When the newly elected president of one of the factions of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD), Advocate Sydney Pilane launched a tirade against the media accusing them of being in the pockets of his political rivals, many must have taken him for a desperate, bitter loser and attention seeking egomaniac. Admittedly, it is natural to feel hard done by negative media coverage. Whenever the media give us positive coverage, we enjoy it to a point where we are quick to shower them with praises for doing a sterling work. But when the same media publish truthful but unpleasant stories about us we demonize them for lying about us and for being kings and queens of mischief and petty jealousies. The media will have to learn to live with this because such accusations come with the territory.
In like manner, the media must accept that they sometimes make gross and damaging mistakes that hurt others. The media must concede that it is a community that is made up of a huge spectrum of people some of whom could and indeed are being bought by special interests. Some journalists are rude, dishonest, arrogant, and bully often doing so to hide their incompetence and silence sceptics. Some are courteous, highly professional and very responsible. Journalists must also concede that some media proprietors may use and do use their newspapers and other outlets to influence the voters towards a particular course. Media proprietors often front for particular political agendas and when this truth is said even without hard facts, journalists must not be offended or insulted. In some instances, the media do advance a particular course without necessarily being paid by the head honchos of any movement.
Thus, the media is not holier than thou. Journalists are not infallible and therefore should accept criticism even outrageous accusations due to the nature of their profession. However, this does not mean that politicians and all others should make it a habit to use journalists as a Viagra or a lubricant of some sort. After Advocate Sydney Pilane’s rant at the media, many journalists took great offense at his tirade. Many journalists strongly believed that Advocate Pilane had overstepped and picked a fight with the wrong target. A pot shot in the Botswana Guardian of 21 July 2017 said it all. The journalist pot shooter expressed utter disappointment at Advocate Pilane’s accusations. Such an expression of dismay at Advocate Pilane’s rants was on the whole warranted.
However, the pot shooter’s bold statement that ‘Sir to pick a fight with us you will never win it. Concentrate on building your party and leave us alone’, seemed bully and irredeemably arrogant. While the statement did not represent the official position of the collective private media, it nevertheless gives a hint of what most journalists think of themselves ÔÇô untouchable, infallible and unaccountable as to be given the free way to do as they please and terrorize people at will. Indeed Advocate Pilane will never win his tussle with the media which is why he conceded to live with what he considers a systematic media campaign to tarnish his image. Rather than issue threats and become proudly pompous, media practitioners should have pressured Advocate Pilane to validate his claims.
The uncomfortable truth is that the media is a very powerful weapon in contemporary socio-political set up. Media practitioners can and do provide people with information (whether factual or twisted) that the voters can use to overthrow democratically elected government that is also effective in service delivery. Media practitioners can and do provide information that can give rise or bring down even the most seemingly untouchable personalities.
In truth, journalists are nowadays seen as the future gatekeepers of society because of their ability to dictate the direction of politics and society. Thus, the health of our fragile republic will depend on professional and responsible journalists to ensure a well-informed citizenry rather than a duped lot. It has been said that the force of the media is the greatest force in civilization; that the media form and express very powerful opinion; that the media suggest and control legislation; that the media can and do declare wars; that the media convict and punish wrongdoers. In short, the media control this nation.
As already mentioned, media proprietors do use their newspapers and other outlets to influence society towards their (proprietors) desired direction. For instance, newspaper editors may do this by deciding what readers shall read and shall not read. News editors can excite and incite the public for whatever reason they may chose. News editors normally provoke public impatience on a specific matter to pursue a definite course of action. Editors may decide to convince citizens to not worry about something they (citizens) need to worry about if such worry has the potential to frustrate the editors’ ambitions. In brief, news editors have the power to determine the direction our society should take.
The point about the invincible power of the media is that such overbearing power of influence should come with an equal share of responsibility. This being the case, trained journalists should use news in ways that separate them from street or citizen journalists who think they can do journalism better than certificated journalists. Certificated journalists must use news in ways that distinguish them from erratic columnists who are not bound by a code of ethics that apply to mainstream journalists. Given the power they have, journalists must seek to be diligent in doing their work and not let their power mess up with their heads lest we have dangerous idiots who would think they can run a government better than anyone else. Journalists must seek to be truthful and honest.
Media institutions must continually introspect and evaluate their impact on our society. The media must be motivated by a desire to change the Botswana society for the better rather a desire to flaunt their influence. Journalism should never be for personal recognition where some journalists seek attention by publishing bizarre stories. Journalism should never be about blackmail or issuing threats of publishing damaging information for such threats only serves to invite bribery to cover up the stories and ultimately create a community of lapdog and pseudo journalists who take every criticism as an attempt to kill the media.
The hard truth is that, like in any workplace, some journalists are corrupt and grossly incompetent or even bogus. Such rogue journalists who make up quotes in their stories and file interviews with ghosts cause the profession to be held in very low esteem. In many parts of the world, it has become a custom for journalists to witch hunt and unfairly discredit personal rivals.
Respectable media houses should not allow such individuals to hide under the veil of freedom of the press. In like manner, journalists who repackage themselves as politicians and subsequently use the power and influence of the media to make people believe that there can be a superior and efficient government of journalists must let themselves be questioned without crying wolf. These types of journalists must not be allowed to live in a safe haven under the guise of promoting free press. Citizens’ resolve to promote and protect a free press must not make press people to regard themselves as saints and angels to the extent of becoming overly complacent and incorrigibly arrogant. In as much as the media hold government and society accountable, society must similarly hold the press accountable and that should not be seen as suffocating free press.
