Change the story
It is with frustration that I read yet another article containing misleading superlatives that are clearly used for effect and not accuracy. In this particular case I am reading “Extra funds needed to maintain city road network” (Cape Times, 26 February). The article describes the difficulty of sourcing funding to repair “the city’s crumbling road infrastructure”. Later in the article the journalist refers to “the country’s dilapidated road network”.
I am reading this article as my wife drives us out of Cape Town along the N2, which is currently being widened, towards Wilderness. Already world class, the road to the Garden Route is nevertheless being upgraded in several different spots simultaneously.
It strikes me that the journalist must never have been anywhere else in the world; otherwise he would know that our road infrastructure is neither crumbling nor dilapidated. Had he driven on the highways of Los Angeles he would know what roads look like when they crumble, and had he visited Nairobi or Mumbai he would know what a dilapidated road network really is.
More importantly though, it worries me that the newspaper does not consider the impact of these inaccurate descriptors on the already fragile psyches of locals and the decisions of potential investors. This particular article appears right around the time that a large French business delegation is visiting Cape Town with President Sarkozy. What must they think about investing when they read this article?
Is it not time that our newspapers consider their responsibility towards promoting our country as an attractive business destination rather than constantly pointing out and even exaggerating its warts and blemishes? Is it not time for the media and the people to change the story and start encouraging the city’s residents and visitors to make the most of our enormous potential?