Am the last person to be generous to journalists, mainly because so many of them lack the ability to be generous to any of us especially when we’re on the wrong side of their narrative, HOWEVER Jacques Pauw made a mistake and then he apologised. 1/8

Those of you who’ve followed for long enough will know Witt’s law ~ ‘never apologise on social media’. That’s because people on social media don’t want an apology, they want blood, and apologies are just chum in the water for many of the worst people online. 2/8

With that said Pauw did something no other journalist has had the stones to do in a very long time.

Did Ferial apologise for deplatforming The Spear?

Have all the journalists responsible for the fake Rogue Unit or Cato Manor reporting apologised? 3/8

Has anyone in media apologised for being Cyril’s cheerleaders?

When will Adriaan Basson apologise for falsely claiming school children singing a song were performing a Nazi salute?

There are too many examples to list, and that’s just locally. This problem is global. 4/8

Most people don’t have all the facts on every major current affairs topic from COVID to Trump to the Zondo Commission. This is directly as a result of a fourth estate which picks sides and is never truly accountable (no a rigged ombuds process doesn’t count). 5/8

These people claim to be the arbiters of truth, and label anyone who has a different perspective outside of the Overton window they’ve artificially manipulated misinformation or disinformation. When that doesn’t work they label such individuals as racists or bigots. 6/8

Again and again journalists, editors, and media houses make honest mistakes as well as deliberate egregious errors. For the most part you will not hear a peep.

Jacques clearly has a moral compass far deeper and truer than his industry. Thus a genuine apology and remorse. 7/8

Last I checked every religion considers forgiveness a key tenet of its teachings, and as Alexander Pope’s poem notes “to err is human, to forgive divine”. Perhaps we could all be more receptive of those actually willing to apologise for wrongdoing, and learn to move on. 8/8