He was right, of course. Without the role of South Africa’s media, this would not be a very free and open society – it would be a one-party state. The media has been the healthiest pillar of our democracy since 1994.

There’s no arguing that our media is operating in a free environment. The cornerstone of this is our Constitution, which guarantees free speech.

But three questions should be asked: Do we have sufficient diversity in our media; how is the media using its freedom; and what are the threats to that freedom in the future?

It is true that most of our newspapers, magazines and electronic media are owned by a small group of companies. A greater diversity of ownership would certainly be welcome, but this is not such a big danger if the different media outlets reflect a wide variety of interests. I think they do to a satisfactory extent.

One concern is local newspapers. Local government is the weakest link in our overall government, yet local newspapers are not fulfilling their role as watchdogs properly. One problem is that most of these papers belong to two media giants, but a bigger problem is the culture that these papers are simply vehicles for advertising – cash cows.

Is the media using the freedom it has to the fullest? Some surely do. The Mail and Guardian and noseweek magazine are the best examples. The proverbial “speaking truth to power” is one of the hardest tasks for the media in a society like ours. Talk Radio 702 and 567 Cape Talk do this very bravely, as does the Sunday Times.

eTv’s Third Degree and SABC3’s Special Assignment often push the boundaries. We have seen a strong growth in investigative journalism over the last few years and even the Afrikaans newspapers have now come to the party. Interestingly, the Afrikaans dailies are beginning to take a lead in that long neglected field of journalism, science and technology, which includes health and environmental issues. Compared to foreign media our newspapers, radio and television still regard environmental issues as a low priority. Global warming is one of the hottest issues in the US and Europe, but in South Africa it is hardly on the media agenda.

The last few years have seen the emergence of several powerful, independent-minded black social and political commentators, people like Xolela Mangcu, Sipho Seepe, Ferial Haffejee, Karima Brown, Justice Malala, Mohau Pheko, Fred Khumalo, Redi Direko and Mondli Makhanya. Their contribution to a vibrant national discourse cannot be underestimated.

Yet all is not moonshine and roses. The most powerful media entity in the country is the SABC. We were all witnesses of the farce when the advice of an SABC-appointed committee into the black-listing of some commentators that the head of news be disciplined, was simply ignored. The relevant individual, who has been blamed for the departure of many top-level journalists (John Perlman being the most recent), has now become untouchable. Sadly, the SABC is truly back to being a State broadcaster.

Much has been said about the “juniorisation” of the newsrooms due to the pressure to appoint more black journalists after 1994. Thirteen years later, this is not so much of a problem. In fact, some of those “juniors” have since become bright stars.

Most of the media companies in South Africa are today very profitable. If there is one criticism I can level at media owners, it would be that they don’t invest enough in their journalism and journalists. There is still too little advanced training of journalists; there are still insufficient resources available for specialised journalism and investigative journalism; journalists still don’t earn enough to keep the more ambitious ones in the profession and to attract the best talent from universities.

If I’m allowed another criticism, it would be that newspaper owners have turned their editors into managers, whose success or failure is not measured in the quality of journalism, but in circulation and profits. I’m not saying editors shouldn’t be concerned with circulation and profits, but the emphasis has swung too far and the tested old practice of healthy tension between management and editorial is now being discarded. This isn’t good for journalism.

I have a suspicion that if our Constitution did not contain such an iron-clad protection of free speech and if we didn’t have an independent judiciary and Constitutional Court, our government would have made major inroads into media freedom by now. It seems to be their instinct, as we saw again recently with the proposed amendments to the Film and Publications Act.

A very direct threat to media freedom is the new trend to apply for urgent court interdicts to stop the media from publishing or broadcasting certain facts, documents or allegations. It happened again recently when Die Beeld asked the Department of Transport for comment on a document they had uncovered on the ill-fated eNatis system – the department asked for time to respond and instead prepared to ask the court to stop the publication.

But perhaps those politicians, bureaucrats and individuals who fancy this kind of censorship are beginning to realise that the courts, after one or two bad judgements, are no longer going to do their dirty work for them.

Our rulers will have to face the reality that the culture of free speech has now become entrenched in the minds of the people of South Africa. Our media should reciprocate by striving to use that freedom better and to enhance their service to all communities.

Max du Preez is a veteran journalist, columnist and political commentator