President Zuma is understandably unhappy with the treatment he receives from the media – and particularly from the print media. He is regularly depicted with a shower emerging from his head. Artists paint him with his genitals exposed. He is castigated for corruption and the media continue to hound him over the expenditure of R246 million on his retirement home. 

So, it is not surprising that when he went off text during his recent address to mark Media Freedom Day, the President expressed some emotion.