Does Carte Blanche have any credibility left?

Z

Zellephant

Expert Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2023
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
2,815
I don’t often watch Carte Blanche, and about a decade ago, I worked for a company that was totally misrepresented by Carte Blanche, so havent rated them that high in terms of credibility for a long time already. But last night I actually did watch for a change, and found myself shaking my head in disbelief at what sort of lalaland the producers and presenters must live.

The main feature was a piece on “illegal” water delivery trucks in PE. They seemed to be working with/in support of the municipality, instead of asking the real tough question of why the municipality can’t reliably supply water to its residents.

The second feature was relating to a kidnapping in Mkuze in KZN - where all signs point towards a potential Muti Killing. They presented the story in such a way as to really make it seem they are in disbelief and that Muti killings in northern Zululand are a rare occurrence. You need to seriously live under a rock to believe that, especially under the shadow of Ghost Mountian, one of the Zulu sangomas most revered areas. I lived in the area for a few years, and we knew full well no one in their right mind would move around there after dark, unless strictly nescesarry, because of exactly that sort of thing… and that was 15 years ago.
 
Zellephant said:
The main feature was a piece on “illegal” water delivery trucks in PE. They seemed to be working with/in support of the municipality, instead of asking the real tough question of why the municipality can’t reliably supply water to its residents.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Zellephant said:
The second feature was relating to a kidnapping in Mkuze in KZN - where all signs point towards a potential Muti Killing. They presented the story in such a way as to really make it seem they are in disbelief and that Muti killings in northern Zululand are a rare occurrence. You need to seriously live under a rock to believe that, especially under the shadow of Ghost Mountian, one of the Zulu sangomas most revered areas. I lived in the area for a few years, and we knew full well no one in their right mind would move around there after dark, unless strictly nescesarry, because of exactly that sort of thing… and that was 15 years ago.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I got the opposite feeling - that Muti killings are not a rare occurence, hence their interview with the ward councillor saying it's frequent and all the people at that church event coming forward with their stories of relatives or friends who also died or disappeared.
 
NR7 said:
Agreed.



Interesting. I got the opposite feeling - that Muti killings are not a rare occurence, hence their interview with the ward councillor saying it's frequent and all the people at that church event coming forward with their stories of relatives or friends who also died or disappeared.
Click to expand...
The locals were clear Muti killings are a pretty regular occurrence in the area, but the presenter (Masa I think her name is) kept repeating how the police etc claim it is a rare event, and she personally kept seeming very surprised when the community and ward councillor etc brought it up, as if she finds it hard to believe.

What she should have done was do her homework on the issue her story is about, and present it in an informed manner.
 
Last edited:
Like a lot of MSM entities these days, stories are exaggerated for the shock factor to drive viewership, engagement etc.

I personally believe most societies which are so split these days would benefit from media companies being severely sanctioned for sensationalism
 
NR7 said:
Quantity over quality now? Hmm, sound familiar.
Click to expand...
Do you have the ability to be objective?

If you still have a bee in your bonnet with me take it outside, I’m not interested.

For the record the vast majority of people who watched the show could pick up the declining quality. There are points when the decline started.
 
Last edited:
They still are a force of good and shine a light on things many people would like to not see the light of day.
They aren't what they were in their hey day but they still make decent content, that being said some of their presenters are worse than the others.
 
FiestaST said:
Imo their credibility started dropping once Ruda left & was cemented after Derek Watts’ passing.

Their latest non-studio situation further adds to it all.
Click to expand...
This

+ When Devi Sankaree Govender left

Geez that Tannie was on fire if you were guilty, and scared of no one, sometimes her pieces were more thrilling than the 8pm movie thereafter
 
ArmatageShanks said:
This

+ When Devi Sankaree Govender left

Geez that Tannie was on fire if you were guilty, and scared of no one, sometimes her pieces were more thrilling than the 8pm movie thereafter
Click to expand...
No man, she is as much of a sensation seeker as any of the current lot.

Our less than pleasant run in with Carte Blanche happened more than 10 years ago, in the “good old days” with derek and Ruda still in the mix. We weren’t even the “guilty” party, we just funded their research as one part of a much bigger programme. Yet still they went out of their way to paint us as villains. I gave a solid 20 minute interview with Derek, and the 3 minute of it they aired was manipulated to the point where it didn’t resemble anything I said. They literally edited it to the point where they would show Derek asking a question, and then show me responding to a totally different question, but to the viewer it would seem as if I am giving some absurd answer to Derek. I know they did the same with our CEOs interview, so I can only imagine that is their normal way of doing things. Before that experience I actually believed they were a decent outfit, and we co-operated with them in good faith on those grounds, but we were bitterly let down and clearly manipulated.

After that I didn’t take them too seriously, but last nights bit about the water in PE really took the cake. How they could with straight faces side with the municipality on that blows my mind.
 
RedViking said:
The irony
Click to expand...
I must be missing the irony.

Because I have first hand experience, due to once working for a company (NGO actually) that was manipulated by Carte Blanche for dramatic effect, I’m not allowed to have an opinion on their content?
 
FiestaST said:
Imo their credibility started dropping once Ruda left & was cemented after Derek Watts’ passing.

Their latest non-studio situation further adds to it all.
Click to expand...
I'll admit not watching the show in many years, but I had no idea Derek Watts has passed. What a legend he was
 
Zellephant said:
No man, she is as much of a sensation seeker as any of the current lot.

Our less than pleasant run in with Carte Blanche happened more than 10 years ago, in the “good old days” with derek and Ruda still in the mix. We weren’t even the “guilty” party, we just funded their research as one part of a much bigger programme. Yet still they went out of their way to paint us as villains. I gave a solid 20 minute interview with Derek, and the 3 minute of it they aired was manipulated to the point where it didn’t resemble anything I said. They literally edited it to the point where they would show Derek asking a question, and then show me responding to a totally different question, but to the viewer it would seem as if I am giving some absurd answer to Derek. I know they did the same with our CEOs interview, so I can only imagine that is their normal way of doing things. Before that experience I actually believed they were a decent outfit, and we co-operated with them in good faith on those grounds, but we were bitterly let down and clearly manipulated.

After that I didn’t take them too seriously, but last nights bit about the water in PE really took the cake. How they could with straight faces side with the municipality on that blows my mind.
Click to expand...
At university I had a lecturer who actually gave a entire lecture on how they had accused him of being a pedo based on nothing.
Well I think the lecture was on the information age (this was around 2001/2).
This guy ranted for like an hour but it was interesting to hear how they twisted his words, accused him of something and then just left it open ended. I used to watch the show and actually remembered the episode from a few years before, he had a tenant that stayed on his property who was found with CP and because he was also living there, he somehow got dragged into the mess.

I think it just goes to show how the times have changed. Nowadays you wont throw accusations like that around lightly.
Carte Blanche sticking their noses in to something like that would be considered interfearing.

That cast a lot of doubt in my mind as to their validity and process. A few years later is when everyone started downloading series and DSTV became less of a thing very quickly.
 
I Know someone who was a victim of their selective editing, he was a good guy and was definitely not the bad guy in the story but they made him sound like a complete a-hole by just using selected bits of an interview instead of the whole thing. Stopped watching after that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X