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As the discussions at the ANC's 2017 policy conference intensify, one of the controversial policy issues to receive more attention will be media transformation.

Admittedly, transformation has become a stalled cause as noted by Professor Jane Duncan, thereby vindicating to a certain degree the ANC's posture in this regard.

While the elevation of this policy by the ANC is laudable, the manner in which it is pursued may not yield desired outcomes.

It will in fact turn it into a grit coercive rhetoric, which may be covertly resisted by the private sector through ticking of boxes and fronting. This is because of the following reasons: ownership and control and racial focus.

While these elements are critical given the country's history resulting in the ownership and control of media in a few white hands - hence the four conglomerates in the print sector - the significant shareholding currently held by the unions, through their investment vehicles, has shown that mere changes in the racial makeup of ownership and control, and the board's appointment will not automatically bring about meaningful transformation.

Media organisations operate in a capitalist environment, which shape their conduct and behaviour, irrespective of their ownership and control.

Indeed ownership and control is a primary step, but it cannot be transformation in itself. Neither can it automatically result in achieving other elements such as language and content diversity.

These elements have their own complexities and they need different strategies of intervention. This will help in monitoring where progress is being made.

Again the obsession with ownership and control has led to a narrow approach focusing only on the private sector to the exclusion of public institutions such as PanSALB (Pan South African Language Board) and the MDDA (Media Development and Diversity Agency), who equally have a responsibility to develop African languages and media diversity in its various forms.

While transformation has been a fundamental post-apartheid media policy, it has never been clearly defined.

An adjective of radicalism has since been added to it, thus complicating it even further. In the absence of a clear definition, backed up by credible research and regular monitoring, meaningful transformation can only be rhetoric.

Media transformation should be understood for what it is. At times it is used as an instrument to unbundle monopolies.

This is a wrong approach. It is not necessary that monopolies are inimical to transformation. It is quite possible that monopolies can be used as a vehicle to pursue transformation.

Finally, timing is critical in policy making. While media transformation may have been part of SA's democratic path, the sudden noise made around it, compounded by the grit coercion, may be viewed as the ANC's frantic attempt to muzzle the media in view of power shift within and outside the party.

The ANC has been built on the art of ideological persuasion, not coercion, hence its broad church character. Therefore, its success in pushing these kinds of policies through will be determined by its ability to balance the art of persuasion and grit coercion.

Pursuing grit coercion may bring undesired results. Internally, it may bring about policy ambiguity and discord. Externally, it may be alienating to those moderate thinkers who would have been alliance partners in this regard.

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OPINION: Media transformation can be won through persuasion - SowetanLIVE

State media said Kim supervised the launch of Pyongyang's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Tuesday, which it says is powerful enough to reach the US mainland.

"With a broad smile on his face," Kim called on officials to "frequently send big and small 'gift packages' to the Yankees," KCNA reported, as it listed the technical successes of the rocket, identified by the North Koreans as a Hwasong-14.

The report said the missile was able to carry a "large-sized heavy nuclear warhead," and despite "extreme overload and vibration the nuclear warhead detonation control device successfully worked."

Among the elements being tested was a warhead tip "made of newly developed domestic carbon compound material" designed to withstand the extreme heat of re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

It added "the warhead accurately hit the targeted waters without any structural breakdown at the end of its flight."

North Korea said the missile flew on a steep trajectory, going 2,800 kilometers (1,741 miles) above the Earth, before splashing down in sea off the Korean Peninsula 930 kilometers (578 miles) from its launch site.

The missile was launched Tuesday from Panghyon, in North Pyongan province, and landed in the sea off the Korean Peninsula.

Claims of unbridled success by North Korea's state media need to be taken with a pinch of salt, said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

"We can never take KCNA exclusively as a source because its so prone to embellishment, (and) the information it reports can never be confirmed.

"On the other hand, it's not out of the realm of possibility... I think its best to assume that they have successfully tested an ICBM. The reason they're sharing this technical data (through state media) is to prove that they have it," she said.

Hanham said analysts are now examining the images provided by North Korean state media, to look for similarities to previously launched missiles.

The Hwasong-14 tested on July 4 is similar to the Hwasong-12, which was test-fired in May, but perhaps with a larger engine configuration and an extra stage, a section of the missile that's released during flight. "The second stage looks like something we haven't seen before," she said.

While the test seems to have indicated the missile's range was at least 6,000 kilometers, Hanham said its maximum potential could be even further. "The scary thing is, (we don't know if) they even tested it to its full range," she said.

Based on analysis of its visible fuel and oxidizer tanks, it could hit as far away as Washington DC, though that class of missile is yet to be tested, she said.

