Consistency in the contemptuous disposition of the political leaders to the constitutional responsibility of the media came again into focus the other day when a cleric decried the poor attitude towards the fourth estate of the real that has a responsibility to monitor governance and hold people in power to account. The man of God couldn’t be more right. Regardless of the crucial role of the media is assigned to play by the authority of the constitution, successive elected governments have demonstrated albeit in varying degrees, intolerance for the prying eyes of the news media into and exposure of misbehaviour and deviations in high places. People in office and power need to study, not just read the words of Walter Cronkite that, ‘‘freedom of the press is not just important to democracy, it is democracy’’ and whoever abridges our right to free speech seeks, ipso facto, to overthrow the foundational liberty of the nation, to adapt from Benjamin Franklin. In sum, anyone who desires to participate in the ongoing democratic process, as citizens or as public office holders, must with no option in the matter, shape up to imbibe and live by the tenets of the system of government, which include the constitutional right of the media to operate within the law or ship out.

Source: The Guardian January 10, 2020 03:56 UTC