A month ago, a painting went on display in The Goodman art
gallery in Johannesburg of President Jacob Zuma entitled “The Spear”. This
painting is part of a collection called “Hail to the Thief II” and depicts the
president with his genitals exposed. This caused great controversy in South
Africa, with the ANC insisting it be taken down as it Zuma felt “felt personally
offended and violated” and says that “the portrait depicts me in a manner that
suggests I am a philanderer, a womaniser and one with no respect. It is an
undignified depiction of my personality and seeks to create doubt about my
personality in the eyes of my fellow citizens, family and children”. While some
insist this is disrespectful to the president, others insist that it is the
artist right to freedom of expression that it not be taken down.
This annotated bibliography will investigate the different
mediums in which the story of the defacement of the painting was communicated
to the public; through an online news article, a radio broadcast and online
video.
CNN, (2012, May 22), Men deface controversial Zuma painting
[Online Video], retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/05/22/sot-safrica-zuma-painting-defaced.enews-channel
In an online CNN video broadcast, a reporter explains how
the infamous “The Spear” painting of Jacob Zuma was defaced. The video is recorded
by an E-News reporter, and shows the act of vandalism. E-News is a South
African public program and the video is rebroadcasted on CNN’s website. The information
the reporter gives is enforced by the visual of the men painting over the
painting and being apprehended. The video shows rough footage of one man
painting a red cross over the painting and then another man covering it in
black paint. The men are then apprehended by security. The entire video is
narrated by an e-news reporter. The video is clearly roughly shot, as indicated
by shaky movement of the camera and the background talking, and gives the story
credibility as the audience can see that the reporter’s explanation is
accurate. The entire story of the painting is told towards the end of the
video. This is likely because the focus of this story is the defacement of the
painting, not the controversy surrounding it. As it has recently been an
important story in South Africa, it is assumed that the audience would already
know about the painting, and the broadcast fittingly focuses on the current
news. This video gives a thorough account of the vandalism, and has the
greatest information on the actual vandalism compared to the other mediums that
the story was published in, as it shows the actual events.
Brush Taken to Zuma’s
Exposed Weakness, (2012, May 23), The
Australian, retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/brush-taken-to-zumas-exposed-weakness/story-e6frg6so-1226363999425
The Australian’s online
article covered the story of the vandalism of “The Spear” at the Goodman
gallery. It gave an accurate account of the events that took place concerning
the two men that painted over “The Spear” and another man painting the first
three letters of ‘respect’ outside the gallery. The author also reported that
Iman Rappetti, the reporter who was on the scene and who took the footage of
the vandalism, initially thought it was a performance art piece, which is why
the staff took so long to react. The author then gave some background to the
controversy surrounding the painting, explaining that the painting was a
comment on President Zuma’s previous sexual transgressions and the ANC’s ‘abuse
of power’. It is also explained that the ANC was set to challenge the rights of
the gallery in High Court. It then ends with the opinion of someone who saw the
painting being defaced. As it is a short article, it does not go as in depth
into the story as the radio broadcast for example, but merely states the
important facts. It also gave a broader view of the story than the video, as
the video was more of a live narration of the event.
Crook, G., (Producer).
(2012, May 23). The Midday Report
[Radio podcast]. South Africa: Talk Radio 702
Chris Gibbons, the broadcaster, is a well known and
respected radio journalist. The Midday
Report is the winner of the MTN News and Actuality Show of 2012, which verifies
the high standard of this program and its credibility in presenting and
analysing South African news. The program starts by giving an overview of the events
surrounding the defacement of “The Spear” and how three men were detained (two
who vandalised the painting and another man who painted the first three letters
of ‘respect’ outside the gallery). Gibbons then interviews several guests; a
reporter at the court where the culprits’ cases were heard, Ayanda Mabula, an
artist that had created a similar controversial painting of Zuma a few years
before, Cape Town premier Helen Zille about her thoughts on the painting, and
the City Press editor about her claims that the Film and Publication Board were
biased. Hearing the opinions of different people that are involved in the case gives
a wider look at the story than any of the other mediums. Instead of focusing on
the actual act of vandalism, this program goes into more detail about the
motives of the perpetrators and the events after the defacement. Gibbons raises
the questions of the ANC’s involvement in the case, as they provided lawyers
for the perpetrators, which none of the other mediums mentioned. The program
heard different opinions but only investigates one side of the controversy;
people who are on the gallery and artist’s ‘side’. A more balanced program
would have interviewed someone who thought the painting was disrespectful.
Lynn Rivers, P.
(2006). Governing Sounds: Hate, Race, and Responsibility in Post-Apartheid
Broadcasting. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 23(3), 219-231.
doi: 10.1080/07393180600800783
The author, Patrick Lynn Rivers, is an Assistant Professor
of Visual and Critical Studies at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago,
which gives him authority in analysing the actions of the Broadcasting
Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) in the post-apartheid era. He
investigates how the BCCSA handled the complaints towards one song ‘AmaNdiya’
by Mbongeni Ngema. The song portrays Afro-Indians in a negative light, in
regards to Zulus. The founding of the BCCSA is outlined, and how freedom of
expression section in South Africa’s Bill of Rights relates to the case of ‘AmaNdiya’.
The author discusses how the BCCSA had difficulty dealing with racial
complaints and ignored the apartheid history of South Africa when handling
cases that do not directly involve whites. He states that this should not be
done, as the racial history still influences such cases. He then states that
the BCCSA conceptualizations of race and gender were awkward when deciding how
to regulate the media. His statement is definitely supported by many previous examples
of complaints of race in media that he mentioned. The author concludes by
saying that regulatory bodies, such as the BCCSA, have the power to decide what
elements in history are to be preserved by how they react to media complaints. This
article thoroughly investigated the regulation on the BCCSA in racial
complaints of media by using apt examples and justified reasoning.
Conclusion
For every different media that a story can be told in, there
are different aspects that are looked at. Every medium has different elements
to their disposal. In the defacing of ‘The Spear’, the online article covered
the broad facts of the story, as well as giving background to the events and
what happened after the arrest. The video was more of a ‘raw’ account of the
actions, as it showed exactly what happened and gave a broad overview of the
background surrounding the defacement. The video is most credible of the actual
events as it shows the audience exactly what happened. The radio broadcast took
a different approach, and gave a short overview of the events and then went on
to hear different people’s opinions about the controversy surrounding the story.
By looking at different media platforms, it can be concluded that each medium
has a different role to play in communicating the story to the public.
