Page 11 - 21 November 2025

THE REPORTER 21 NOVEMBER 2025 · PAGE 11

We're thrilled to share that our very own columnist, Logan
Lamont, also known as "Barking at the Moon", has had one of
his thought-provoking pieces published in the esteemed The

Spectator Australia. We are delighted to re-publish his article,
and we acknowledge with gratitude The Spectator Australia
and Logan Lamont.
NOTICE NO. 88/2025

The media has lost public trust
RE-ADVERTISEMENT
Tenders are hereby invited from suitably qualified and experienced Service The BBC and ABC stand at the
Providers for:
centre of a media-trust crisis
BID NUMBER: JGDM2024/25-006 by Logan Lamont

NAME AND DESCRIPTION: Public confidence in the media is now in free fall. the politics of grievance
PROVISION OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE Gallup’s latest survey shows that fewer than one in three rather than the craft of
Americans still believe the news is reported ‘fully, inquiry. Students learn to
MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME FOR JOE GQABI accurately, and fairly’. Australian figures are only ‘amplify marginalised
DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY OFFICIALS AND marginally better, and Britain’s are worse. It is not just voices’ and ‘speak truth to
power,’ slogans that sound
the tabloids that have lost credibility; the decline has
INTERNS FOR A PERIOD OF THREE (03) YEARS noble but assume know-
engulfed the very institutions once trusted to define ledge of what the truth is and
impartiality. who the villains are. If the
CLOSING DATE: 11 DECEMBER 2025
The Fourth Estate, long job was to ask, what next generation is to regain
Bid documents will be available from the www.etenders.gov.za and the Joe considered the independent happened, not what people credibility, it must study not
Gqabi District Municipality website www.jgdm.gov.za.Hard copies of the pillar of democracy, has should think about what just technology and narra-
bid document will be made available from Joe Gqabi District Municipality become a participant in happened. tive framing, but the intel-
SCM offices Corner of Cole and Graham Street Barkly East from 21 politics rather than an That sense of detachment lectual lineage of the profes-
sion itself, from Burke and
NOVEMBER 2025 upon payment of a non-refundable fee of R200.00 for observer of it. Journalism has been replaced by moral Scott to Orwell and Cronkite.
was meant to hold power to
each document (either in cash, EFT or direct bank deposit to ABSA, account, not to shape it. Yet certainty. Newsrooms have The business model needs
2380000019) Please quote the company name and bid number as much of the modern press become seminar rooms. courage as well. Outrage
Reporters no longer see
reference. Payments must be made at the Cashier's Office, which is now sees its role as moral themselves as chroniclers of and moralising headlines
situated at the ground floor, Cnr of Graham and Cole Streets, Barkly East instruction rather than events, but as actors in a deliver clicks, but they
between the hours of 08h00 and 15h00 prior to the collection of the bid reporting, guiding the public moral drama, and the corrode authority. The quiet
toward the ‘right’ opinions. middle of the audience,
documents. Proof of purchase must be attached to the original Tender storylines are all the same:
Two of the world’s best- climate alarm, identity people who think before they
Document. Direct e-Tender and Municipal website tender document shout, still exists and hun-
known public broadcasters, politics, and the constant
downloads are for free. the BBC and Australia’s policing of speech. The gers for sober, proportionate
ABC, stand at the centre of result is not enlightenment, reporting. The growth of in-
Completed bid documents must be placed in a sealed envelope clearly dependent platforms, pod-
this crisis. Both were once it is fatigue. Audiences are
marked “PROVISION OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE MANAGEMENT admired for fairness and tired of being lectured. casts, and newsletters shows
PROGRAMME FOR JOE GQABI DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY OFFICIALS professionalism. Both now that the market for honest
AND INTERNS FOR A PERIOD OF THREE (03) YEARS” must be placed serve as symbols of a Rebalancing journalism will journalism remains strong.
in the formal Tender Box situated outside the Main Building – JOE GQABI broader loss of neutrality. not come from another Rebalancing journalism is
round of self-reflection or a
DISTRICT MUNICIPALITY, Corner of Cole & Graham Streets, Barkly East The BBC’s coverage of new ‘trust project’. It begins not a left-right project, it is a
