The importance of the media to transparency

May 04, 2014 News

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Yesterday World Press Freedom Day was celebrated and while we strive to ever increase the tenets of press freedom, with that freedom comes the undeniable responsibility of the press, which is to objectively report on events and occurrences unfolding.  In essence, the press has the responsibility to ensure that the truth is made manifest to the masses.
In order for that truth to be manifested accurately there is greater need for more openness from the government as it pertains to the accessibility of information. What we find happening within Guyana’s context is that the information that government gives out is limited to what government wants to be shared as opposed to everything being in the open so that accurate and accountable reporting/journalism can be provided to the population.
This however is how some the governing bodies of the world operate as it pertains to being open with how information is disseminated. The argument for government’s side is that not everything can be in the open, since it would provide terrorists with the necessary information needed to exploit such an important body.  Governments have since wanted for the media to be censored in relation to how it disseminates information, something which would affect the accuracy and transparency of the news and how it unfolds.
Bowles, Hamilton and Levy in their book ‘Transparency in Politics and the Media: Accountability and Open Government’, in articulating the need for transparency from governments’ end said that “policies that make governments more transparent and open can potentially make it easier for voters, interest groups, and journalists to track the origin and implementation of policies.”
They said further that “for investigative reporters, were more of the documents and data available to officials also available to the public, officials would be more easily held accountable. The costs of discovering stories might fall, the likelihood of positive spillovers from exposés increase, and the transaction costs of gathering and assembling information decline. Transparency is thus a highly valued instrumental good, since it is an input into a process of monitoring that increases the odds that voters or consumers get what they want from institutional actors.”
“Transparency is also an intrinsic good for some voters, who believe that they have a fundamental right to know about the actions of public officials.” (Ibid)
As such administrations “should be willing to release information about government decisions, not simply government information about consumer or producer actions. This would lower the costs of journalists to constructing accountability coverage focused on public officials” said Bowles, Hamilton and Levy.
For the most part the press plays a very important role in keeping the government accountable and the public accurately informed with what’s happening around them and should that role be stifled or subjugated or even lose its main stream readership support and financing, it would warrant a tremendous decline in accountability and transparency.
“The rapid financial decline of local newspapers in the US and UK means that the likelihood that accountability coverage will be generated of local government actions has declined over the last decade” said Bowles, Hamilton and Levy.
It is important at this juncture to outline the main roles associated with the media which Newswritting.org in an article captioned Mass media and Society- Roles of the Press, highlights as Political or Watchdog Role, Economic Role, Sentry Role, Historical/Record Keeping Role among others.
According to Newswritting.org the media have long served as a watchdog for the public, watching for threatening actions from elected officials and highlighting those actions when necessary.
“How many of you have ever been to a school board meeting? Or a city council meeting? Our elected officials make decisions that can affect our quality of life, but most of us do not pay attention until it is too late, when new laws or rules have already been enacted. The media are at those meetings, or at least are checking up on what happens at them, and warn us—growl–when something that will affect us negatively happens.”
“The media help the economy survive, both by bringing the businessman and the consumer together—advertising— and by keeping the public informed on the state of the economy. Advertising is just one way in which the media inform us about the economy, and as a result influence the economy. News about interest rates, the stock market, etc. are other ways.
Considered by many to be the most important role of the media is the historical/record keeping role which encapsulates the events throughout time. “What happened? Where? When ? Who was involved? Etc … Today’s media are recording history as it happens. And we enjoy that they do. We can watch a baseball game, perhaps in person, and still want to read about it in the paper the next day or see the highlights on the television news that night.” (Ibid)
The importance of the media cannot be overstated especially within the context of the roles and responsibility that it affords to society in promulgating democracy within the country through transparency and accountability.

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