A fearless and effective watchdog is critical in fledgling democracies such as Nigeria where existing democratic institutions are weak and pummeled by political pressure. The watchdog role of the press is all the more important because the critical arms of government: the legislature and the judiciary seem to have neglected their oversight functions hence they are powerless as mechanisms of social control. Thus the media are often left as the only check against the abuse of power, criticize corruption with a view to entrenching transparency, accountability and strengthen democratic fledging institutions. The media also serves as a link between governors and the governed and as an arena for public debate that leads to more intelligent policy and decision-making. A prominent US television journalist Bill Moyers in the 1990s posited that the mass media is a public square which “provides a culture of community conversation by activating inquiry on serious public issues.” In new democracies, the expectation is that the media would help build a civic culture and a tradition of discussion and debate which was not possible during the period of authoritarian rule. Not just journalism but eminent contemporary thinkers like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen (1999:P.12) ascribe to this press the same cleansing powers that Enlightenment philosophers had envisioned. He outlined that need for “transparency Guarantees” such as a free press and the free flow of information. Information and critical public discussion, he said are “an inescapably important requirement of good public policy”. Guarantees he wrote “have a clear instrumental role in preventing corruption, financial irresponsibility and underhanded dealings.” The media as a watchdog is not just against corruption but against disasters. “There has never been a famine in a functioning multiparty democracy, “he said. “A free press and the practices of democracy contribute greatly to bringing out information that can have an enormous impacts on policies for famine prevention a free and an active political opposition constitute the best early warning system a country threatened by famine could have”. The role of media is important as feedback, exposure, and conduit mechanism in all countries most citizens receive their information about what is going on in the government, and how it affects them, through the filter of the media. The sheer deluge of information in modern society makes it impossible for even the most diligent citizen to keep track of all the events, or to take advantage to their access to information in all the public agencies and government organs, an alert and professional media is essential to communicate, in a fair, responsible, and understandable form, information about the activities of government and how they might affect the people, conversely, government reply to a considerably extent on the media to receive feedback and asses public opinion on their policies and programs. Finally, the media have also played a traditional watchdog and gadfly role, in investigating misbehaviour by public officials and private business, a role traditionally summarized as “comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. “The media is thus a crucial instrument of accountability, in addition to being an instrument of communication. A free press and media rank that can serve as powerful counter forces to corruption in public and private life. Advocates of transparent government have been demanding that government should consider a basic set of principles to govern the freedom and independence of the media (Transparency International 1996: P.34) Law and practice limiting the right of the new media together and distribute information should be kept to a minimum. Government authorities national and local should not interfere with the content of print or broadcaster news or access to any news source. Independence news media should be allowed to emerge and operate freely in all countries. Government should not discriminate in its treatment, economic or otherwise, of the news media, public and private. The independence media should have unrestricted access, at par with the official media, to all, material and facilities necessary to their publishing or broadcasting operations, including newsprints, printing facilities and distribution systems broadcast frequencies, and satellite facilities. Fiscal and Financial practices should not inhibit the free flow to information. There should be no restriction on free entry into the field of journalism or on its practices, except for professional certification, and Journalists should have security and full legal protection. These principles may require some fine-tuning and modification in developing and transitional countries, especially where ethnic tension or centrifugal forces are at work, legitimate restrictions on the freedom of the media stem mainly, from the protection of the right and reputation of individuals and groups, the prevention of actions that could inflame communal and religious feelings and matters of national security. In these countries citizen must not be restricted in their right to access government information about themselves. However, the exercise of the citizens’ right to other government information should focus on the area’s most important for government i.e., budget, electoral processes, procurement, land use, and basic service delivery. Strategies should also be evolved to improve information access for all citizens and not only for the richer or the better organized. Hence, when information access right are nominally equal but de facto nor accessible for the low income group. The United Nations Development
Posted on: Sun, 02 Feb 2014 16:16:58 +0000