David Wright, co-director and senior scientist at the global security program with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said North Korean rocket scientists seem to be making advances on multiple fronts.

"One of the things that's interesting, watching from a technical point of view, is that it has eight or nine different missiles in development in parallel," he told CNN.

"They're making progress and they have a lot of things in the workshop that they're putting together."

There is a growing consensus among analysts that North Korea has the ability to build a warhead that can fit onto a missile.

Five nuclear tests over the past 11 years suggest that the regime has indeed developed nuclear weaponry, and many analysts now believe that the miniaturization process is progressing rapidly.

If images released by KCNA in March 2016, showing Kim posing with what appeared to be a nuclear warhead, are to be believed, progress has indeed been made on this front.

The UCS' Wright thinks that while they may not yet have succeeded in producing a warhead capable of being attached to their new class of ICBM, the clock is ticking.

"The big question is whether or not they can build something that's both small enough and rugged enough to withstand the flight of a long range missile," Wright said.

"That could be a year or so. It's hard to tell. But it's clear that unless something changes that they're on their way to both a long range missile and a warhead to put on it.

"And I would argue that that's exactly why the United States needs to be finding a way to talk to North Korea to basically put a cap on this program."

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North Korea state media celebrates 'gift' to 'American bastards' - CNN International

I just read a piece about racial attacks on American Sikhs published in the Los Angeles Times.

I am not sure it would have educated me adequately about the community if I was a non-Sikh born and raised in the United States.

It doesn't have to. In fact, no newspaper or TV story about communities can be expected to serve as an encyclopaedia on their evolution and philosophies.

More so in this Google age. No Wikipedia read can turn a reporter overnight into a science, diplomatic, military, space, financial or political expert, off her beat.

Google and Wikipedia, at best, offer them a decent opportunity to be factually accurate.

"Sikhism, which has roots in the Punjab region of northern India and eastern Pakistan, is the worlds fifth-largest religion," read the story in the Los Angeles Times, which is absolutely correct and so is every other line in the piece about attacks on the members of the American-Sikh community.

The reporter has done a great job. If I were to write a news report about Mormons, I too would turn to authoritative sources for my storytelling in order to be accurate. That's how gold-standard journalism works.

But it's a sheer myth circulated by PR agencies and PR-savvy individuals that mass media can be a vehicle to promote religions. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote in detail about the global deficit of expert reporting on faiths.

Religions in the lead don't turn to TV stations and other media outlets to build narrative. They control the narrative.

The global Sikh political power - Jagmeet Singh, Ontario MPP, launching his bid for Canada's New Democratic Party. Photo: Harmeet Shah Singh

And there lies the key.

During my last trip to North America, I had a chance to meet up with the who's who of the diasporic community.

Some of them were big legal brains, some top political leaders, some economists and some entrepreneurs.

Almost all of them exhibited a genuine desire to help the Sikh community back in India, in whatever way they could.

Ajaib Singh Chatha, a Brampton-based barrister, shared his passion about introducing moral education in Punjab's school curriculum.

The gentleman has already commissioned several books on morality, several of them contained short stories.

In Mississauga, barrister Harminder Singh Dhillon spoke fervidly about the struggle and rise of Sikh migrants in Malaysia.

At his plush suite-office in downtown Toronto, an elderly Sikh, who preferred not to be named, pulled out books depicting rare Sikh art in what was a stunning departure from his public image as an economist.

I am citing North-American Sikhs as examples because they thrived in what is perhaps one of the world's finest ecosystems.

But who I still missed meeting there was a Sikh running a thoroughly-professional media property.

I sat with some owners of bilingual newspapers and TV outlets, but none that I could look up to as a skilled professional. Most of them had real estate as their main business.

I am not really sure how many of them have employed how many journalists drawn from the media industry.

No wonder reporting from their outlets resonate thinly outside of the community audience, which too is limited to migrants from the 1960s onwards.

The diasporic Sikh story thus remains dependent on media houses managed by non-Sikh professionals.

The late Patwant Singh and Khushwant Singh were perhaps the only two Sikhs in independent India who were gifted with a rare ability to communicate compellingly with the world outside.

Among them, Khuswant Singh, for the record, called himself agnostic.

Why is it that the Sikhs have made a mark in every sphere other than communications?

Ajaib Singh Chatha, a Brampton-based barrister, shared his passion about introducing moral education in Punjab's school curriculum. Photo: Harmeet Shah Singh

Why is it that Sikh-controlled media, both in Punjab and in countries as advanced as Canada, has yet to come out of age?

Throughout their lifetime, the Gurus laid heavy emphasis on scholarly and intellectual pursuits. Compiled in Sri Guru Granth Sahib are writings not only of the six of the 10 Gurus but thinkers and philosophers of various other traditions.

