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According to BD Live, Jacob Zuma says the new SABC 24-hour news channel will not be about "chasing profits but will be telling success stories" of South Africa. Further reports from Mail & Guardian and the SABC.

For more:

BD Live: SABC 24-hour news channel about success stories, says Zuma... Samuel Mungadze, writing in BD Live, says that Jacob Zuma when launching the new channel said that it will not be about "chasing profits but will be telling success" stories of South Africa.

Not chasing profits? So no change there, then, given the number of times and the billions we, the long-suffering taxpayers, have had to fork out to keep the national broadcaster afloat.

So if it is not going to be run at a profit, will it be run as a breakeven... or at a loss?

If the track record is anything to go by, your guess is...?

But with all due respect, if, as Zuma says, the new channel will be "telling success stories", then what about all the other news out there... the "not-so feel-good" news we nevertheless need to know?

Mail & Guardian: SABC launches 24-hour news channel on DStv... According to the Mail & Guardian report, "the SABC's Jimi Matthews says all 'checks and balances' are in place to ensure its new 24-hour news channel does not become a propaganda tool."

Apparently, he is also "not quite sure where it comes from that the channel could be used as a propaganda tool." Mail & Guardian further quotes him as saying "...It is not like a 24-hour channel is a beast on its own. It still resides in the newsroom, with all the same management team, and all checks and balances. How it would somehow become a tool for some political entity confounds me a bit."

Er... there are quite a few observers, including members of the public out there, who are on record as claiming just that with regard to the new channel's parent... for example, here, here, here, here and here.

So is it unreasonable for people and bodies holding this view to not be a little cynical regarding the new channel?

If the channel wants to gain respect as an unbiased, non-partisan provider of quality news, then it will need to prove beyond a shadow of doubt that that is exactly what it will be, but any lapse on its part will lead to accusations that it will not welcome.

SABC: Official launch of SABC news 24 hour channel... and from the SABC itself...

SABC: No Content Available... Or perhaps not...