Citizens' right to know and public scrutiny

Good journalism is an antidote to rumour, ignorance and speculation, says International Federation of Journalists general secretary Aidan White in an interview with Joanna Ripard

Freedom of information, quite simply, centres on the citizens' entitlement to know what is being done in their name, but the media have to hold people in authority under scrutiny responsibly and sensibly without resorting to scandal-mongering, Aidan White, general secretary of the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists told The Sunday Times last Thursday.

Mr White is one of two keynote speakers at a conference, entitled 'A Freedom of Information Act for Malta: Time to Act?', organised by the recently set-up Journalists' Committee (Malta) at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort, St Julian's, tomorrow.

Tony Bunyan, editor of statewatch.org, will also give an address.

"Open government means obviously that the people who take decisions about the way we live our lives, like politicians and people in authority, are subject to scrutiny," he pointed out.

"That means we need to know who is taking the decisions, what arguments are being used around those decisions, and what public involvement there is in the debate before decisions are being taken.

"An open society is one that recognises that the public has a serious role to play in the decision-making processes of government, on a national, local and institutional level."

Mr White believes that, given Malta's size, this should be easier to achieve than it is in much larger societies. Because we live in a society that is rather "like an extended family", secrets are not likely to be kept secret for very long.

"The question of freedom of information is about commitment within democracy to consult with all sections of society about political, social and cultural development within society. It is part of the democratic process.

"There have to be checks and balances within that process to make sure that there are certain things that should remain secret: national security or the economic security of the country requires that some things have to remain secret and, in any good democracy, that is a reasonable thing.

"Those exceptions have to be clearly outlined and understood so that people know their responsibility. Which is the most difficult part of the debate. There is a lot of criticism of media today that basically what they do in the name of so-called journalism is little more than scandal-mongering.

"And I think that there is a good deal of justifiable criticism of bad journalism and media who like the word 'scandal' better that the word 'exposé'. And they confuse public interest with populist journalism, which is designed to increase journalism and make money."

Mr White warns against affording public figures more protection than ordinary citizens. As people whose career depends on public opinion, and who have a particular relationship with the public, they must be subject to higher levels of public scrutiny than the citizen. It boils down to getting the balance right.

And while he also believes that there are things journalists are not supposed to see, like documents relating to the financial confidentiality of the state of the nation's economy or locations like military installations or hospitals where it is not journalists' place to be, he is appalled by the barring of journalists from detention centres holding illegal immigrants.

"I cannot understand at all why journalists should not be allowed to enter - under controlled conditions, if necessary - prisons, detention centres or other places where there is reasonable public interest concerning the conditions and standards applied internally," he said.

"The refusal by the Maltese authorities to allow journalists access to detention centres is a scandalous failure to recognise their responsibility of open government. The question of illegal immigration is one that is very much a matter of public interest in Malta.

"I cannot think of an issue in the last ten years which is more in the public eye and it is a dangerous one, because we know that it is very easy for this concern to turn itself into straightforward prejudice and hatred.

"It is very, very important that when journalists are reporting they have access to as much information as possible on all aspects - and that includes how immigrants are being treated, how are they being looked after and what their conditions are.

"It is highly regrettable that the Maltese authorities have not recognised the important and valuable role that journalists can play by giving them access to the detention centres. They also raise the question of whether or not they have something to hide."

The IFJ has expressed the same sentiments about the US authorities' refusal to allow journalists access to the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba. The refusal, he says, "encourages rumour and speculation about what is going on there. Which is dangerous. And good journalism is an antidote to rumour, ignorance and speculation.

"Governments who refuse to allow journalists to view their work are guilty of promoting ignorance and rumour rather than a good understanding of what is really happening." Which lays the onus purely on journalists so that accurate, quality information is relayed to society. That is the fundamental principle at the core of a profession which is evolving quickly.