Guru Gobind Singh had a galaxy of 52 poet/scholars in his court.

That's how the Sikh narrative developed in a hostile reign.

Sikhs in the modern world have invested in everything but in tools of information.

A local newspaper here or a TV/radio station there can at best be a means only for intracommunity networking.

Paid PR campaigns, press statements fizzle out of public memory, sooner or later.

Physical and ideological attacks on visible minorities are stemming from the eye of what I call a global storm of aggressive right wing.

The real power to counter it lies in the narrative. And for the narrative, you need to produce a new breed of Patwant and Khushwant Singhs - my Sikh metaphors for an irresistible talent in communications.

Also read: Why Khalistani narrative about Canada is a disservice to Sikhs

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Why global Sikh community needs to control its narrative - DailyO

In 1535, Sir Thomas More was executed in England for high treason.

In 1777, during the American Revolution, British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga.

In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur tested an anti-rabies vaccine on 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been bitten by an infected dog; the boy did not develop rabies.

In 1917, during World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi captured the port of Aqaba from the Ottoman Turks.

In 1933, the first All-Star baseball game was played at Chicagos Comiskey Park; the American League defeated the National League, 4-2.

In 1942, Anne Frank, her parents and sister entered a secret annex in an Amsterdam building where they were later joined by four other people; they hid from Nazi occupiers for two years before being discovered and arrested.

In 1944, an estimated 168 people died in a fire that broke out during a performance in the main tent of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut.

In 1964, the movie A Hard Days Night, starring The Beatles, had its world premiere in London. British colony Nyasaland became the independent country of Malawi.

In 1967, war erupted as Nigeria sent troops into the secessionist state of Biafra. (The Biafran War lasted 2 1/2 years and resulted in a Nigerian victory.)

In 1971, jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong died in New York at age 69.

In 1988, 167 North Sea oil workers were killed when explosions and fires destroyed a drilling platform. Medical waste and other debris began washing up on New York City-area seashores, forcing the closing of several popular beaches.

In 1997, the rover Sojourner rolled down a ramp from the Mars Pathfinder lander onto the Martian landscape to begin inspecting the soil and rocks of the red planet.

Ten years ago: A man on a balcony over the New York-New York casino floor in Las Vegas opened fire on the gamblers below, wounding four people before he was tackled by off-duty military reservists. (The gunman, Steven Zegrean, was later convicted of charges including attempted murder and was sentenced to 26 to 90 years in prison; he died in April 2010 less than a year into his term.) Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, pioneer of the modern historical romance novel, died in Princeton, Minnesota, at age 68.

Five years ago: At a 100-nation conference in Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hailed an accelerating wave of defections in President Bashar Assads inner circle as the United States and its international allies pleaded once again for global sanctions against the Syrian regime. Former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was released from jail in Florida for a second time while he awaited his second-degree murder trial for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman was acquitted.)

One year ago: President Barack Obama scrapped plans to cut American forces in Afghanistan by half before leaving office. Double-amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to six years in a South African prison for murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Philando Castile, a black elementary school cafeteria worker, was killed during a traffic stop in the St. Paul suburb of Falcon Heights by Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who was charged with second-degree manslaughter (Yanez was acquitted at trial). Former Fox News Channel anchor Gretchen Carlson sued network chief executive Roger Ailes, claiming she was cut loose after she had refused his sexual advances and complained about harassment in the workplace, allegations denied by Ailes. (Carlson later settled her lawsuit for a reported $20 million.) The augmented-reality game Pokemon Go made its debut in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Todays Birthdays: Singer-actress Della Reese is 86. The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is 82. Actor Ned Beatty is 80. Singer Gene Chandler is 77. Country singer Jeannie Seely is 77. Actor Burt Ward is 72. Former President George W. Bush is 71. Actor-director Sylvester Stallone is 71. Actor Fred Dryer is 71. Actress Shelley Hack is 70. Actress Nathalie Baye is 69. Actor Geoffrey Rush is 66. Actress Allyce Beasley is 66. Rock musician John Bazz (The Blasters) is 65. Actor Grant Goodeve is 65. Country singer Nanci Griffith is 64. Retired MLB All-Star Willie Randolph is 63. Jazz musician Rick Braun is 62. Actor Casey Sander is 62. Country musician John Jorgenson is 61. Former first daughter Susan Ford Bales is 60. Hockey player and coach Ron Duguay (doo-GAY) is 60. Actress-writer Jennifer Saunders is 59. Rock musician John Keeble (Spandau Ballet) is 58. Actor Pip Torrens is 57. Actor Brian Posehn is 51. Political reporter/moderator John Dickerson (TV: Face the Nation) is 49. Actor Brian Van Holt is 48. Rapper Inspectah Deck (Wu-Tang Clan) is 47. TV host Josh Elliott is 46. Rapper 50 Cent is 42. Actress Tia Mowry is 39. Actress Tamera Mowry is 39. Comedian-actor Kevin Hart is 38. Actress Eva (EH-vuh) Green is 37. Actor Gregory Smith is 34. Rock musician Chris Woody Wood (Bastille) is 32. Rock singer Kate Nash is 30. Actor Jeremy Suarez is 27.

