwater drain made good use of an additional weapon: their cellphones.
Very little in the news is, in fact, seen first-hand by reporters.
<b>Franz Krüger</b> looks at some of the key elements of the Press Council of South Africa’s review that was released on August 18.
The British phone-hacking scandal seems to illustrate that a country’s media will get the scandal it deserves, writes <b>Franz Krüger</b>.
Just as the world focused on the birth of a democratic SA, unimaginable horrors were being visited on people in another corner of the continent.
It’s always been a reporter’s job to follow up stories, unlikely or not — so what’s new?
