4 October 2019, Qama Qukula, Cape Talk 567am

Media Monitoring Africa’s William Bird says the broadcaster has proven that it’s trying to get back on track.

Research and lobby group Media Monitoring Africa believes the R3.2bn bailout for the SABC is justified.

Media Monitoring Africa director William Bird says the public broadcaster has begun to show some progress over the past year.

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SABC has for the past year been running a far tighter ship, they’ve been able to go after people and have launched a number of investigations.

William Bird, Director – Media Monitoring Africa

The losses that they’ve incurred are significantly less than the previous year.

William Bird, Director – Media Monitoring Africa

There are clear indicators that the SABC actually is doing things differently, this is an important step from government and one that I think we should warmly welcome.

William Bird, Director – Media Monitoring Africa

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He argues that the SABC is fundamentally important to South Africa’s overall media sector.

Bird explains that the bailout needs to be followed by dramatic shifts at the public broadcaster to achieve a successful turnaround.

We need to make sure that SABC succeeds and, to begin with, we need to make sure that it’s financially stable.

William Bird, Director of Media Monitoring Africa