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This Day in History - San Mateo Daily Journal

To celebrate the Fourth of July, Alexander Bonds coolly walked up to NYPD Officer Miosotis Familias police vehicle and shot her dead.

An African-American, Bonds made his distaste for the police clear in many of his social media postings. The NYPD did not hesitate to call Familias death an assassination.

Like the man who shot Rep. Steve Scalise a few weeks ago, Bonds, a Hillary Clinton supporter, occupies a spot on the extreme end of the suggestibility curve.

What the media repeatedly suggested during the Obama years, occasionally at the presidents prompting, was that blacks were uniquely vulnerable to gratuitous abuse at the hands of white authorities. No media outlet reinforced this notion as insistently as CNN.

Although there are countless examples of the way CNN twisted the news to drive this theme home, one stands out for its sheer fakery. It unfolded a month or so after George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.

For the record, the Black Lives Matter movement began as a hashtag after Zimmermans acquittal. Those who followed CNN and the other major media had every reason to be shocked at the verdict. The media deceived them over and over again in the months following the February 2012 shooting.

Prodding CNN into action was the profane, upstart Current TV show, The Young Turks. On the night of March 19, 2012, host Cenk Uygur played the unedited Zimmerman call to the police dispatcher.

No network had played the unedited tape, in part because Zimmerman used the word fing at one point and aholes at another. On an unenhanced tape, the word fing is difficult to hear. The word that follows it is impossible to hear.

Yet like those zealots who see images of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich, some in the Young Turks viewing audience found racism in empty static and convinced themselves that Zimmerman said, fing coons.

The next evening Uygur thanked his audience for their perceptiveness. No one picked up what you guys picked up, he congratulated them. He then played the unedited tape again, the key words of which were utterly incomprehensible and declared, Thats unbelievable.

Uygur continued, Its possible he said goons. Its possible he said something else. That much conceded, Uygur concluded, but it certainly sounds like coons.' He then explained how relevant was Zimmermans use of that word given that it elevated the shooting to a hate crime.

The next day, March 21, on Anderson Coopers AC360, CNN reporter Gary Tuchman worked with audio design specialist Rick Sierra to isolate and enhance the audio from Zimmermans call to the dispatcher.

Even cleaned up, the audio was unintelligible, save, of course, to the true believers. Tuchman was one of them. It certainly sounds like that word to me, said Tuchman, that word, of course, being coons.

Media critic Tommy Christopher agreed. Said he, voicing the media consensus, The result is, at the very least, more convincing than the raw audio.

At the time, no one at CNN was asking the most fundamental questions about Zimmermans use of this word. Why, for instance, in 2012, would a young Hispanic civil rights activist and Obama supporter think to use an archaic throwback word like coons?

More basically, why would Zimmerman begin a sentence with the pronoun it if he were to complete his thought with a plural noun, as in, Its fing coons.

Not everyone was on board for this nonsense. Liberal media pundit Jon Stewart said on his show what many ordinary citizens were thinking, That doesnt sound like a word at all!

In the blogosphere, almost everyone agreed with Stewart. One suspects that there were those within CNNs legal department who did as well.

Tuchman was sent back to the studio. This time, allegedly using an even higher-tech method with the help of audio specialist Brian Stone, Tuchman admitted to CNNs Wolf Blitzer on April 4, It does sound less like that racial slur.

In fact, the word in question sounded a whole lot like cold. Again, though, Tuchman failed to mention the role that its should have played in interpreting what was said. Its fing cold makes sense, especially on a cool, damp Florida evening.

Its fing coons never made any sense either as a linguistic construct or as a reflection of Zimmermans character. Still, the damage had been done.

Despite what should have been a complete exoneration of Zimmerman, Blitzer concluded his broadcast saying, But its readily apparent there will still be controversy over what he said.

The stable members of the CNN audience moved on. The suggestible members of that audience never let go.

Jack Cashills book explains how the truth was exposed about the Trayvon case: If I Had a Son: Race, Guns, and the Railroading of George Zimmerman

Media wishing to interview Jack Cashill, please contact media@wnd.com.

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Another cop slain, another notch on CNN's belt - WND.com