Responsibility of Journalism

Mar 30, 2011 Editorial

(In light of some recent events, we repeat this editorial from four years ago to reiterate our commitment towards privileging facts over opinions not based on facts in journalism.)
Almost a century ago, Walter Lippmann, the great American journalist who helped to define the profession at a crucial stage in its development, declared that the “present crisis of western democracy is a crisis in journalism.” While today this may seem as hyperbole, he was speaking in 1920; right after the First World War had ended, in which he had been tasked with responsibility for propaganda in Europe. He knew of what he spoke and he could speak with authority.
Today in Guyana, as we reflect on the state of our democracy forty-two years (now forty-six) after we attained independence, the question of journalism – the press – and its role in the maintenance of democracy has reared its head more than once. We had instances in the seventies when the government of the day denied newsprint to several newspapers in a clear attempt to still voices not in accordance with its own. More recently, we had the case where the government’s choice of the placement of its ads was deemed to pose a threat to “freedom of the press” in an inversion of the usual claim that because a government has given advertisement to a newspaper it acquires the wherewithal to influence its contents. Advertisers, corporate or otherwise, also possess that influence.
But this was not the source of the crisis to which Lippmann was referring. From his then recent vantage point as the disseminator of propaganda and a witness of its effects, he saw the heart of journalism’s corruption elsewhere—in its own arrogant assurance of knowledge and its eagerness to affirm opinion rather than provide facts. And this is the clear and present danger we face in Guyana as we strive to nurture our nascent democracy into an abiding and self-sustaining tree that can shade us all. In a world where information and its propagation have grown exponentially since Lippman’s era, the danger is ever so greater.
In the cacophony of sounds, the blur of newsprint and the flickering of computer monitors, even we in the backwaters of Guyana are bombarded with a bewildering amount of information. How to make sense of it? Lippman highlighted the role of the journalists in filtering that gargantuan stream of information into manageable chunks for the majority of ordinary folks and even individuals in leadership positions. His use of the word, “stereotype” was to make it part of our modern vocabulary. And hence his caution about the role of journalists in the purveyance of truth for the growth and survival of democracy.
Democracy, after all is the “rule of the people”. And if the people are to rule, at a minimum one would agree they must have the relevant information about issues that their country is confronted by, before they can make meaningful decisions. If journalists do not deliver the facts about the issues but rather stress their opinions then one can quickly see how democracy can be subverted.
Presently, for instance, we are in the midst of a global phenomenon of rising food prices – this is a fact. As to what may be causing that rise there can be a reasonable difference of opinion among experts, but the point Lippmann stressed is that while pointing out the various opinions these should be clearly identified and those of the journalist should not take centre-stage. The facts and just the facts should dominate: veracity must come first, not “edification”. Lippman did not simply pontificate that journalists should take the higher ground in reporting; he placed responsibility on governments also. He suggested the need for a “freedom of information” law and this was eventually enacted in the US in 1966. There is absolutely no reason why we ought not to have one here in Guyana also. Democracy demands that the people make decisions on matters that affect their lives. They can only do so wisely when they have the facts and not opinions and prejudices disguised as facts.

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