before closing time of 12H00 (Noon) on 11 DECEMBER 2025. Brexit and Donald Trump with rediscovering curiosity truth project. The Fourth
often read like advocacy, its Estate’s authority comes
Thereafter, tenders will be opened in public. The submitted tenders shall before conviction, verifica-
tone confident, moral, and tion before virtue. Editors from independence, not
remain valid for 120 days after the closing date. All tenders must be ideology. When journalists
uniform. The ABC has must actively recruit dissen-
deposited in the tender box either by Bidders' representative or courier drifted the same way, its ters, not as token contra- trade independence for
services, no municipal official will take responsibility to deposit any bidders' news bulletins and current rians but as essential ballast. belonging, they become
documents into the tender box situated at the address mentioned above. affairs panels now framed A newsroom without dis- what they were meant to
through a single progressive agreement is not balanced; resist, a branch of power.
EVALUATION CRITERIA lens. it is brittle. The BBC and ABC can still
The bids will be evaluated and adjudicated in terms of 80/20 Preference The problem is not malice; it Transparency must come recover their purpose. They
is monoculture. Critics from must learn again to report,
Point System prescribed by the Preferential Procurement Policy next. Readers and viewers no not instruct, to question, not
inside both organisations
Framework Act No.5 of 2000, pertaining to Preferential Procurement have acknowledged that longer accept the priestly correct. For decades, they
Regulations 2022, as well as the Joe Gqabi District Municipality's Supply newsroom consensus has command of ‘trust us’. They were symbols of national
want to see how stories are
Chain Management Policy-80 points will account for Price and 20 points replaced curiosity. The built, which voices were cohesion, but trust will not
relating to Specific Goals. Additionally to bid document completeness BBC’s own editorial reviews included, and which were return until they rediscover
have admitted a ‘groupthink’ humility.
check and compliance with any tender conditions and failure to comply will ignored. Publish corrections
problem. ABC insiders have A century ago, CP Scott
render the bid non-responsive. Bids will be subjected to functionality described a culture in which prominently. Label opinion wrote that, ‘Comment is
criteria and bids that scores less than 25 out of 40 points will be considered dissent is quietly discou- pieces honestly. Disclose free, but facts are sacred.’ In
non-responsive. raged and ‘balance’ has funding and affiliations. The an age of collapsing trust,
become a dirty word. When public will forgive error, but that is not nostalgia; it is a
It is a prerequisite that all prospective service providers who are not yet everyone in the room thinks not arrogance. survival plan. The future of
registered on the Central Supplier Database must be registered. The CSD alike, neutrality feels like Journalism education must the Fourth Estate depends
registration can be done online via their website at https://secure.csd.gov.za betrayal. also change. Too many on remembering which is
This is not an Australian or university programs teach which.
The Council reserves the right to extend the Tender Period and/or alter British anomaly. A survey of
Conditions of Tender during the Tender Period at its own discretion. 39 major American news-
rooms found that for every
Technical related enquiries should be directed to Mrs B Nxumalo (Manager
journalist identifying as
Skills Development) by e-mail to babalwan@jgdm.gov.za during normal conservative, more than ten
office hours. (Between 07H30 to 16H00, Monday to Friday)- Tel: 045 979 identified as liberal or
3177 or Evaluation Criteria related enquiries should be directed to Mr. progressive. The imbalance
Thomas Maseko (SCM Manager) at Joe Gqabi District Municipality by does not guarantee dis-
honesty, but it all but
email masekot@jgdm.gov.za during normal office hours. (Between 07H30
guarantees homogeneity.
to 16H00, Monday to Friday) – Tel: 045 979 3160
The Fourth Estate’s strength
NB: NO BIDS FROM PERSONS IN THE SERVICE OF THE STATE WILL has always been its indepen-
BE CONSIDERED FOR AWARD dence. Edmund Burke used
the phrase to describe the
Issued by press as a power distinct
from the others, free from
Mr. M. P Nonjola the interests of the church,
Municipal Manager crown, and party. Its
Joe Gqabi District Municipality legitimacy depended on
detachment. The journalist’s