LETTERS: Media can play vital role in tackling graft

The objective of journalism includes truth-telling, independent reporting and awareness that we should do no harm. We are not disciples of any particular “good cause”, no matter how worthy it may be. In our experience, many of those who shout loudest about justice, who rant most about rights and who preach from the moral high ground are often people with something to hide.

When it is in the public interest, we have a duty to report on it. Sometimes that is not easy, particularly at a time when some media employers appear to be less concerned about quality of content and the mission of journalism than they are about the commercial imperatives of profitability through increased circulation and audience reach.

The quest for an accountable and responsible system of governance has become a necessary condition for nations to be meaningful players in the increasingly globalized world environment. Freedom and assertiveness of the press is concomitant with the growth of democracy and openness in society.

Because of the unique power to reach wide sections of society, the media is very powerful and has capacity to contribute towards the establishment and sustenance of an integrity system in the society. Journalists serve as a public “watchdog” that observes the political elite, informs, and also entertains the public. Politicians, iy contrast, answer to the demands of the electorate by explaining their strategies and plans with the help of news media.

In the past decades, there has been a rapid change in the relationship between journalists and politicians. The latter are increasingly forced to adapt to the news media’s production logic if you order journalists to check their moral judgments at the door, one of two things will happen.

Either they’ll have no clue what to report on and go home without a story, or they’ll figure it out in the only way possible: by letting others decide. In practice, that means becoming a mouthpiece for the establishment the people with the power to decide what’s important, trivial, good, or bad .That is why now in Kenya some journalists have been accused of publishing misleading information about someone or some subject. We need not to take away our brains and give Kenyans and our audiences news that change the life or impact.

The relationship between journalists and politicians has been characterised by “trust and distrust, love and hate. A free press is not a luxury. A free press is at the absolute core of equitable development because if poor people do not have a right to expression, if there is no searchlight on corruption and inequitable practices, you cannot build the public consensus needed to bring about change.

The role of the media is critical in promoting good governance and tackling corruption. It not only raises public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible remedies but also investigates and reports incidences of corruption.

The effectiveness of the media, in turn, depends on access to information and freedom of expression, as well as a professional and ethical cadre of investigative journalists.

Corruption is a complex crime, made possible by inconsistencies and gaps in legal frameworks, and insufficient co-operation across jurisdictions. Media reporting and investigative journalism, including by NGOs, is a vastly useful, but possibly underexploited, source of information for allegations of transnational corruption.

The exposure of recent scandals through effective international co-operation by transnational networks of journalists as well as NGOs has amplified the impact of investigative reporting and significantly raised awareness of cross-border financial crime. Our media now should focus on development stories. Feeding audiences with political news every day is wrong; we need to have other stories.

Kibet Benard, communication expert, via email