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The proof of the pudding is in the eating… stop the black and white thinking

2017-02-03  Staff Report 2

The proof of the pudding is in the eating… stop the black and white thinking
The unpleasant notion of black and white thinking is now constantly rearing its ugly head whenever the self-proclaimed untouchables within the hierarchy of sports administration are boldly reminded of their responsibility and more importantly, accountability, towards their subjects, the very same people solely responsible for their togetherness, so to speak. In short, black and white thinking occurs when one tries by all means to make the world fit very simple, preconceived categories. It has always remained an oversimplification of facts and often more than this since it can be conveniently used as a form of rhetoric. The general misplaced perception would always be, “If you are not for us then you must be against us” – a poorly thought argument which sets up a false dichotomy of the black and white kind - thus ignoring the possibility of neutrality and of decrees of commitment in order to persuade your targeted audience to take the plunge and support the cause in question. Yours truly has deliberately chosen the above preamble to clarify and put certain issues into perceptive. Lately, our office has been bombarded by apparent unhappy sports bosses complaining bitterly about our no holds barred reporting in digging into issues outside the locker rooms. It should be well understood and digested that nowadays sport has become a lucrative commercial entity with piles of moolah at stake and those at the helm of various sports umbrella bodies are fully aware of this sudden upswing. Gone are the days when sports journalists would just heap praise on athletes’ exploits on the field of play. From boxing rings to tennis courts – the game has now taken another twist and requires thorough investigative reporting on off-the-field maneuverings. Sports authorities are accountable to their subjects and once you are entrusted to oversee public entities and assets, you would always be open to scrutiny, that’s the bottom line New Era Sport has been unfairly accused of forging an agenda against certain sporting disciplines without substantive proof as to why a reputable publication would stoop that low to place individuals or groups under a witch-hunt. Just a few years ago Cricket Namibia placed a blanket ban on the government-owned publication for revealing the naked truth about the union’s deliberate tortoise-pace transformation – a claim that was supported by facts and ultimately led to the termination of a lucrative sponsorship from principal financial backer MTC. Ironically when a salted pale-skinned journalist of European descent reported exactly about the same scenario – Cricket Namibia (CN) kept zip and never bothered to respond to the damning article, despite a friendly request from us to react. The Namibia Rugby Union has placed a systematic ban on New Era Sport for exposing racially motivated tendencies so prevalent within the oval ball game. Do I really need to elaborate more? - Kwaaitjie’s much-trumpeted racial slur towards a darkish hide player bears testimony to that. Yours truly wants to make it categorically clear that we would not be intimidated by threats from thugs and vultures hell-bent on advancing their own interests at the expense of athletes, the real McCoys of their existence. It has never been and would neither become our beat to suck stories out of our thumbs – as some sports administrators are trying to portray us negatively as troublesome news gatherers. Our information and subsequent closer inspection is based on credible sources. It should be noted that we are guided by basic journalistic ethics and strictly adhere to these regulations. We would never go out of our way to discredit personalities to settle old scores as some desperate officials are trying to discredit us by introducing red herrings into genuine complaints of public interest, obviously as a last ditch bid to wangle their way around their habitual underground maneuverings. The landscape in the media world is nowadays dominated by investigative journalism and New Era Sport has undertaken to follow suit and live with the times. I rest my case.
2017-02-03  Staff Report 2

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