The full text of our live blog, which ran throughout the day, can be found below. For the full selection of articles from today, click here.
17:45 Just wrapping up with questions from the floor now, but we'll leave you here. Two quick things, in case you missed it. We've launched Maverick Insider - where we ask you to pay whatever you can afford each month and #DefendTruth. Find out more here.
If you can't pay us money, then please sign up for our newsletter. That is and always will be completely free. Do that here.
That's it from here. Cheers.
17:29 Hands up if you relate.
https://twitter.com/nadine_sims/status/1029751318817198081
17:14 On shaping narratives.
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029747852493377536
17:08 Panel now discussing the issues with polling and the headlines that come from those polls, especially before elections. They want media to invest in more substantial polling methods.
17:07
https://twitter.com/SunePayne/status/1029745339304235013
17:01 Patricia de Lille also wants to know how one becomes an analyst.
https://twitter.com/BlackJeezus011/status/1029745704678445056
https://twitter.com/alexvaneeden/status/1029744310852481024
16:58
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029742810583523328
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029743344690311169
16:53
https://twitter.com/Mary_JaneSA/status/1029742252078366720
16:51 For those asking, Dr. Mbuyiseni Ndlozi has an eye infection and unfortunately could not join us.
16:48 Final panel coming up. Lindiwe Mazibuko hosts Patricia de Lille, Nqabayomzi Kwankwa and Phumzile van Damme.
https://twitter.com/nadine_sims/status/1029742141315141632
https://twitter.com/callyballack/status/1029741658034851841
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029741133511966720
16:42 #GuptaLeaks whistleblowers in summary: Speaking for the first time, the people who exposed the leaks spoke publicly. They assured everyone that the way the information was obtained was entirely above board with no political agenda, they are just 'ordinary South Africans' who wanted to do the right thing. They have had flee the country, because their lives were at risk. There will come a time when their identities are revealed. But that time is not now.
16:23 Story time... #GuptaLeaks whistleblowers will speak for the first time.
15:55 Coffee break and then we're back to hear from the people who exposed the #GuptaLeaks. But first...
https://twitter.com/dailymaverick/status/1029702309327065088
15:53
https://twitter.com/kerrycullinan11/status/1029726997805772800
Panel discussing whether journalism did justice to fairness to Jacob Zuma.
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029722641748439041
https://twitter.com/nadine_sims/status/1029720999221256193
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029721412477624320
Basson raises the question about what happens when trade unions start publishing their own news sites.
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029719872803090433
https://twitter.com/nadine_sims/status/1029718572891860993
How does media deal with this?
https://twitter.com/10Xinvestments/status/1029718361549299712
Oh the shade!
https://twitter.com/estereverywhere/status/1029718039556775936
Now onto the issue of censorship. Adriaan Basson is sharing some details on an attack on the N24 stable, where an investigation is still ongoing, but where bots attacked the site because of a published story.
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029715973857861633
Onto the point of money and media.
https://twitter.com/KimBartyandco/status/1029715652737740801
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029714927093735429
This panel is dealing with media... and everything that goes along with journalism. From influence to trust in journalists to all the bits and pieces in between.
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029713703162273792
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029713232498438144
14:47 Coming up: Post #GuptaLeaks World
By Kate Skinner Executive director, SANEF, Mondli Makhanya Editor: City Press, Adriaan Basson Editor: News24, Stefaans Brummer Journalist & managing partner, amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism, Stephen Grootes SAFM host & writer, Daily Maverick
Short, sharps and sweet from Pieter Dirk Uys. We're onto the next panel.
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029710571275517952
https://twitter.com/dailymaverick/status/1029702309327065088
Before you settle back in for lunch, here's a short little story for you.
A few moments backstage With Indian journalist Rana Ayyub:
By Aphiwe Ngalo
“Anybody who speaks the truth, irrespective of whether it is a man or a woman, will have their character tarnished. But with women, it is tougher in a patriarchal country because you {also} have to face sexist, misogynist attacks.”
