Julius Malema, just typing the name out makes me want to scrub my hands. But there seems to be no way of escaping the media typhoon that he’s become. If an alien species were to visit earth this day, use our most advanced search engine to find out about this little country the tip of Africa, a news article image of Julius Malema’s irate face with an accusatory figure pointed towards the media would be the first thing they would see.
Given his totally unacceptable and frankly juvenile treatment of a journalist and the media in general, it is very disturbing to see the amount of media attention the man receives. Clearly Malema hates the media but the internet is positively swarming with Julius Maelema news articles, blogs, photos and videos. However much he may be unmpressed by the media, South African journalists have given Malema nothing but love. He has become such a huge element, that it appears journalists are divided on the grounds of who thinks Malema is new worthy and who thinks that any self respecting journalist should not give him the time of day. Given the sensationalist dimensions of this ongoing saga, many journalists will not be able to stop reporting on Malema. Even the ones who want the media to stop covering his stories, end up talking about Malema. The name, which has almost supernatural powers over the media, has spread through the new media like wild fire. I searched through various online papers trying to find out what else is going on politically in South Africa, but was instead met with articles on how the ANC plans to reprimand Malema’s public behaviour.
I am not disputing that fact that Julius Malema is a charismatic figure. He is a young politician and who like many young people doesn’t really care about what comes out of his mouth. He often says what he wants to say, one of my personal favourites is, journalists should have skins as thick as elephants and be grateful for their freedoms, “we gave it to them on a silver platter”. Statement such as these , however absurd, are bound to get a lot of media attention. And it is because of such statements that media seem to love Malema so much. The true fact is that the media, particularly the new media, need Malema. Internet media is a highly competitive industry, the normal user can ditch your article for a better one on another site with single click on one link. Online writers need compelling material more than any other journalist and Malema is as compelling as they come.
Journalists are facing the most spoilt content consumer on the internet, this consumer is intrigued by scandal and shock as well as having the attention span of an 11 year old boy with ADD. Therefore, I would like to say that online journalist should take the higher road and rather choose to take on more authoritative view of news, reporting and content of importance and relevance to our daily lives. But in actual fact, there is no space for such high brow media morality on the internet, not if you want those hits anyways. Malema gives the online journalist everything they need for a great media package. A scandalous incident to use in the article, a random outburst to use in a video package, an absurd quote to use in a headline or intro and the promise of numerous comments and debates on your story because people are interested whether they like him or not.
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