COLUMN: It's Sunshine Week, demand transparency
I fear for the life of the journalist.
Many of the good ones are persecuted for telling the truth, keeping controversial issues unexplored and corruption under wraps.
People often criticize the media for poking their noses where they don’t belong and prying into the business of others. But isn’t that the business of journalism? Answering questions that need to be answered, clarifying confusion and shedding light in guarded areas.
Since when was the front page reserved for Justin Beiber’s mugshot or Miley Cyrus’s half-naked body? Since when are cute cats and clever memes more important than Congress passing laws?
I fear for the interests of our generation.
The media walks a thin line between reporting what the public needs to know and reporting what the public wants to know. In an ideal world, the two are one in the same. In our world, they seem almost polar opposite.
This week – Sunshine Week – news editors and free information advocates across the nation are calling on the government to better uphold their obligation of transparency. Especially with an office that has been shrouded in secrecy and has been less than cooperative with media, the issue becomes more urgent than ever.
The United States dropped to No. 46 in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, which represents a 13-spot drop from 2012. But how would the American public rank in holding its leaders accountable? Did you vote last election? When’s the last time you wrote your state representative or governor?
Just like our public officials, we are only human, and we cannot do everything. But if we expect improvement, then we have to demand it. If the government has an obligation to be transparent, then we have an obligation to hold it accountable. We have a responsibility to become informed and stay involved.
In other words, we need to devote at least some of our time checking in on the people we choose to lead us. Political issues are often dry and confusing enough to scare the public away. However, it is not a matter of being an expert, it is a matter of taking an interest. Issues that seem out of our control often have a big impact on our lives.
It seems only healthy to look past our fairyland of distractions to see what is happening in the real world. In between the 140-character Twitter update and 10-second snap chat, take the same amount of time to think about something productive.
It is the government’s job to serve the people, and the media’s job to inform them. The first step toward change is the public demanding better from both.