Gone are the days, he says, when the world was divided into two distinct groups: newspapers and broadcasting, the driving force of journalism for the past five, six decades. As more and more people in the developed world reach for their PDAs and their mobile phones to obtain information, the industry is at a turning point, and "new economic models are having to be defined on how to develop media in the future.

"I think we will see a mix of multimedia coming together. The traditional independent newspaper house and the broadcaster will give way to the multimedia institution in which information will be provided in the different ways people want to receive it."

The most important, permanent fixture is the need for quality journalism. "However you receive your information, whether it is through the telephone, the Internet, etc., you need reliable, accurate information.

"Without it, people are blind, government cannot function, business cannot work, citizens cannot exercise their democratic rights. So you need quality information and that is why you need good journalism," he said.

Bloggers will not put journalists out of work, he remarks, because society needs professionals to provide information. "The problem is that journalists are under tremendous pressure from a panic-stricken industry, which is seeing its profits fall and making cuts in its editorial departments, damaging and undermining quality in journalism.

"In a way, media institutions are destroying their own future when they begin to undermine quality that the future depends on. Quality content is what counts. Speed is of the essence, but it is not everything."

Mr White, who worked for The Guardian for seven years before being appointed chief executive of the IFJ, recalls the paper as being old-fashioned, an attribute he loved it for. Today it has placed itself on the innovation frontline by breaking news on its Website, the first newspaper in Britain to do so.

"The newspaper is not just a vehicle for news, it is also a vehicle for analysis, commentary, opinion. Newspapers can survive if they begin to recognise that people want to understand the often complex information they receive on the Website.

"The telephone and your computer do not provide the conditions for being able to assess, examine and analyse information in context. A newspaper can, and that is why the future of newspapers is secure.

"The Guardian Unlimited Website in Britain is bigger than all the other newspaper Websites put together, because The Guardian invested heavily in a dual strategy of Internet development, besides maintaining the paper. More and more newspapers and media companies are going to be doing that mix. Converged media will be the key to the future."

The IFJ is also concerned about the increasing need for journalists to be multi-skilled, which means they are often laden with a wider job description. Reporters are increasingly required to act as photographers, camera people, and prepare pieces for radio, TV, a Website and a newspaper.

"It is our business to try to provide social and professional protection for journalists," he pointed out. "That is why we want to work with groups like the IGM (the Institute of Maltese Journalists, which has been a member of the IFJ since late 2003) to see how we can better protect journalists, how we can make sure they have better working conditions, to make sure they are not subject to exploitation."

Which is just one reason why the unionisation of journalists is of the essence. Even with their competitive and individual nature, journalists need to stick together. Mr White believes that the difference between journalists is potentially their great strength.

"We all have an interest if one journalist is subject to victimisation, if one journalist is attacked for their journalism. We all suffer in that context. That is why journalists need to stick together to protect our professional rights, to ensure that we are working together to make sure that the politicians of all colours respect journalism and freedom of information."

It's not impossible to get journalists to join forces but it is difficult, he says. He should know. Mr White is still a member of the National Union of Journalists of Great Britain and Ireland (NUJ) where there are "more different voices than it is healthy to have!" - Irish (north and south), Protestant and Catholic, English, Scottish and Welsh, right-wingers and left-wingers, republicans and royalists, conservatives, all working within a pluralist organisation.

"I am familiar with the situation you have here in which you have a two-party system that has been at each other's throat for years, and journalism is drawn into that inevitably. Journalists have to identify the issues that unite them rather than the issues that separate them... The issue here is professionalism not politics.

"Journalists working for The Guardian have supported journalists working for The Daily Express or The Daily Mirror or The Sun. I know that in the historically fraught nature of Maltese politics there is a deep division within society. But journalists must strive all the time to rise above that. And we can. It's difficult but we need to."

"In the end," he says, "when journalists protect themselves and protect the profession, we actually protect democracy for everybody. And that is an ideal worth fighting for, even in these days of trouble and cynicism."

The conference, which starts at 8 p.m., is supported by Air Malta, the Fortina Spa Hotel, Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort, and The Strickland Foundation.