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WHEN one talks about governance, many areas of weakness are cited as examples of bad governance. These include high levels of corruption, lack of democracy in party politics, weak parliamentary traditions, enormous centralisation of power in the hands of the executive, weak, inconsistent, ineffectual judicial system and poorly developed representative local government.
Think-tanks who talk about these believe that the media can play an important role in the area of governance. At a dialogue in the city last week, the discussants were of the opinion that a free press can help ensure good governance. The economists, social thinkers, media critiques and journalists, who participated in the dialogue, talked about the positive role of a free press in economic development and the reduction of poverty.
The media in Bangladesh have the potentials to act as catalysts for change and growth. There is strong public feeling that the media can expose corruption in society, provide a voice for citizens and help create a public consensus to bring about economic change. The World Bank in a recent publication said a free press could reduce poverty and boost economic development.
The issue may be debated. Some people argue that the media usually maintains status quo. But in the developing countries like Bangladesh, the media has always been one of the most reliable institutions to bring change. The media can spur economic development if it is independent and if it gives quality information to reach a wide audience.
The freedom of the press does not mean writing only against the establishment. Exposing corruption, misdeeds and other drawbacks is one side. Access to free information and a free press is not only a human right, it has also its moral content which is self-evident. In today's reality a strong, independent and free press is a powerful catalyst for economic and social development and plays its role in the reduction of poverty.
Freedom of information has too frequently become a casualty of the government initiatives to restrict it in the name of national interest. But for a long time journalists have argued that a free and unregulated press plays a highly positive role in accelerating economic and social development. It helps remove the conditions of poverty, controlled information and the lack of public debate, in which terrorism breeds and prospers. For developed economies, free information and a strong, independent press is at the centre of the priorities for effective development strategies.
The high-ups in the government always say that economic and social developments are obstructed by the existence of a free press. Some criticise the press freedom as "freedom to lie," while many advised the government to postpone free information and free expression until a satisfactory level of economic development has been achieved.
It seems that the people who are at the helm of power are angry to see the role of the media as a watchdog of the government and the corporate sector. They are also critical of the media's power to influence markets, its usefulness as a transmitter of new ideas and information, and its ability to give a voice to the poor. One would certainly agree that unethical or irresponsible press can hamper the operation of a free press.
A free and open media is something the developing countries need to have for successful economic reform, said Mark Nelson, a Programme Manager for the World Bank Institute suggesting that the countries need free and independent newspapers, radio and TV stations to boost their economic progress.
The media here today is facing another challenge. That is not from the government. When media owners are somehow overcoming the government's pressure, they seem totally defenceless before the corporate world. As the government is no longer the major controller of advertising market, private corporate houses have successfully exerted their influence on the media perhaps, due to the nexus between the media and the corporate sector getting wider because of the ownership pattern in the media. Some of the big private houses themselves have ownership of the media while others have different types of business relations. So there is scope for compromising with the corporate sector on many areas.
But, in others words, it can be seen from a different point of view. The media can help markets work more efficiently by providing reliable economic information on the current developments at different places. The media provides corporate sector with reliable information about market forces to the corporate bodies.
Poverty reduction is something for which access to information and the quality of information plays a major role. The government's effort to eradicate poverty will get a push if the media is liberated. People with more information are empowered to make better decisions.
But for the media to be independent, it should disseminate quality information and reach out to the people with credible information. Improvements in the quality information and of the rules governing its dissemination can reduce the scope for abuses in both markets and in political processes.
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