This is how Speaker at The Gathering and courageous investigative journalist Rana Ayyub describes the harassment and intimidation she received back in her home country, India where, as a woman, the harassment she received was aggravated character assassination.
Ayyub went undercover and later wrote Anatomy of a Cover Up, a book about the 2002 Gujarat riots in India.
Having grown up in in India, Ayyub says she had seen far too many injustices in her own life, not to act. The only way she could proceed was to go undercover, and in so doing her assumed character became more “palatable” to those she was investigating.
Warning about complacency among citizens, she said that corrupt people were testing the waters in South Africa. “In India we never thought {Narendra} Modi would become the prime minister, but he did. “The fact that citizens allow that, [means} we are complicit in it by our silence.”
She says that societies such as the US, India and also South Africa, lacked a moral compass. “Despite their (politicians) wrongs, society still brings them into power … I blame it on us, we are choosing these kinds of people to lead us. That says something about us, we are a dead society. Every politician elected at a certain time reflects the society at that point in time.”
Responding to a question about the importance of the investigative quest for young aspiring journalists, Ayyub said: “if you really care for democratic ideas, If you really want to change something and you know you will not be corrupted by the glamour of it, and unintimidated by constant harassment, then journalism is the profession for you.”
“The Gathering is asking the right questions to media. That is something very important. We need to question the ethics and integrity of journalism, not just those who are in power.”
13:45 Lunch break for 40 minutes, then Tannie Evita will entertain you. Also, if you've just heard about the Daily Maverick Insider programme, you can find more details on that here.
We're keeping things a bit lighter for this. Zapiro is taking us through his career.
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029686363023650817
https://twitter.com/Nabeelah_Osman/status/1029685894108856320
https://twitter.com/steven10x/status/1029682782191149056
12:46 Marianne Thamm is going to have a nice chat with Zapiro now.
https://twitter.com/thedimpled_one/status/1029681328961343488
Creating a safe and enabling environment for whistleblowers is critical for a fair and free democracy. The cost is huge, why would anyone want to risk it all when things might not change?
https://twitter.com/nadine_sims/status/1029676682414891010
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029676522733535233
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029676431041806338
https://twitter.com/anne_brand/status/1029676279195488256
Goodson also shares the harrowing personal stories, blowing the whistle cost her her marriage and endless mental distress.
https://twitter.com/dailymaverick/status/1029675288362409984
Bianca Goodson Whistle-blower and former CEO at Trillian no sharing her story.
https://twitter.com/SunePayne/status/1029673539362799619
There's a critical point here.
https://twitter.com/carienduplessis/status/1029673371657809920
Death threats, harassment on the road. Attacks at home, break-ins, attacks on her daughter. All to incite fear. Alarm system being intercepted. All in the lead up to the parliamentary inquiry.
"Life became about security..."
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029672434700570625
Suzanne Daniels says she had to check her car every night and felt like she was "in an FBI movie". She said she had no idea about the protection offered to whistle blowers.
Some more background...
https://twitter.com/KhulekaniMag/status/1029671764161425409
Whistle blowers are often asked why they took so long to come forward? In short, it's damn hard thing to do. Sometimes, it starts with a journalist.
https://twitter.com/gregnicolson/status/1029671544501559297
On the panel now, our very own Jessica Bezuidenhout has given us some insight. Suzanne Daniels Whistle-blower and former Head of Legal and Compliance at Eskom, is sharing her story. Here's some background context.
Victim, villain or pawn: Why Eskom ‘whistle-blower’ Suzanne Daniels was fired
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029669646092382208
Are whistleblowers protected? In a way, yes... we're chatting through that now. Does it matter if one of your panellists is loosely related to Daisy de Melker like Gabriella Razzano?
https://twitter.com/thedimpled_one/status/1029668125086760960
11:54 Rebecca Davis is chatting to Jessica Bezuidenhout Investigative reporter, Daily Maverick, Bianca Goodson Whistle-blower and former CEO at Trillian , Suzanne Daniels Whistle-blower and former Head of Legal and Compliance at Eskom, Gabriella Razzano Executive Director of the Open Democracy .
