The official Commission of Inquiry into the mass media tables its report

The official Commission of Inquiry into the mass media, appointed in June 1980, under the chairmanship of Justice M. Steyn, tabled its report. The Commission recommended that a general council of journalists should be established by law to regulate entry into the profession and sit in judgement on journalists accused of violating a constitutional code of conduct. The report's findings and recommendations were widely criticised. In a Press statement by the Department of Interior, the Minister, Mr. A.L. Schlebusch said: “For a considerable time and on various occasions, discussions have been held between the Government and the Press Union of South Africa on matters concerning the Press. On these occasions the government stressed, among other things, that members of the public and organisations were consistently lodging serious complaints about the way in which information was being handled by the Press and that the government also had cause to complain about this.” The state of affairs between the Government and the Press had been sour long before the appointment of the Commission of Inquiry.