TUESDAY NIGHT MEETS SABC HONCHO
The producers of the Tuesday Night Show, South Africa’s first national LGBTI radio show, have finally met with senior SABC management to discuss their concerns around the closing of the show.
The SABC’s Group CEO, Adv. Dali Mpofu met with Tuesday Night earlier this week.
According to Maciek Mazur, the show’s Executive Producer, the meeting with Adv. Mpofu set a platform for further discussions over the next few weeks. He added that the parties are cautiously confident that the current discussion could have a favourable outcome.
The two-hour-a-week Tuesday Night was on air for nine months on SABC’s Radio 2000 channel, until unreasonable terms to continue broadcasting were placed on the table by SABC Airtime Sales, forcing the producers to discontinue the show in August.
The Joint Working Group – consisting of various LGBTI NGOs – and the Freedom of Expression Institute agreed to tackle the matter, amid concerns that the producers had either been the victims of homophobia, or, at the very least, a lack of interest in the lesbian and gay community by the national broadcaster. The Group, together with Tuesday Night requested the meeting.
Mazur remains positive about Tuesday Night continuing to fulfil an important role in the community:
“Looking at the response from our listeners on announcing the final programme on 16 August, it is clear that the show brought regular companionship and profound meaning to many people, which prompted us to seek solutions to have it back on air. The Tuesday Night Show wishes to embark on a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with the SABC, in the service of the LGBT community. Thus, it would be great to see the re-instatement of the show with full support from the public broadcaster,” concludes Mazur.
Adds Mazur, “On behalf of the Tuesday Night and our project partners, I thank our loyal listeners and the LGBT community for their awesome support over the last three months”.
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