In marketing and communications, a fundamental distinction is made between “earned” and “paid” media.
The former concerns content created and shared by third parties about the subject (a person or thing); think of a Business Day article about a company. Paid media involves paying to place content in front of an audience — we’re all familiar with pesky internet adverts.
Two disturbing articles about the state of SA, published in July, point to a decade and a half trend in negative international press. Both articles appeared in leading publications read by the world’s financial and political elites.
The first can be found in the pages of The Economist where its author detailed the state of disrepair in Johannesburg, describing the experience of driving through the city as “dystopian”. Less than a fortnight later, Bloomberg proclaimed the country to be on the brink of chaos, citing a slew of critical government failures in the process.
A persistent failure to deliver basic public services coupled with the prevalence of corruption and mismanagement can only mean that both articles (and the countless others) are earned. One fact should not be lost on us; what is written about SA, especially in leading international publications, has real implications.
In a study by Imperial College London, researchers concluded in no uncertain terms that “news sentiment impacts sovereign credit risk”. While a 2022 piece in the Journal of Banking & Finance reached the same conclusion, that bad press impacts a company and country’s bottom line.
The accumulation of negative stories then translates into economic pain which is invariably felt hardest by the poor. No amount of Brand SA paid media can turn the tide on the tidal waves of earned negative press hitting our shores.
There once was good news. Bad press is not the norm. Less than two decades ago, a 2005 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a club of rich nations, concluded: “Growth is picking up and authorities have unveiled an ambitious accelerated and shared growth initiative”. In the same year, the African Development Bank (AfDB) reported bumper growth, a strong economy, solid macro fundamentals, and the prospect of reduced inequality. Since then, we continue to wait for the first light of the New Dawn.
Right reforms
How can SA earn itself some positive news media? One obvious answer is for the introduction of the right reforms. In my April column I detailed how a competitive private market for microgrids as an alternative self-contained power system would free South Africans from Eskom’s misery — subsidising such a market would bring positive headlines.
A second reform that would undoubtedly go down well with international news media and investors alike would be the reformation of SA’s labour market. The conversation is a thorny domestic topic and is often over before it begins, but begin it must.
The conversation needn’t be hostile — reform does not necessitate the loss of jobs, instead policy change can lead to job creation. SA cannot thrive when one in three people of working age (and 50% of our youth) cannot find work.
Like research on the impacts of media, academics reach categorical conclusions on the impacts of unemployment. In countries where people cannot find work, rates of crime and violence rise. Where unemployment is persistent over time, civil strife reaches national proportions in the form of political instability and, in the worst of cases, civil war.
For inspiration SA could look to India where its government has progressively deregulated its labour market after a co-ordinated government effort to simplify, rationalise and combine disparate pieces of regulation. The good news stories emerging from the subcontinent about its bumper economic growth (6.1% last quarter) speaks volumes to the results of clever policy.
Perhaps our government officials could seek out their Indian counterparts at the Brics summit and ask them for some advice.
• Nott works for a venture facility for public benefit and is based in London. He writes in his personal capacity. You can follow his writing on X @TheAfricaBrief.
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