11:52 Sound should be back and not a moment too soon. The next panel is about fluitfluit, my storie is uit.
https://twitter.com/ferialhaffajee/status/1029665357236240385
11:47 We're back! We know the sound is out, we're looking into it...
11:05 Rana receives a standing ovation, goosebumps stuff. Watch out for the documentary produced by Chronicle. No release date set yet, but we'll keep you in the loop. For now, coffee. Or tea.
10:47 "I don't know if there is anything else I can do besides this," Ayyub says after sharing harrowing details of how she has been harassed, suppressed, threatened and how freedom of speech in India has been threatened. Like we said, #Goals.
https://twitter.com/DianaNeille/status/1029651558827544576
https://twitter.com/spike_wavescape/status/1029651403894149120
https://twitter.com/nicole_ludolph/status/1029651274680205312
10:36 Ayub story is, as the kids would say #Goals.
https://twitter.com/jfgreen1/status/1029648157288943616
https://twitter.com/MziyandaSmileB/status/1029647365786009601
10:24 Rana Ayub now up talking about her incredible work going undercover. Here's a little summary from our esteemed Rebecca Davis.
Daily Maverick's Richard Poplak has introduced a teaser for a forthcoming feature-length documentary by Chronicle Productions - which gives a taster of the shocking abuse and harassment suffered by Indian investigative journalist Rana Ayyub as a result of her exposes on the Indian government.
"It's cost me everything," Ayyub says in the clip.
The documentary is clearly one to watch out for: it's called Third Person: The Rana Ayyub Story.
https://twitter.com/CputMedia/status/1029645371616768001
09:56 Haffejee now onto the question of whether SA media is as good at watching corporate corruption as it as at watching government corruption. Using Steinhoff as an example.
09:49 Quite a quote.
https://twitter.com/MadaLevii/status/1029636018117533698
09:44 There's a long way to go, but we've also come a very long way. In case you're that way inclined, you can sift through the #StateCapture archive with some selections over here.
https://twitter.com/SECTION27news/status/1029633939646963712
09:42 So many questions... Also, we're looking into issues with the live stream.
https://twitter.com/bilalr/status/1029633807723520000
09:39 This is an important point. Nathan also said business is 'not a good citizen'.
https://twitter.com/Mary_JaneSA/status/1029633039767416832
09:33 And we're not wasting time... straight into the questions about the Guptas funding The New Age. If you're somehow not familiar with the whole thing, we recommend this piece by Anton Harber.
Read: The New Age experiment: Government’s attempt to control the media has done industry no favours Clickety here.
https://twitter.com/SECTION27news/status/1029632434474758146
https://twitter.com/awildknight/status/1029631668288667648
09:31 We're off now. Vlismas has been doing his snarky thing. And we have our first surprise of the day, like we promised. Ferial Haffajee is our latest recruit and joins us as associate editor.
https://twitter.com/bilalr/status/1029630835731951616
09:21 Today is about a lot of things, most importantly, it's about the state of media in South Africa... the role it plays in shaping the country's future and everything else.
09:17 Things will begin 'any moment' now...
09:13 Minor delay.... but here's what you can expect from the first two discussions...
09:05 - 10:10: Business of Truth: Steven Nathan CEO, 10X Investments, Ferial Haffajee, Mzwanele Manyi Chairman, Afrotone Media Holdings
Media is meeting its greatest challenge ever. Will it survive with its ethics untouched?
10:10 - 10:50 Courage Under Fire: Rana Ayyub Journalist, investigative reporter & writer, Richard Poplak Author & journalist, Daily Maverick.
08:05 We've been having a bit of a breakfast do before the main event kicks off. Here are some insights you might have missed.
https://twitter.com/AllisonFoat/status/1029617329368432640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwakelet.com%2Fhome
https://twitter.com/Mary_JaneSA/status/1029616240434864128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwakelet.com%2Fhome
08:00 Hello, good morning. Welcome to this year's edition of The Gathering.