President Thabo Mbeki says racism is still rife in South Africa

It says journalists should take part in racism awareness courses.

It also highlights the fact that many newspapers and broadcasters still employ mainly white staff and more effort should be made to train journalists from the black majority.

Human Rights commissioner Jody Kollapen says he is hopeful that newspaper editors and media owners will take heed of the report's findings.

"It certainly is not a case of the Human Rights Commission wielding a big stick," he said..

"We are willing to assist you and we think, we hope that the report is then received and implemented almost in that spirit."

White control

Many black editors believe transformation is slow because the media is still controlled by whites and caters mainly for white interests.

But their white counterparts argue that their publications do reflect the true diversity of South African society.

The commission hopes this difference of opinion can be bridged if there is a national effort to raise sensitivities about racial issues in the media.