From Global Integrity Website: Journalists and Global Integrity

From link: http://commons.globalintegrity.org/2009/03/global-integrity-impact-challenge.html
Hassan (Yemen) said...
I would think that GI should also encourage journalists to start working on systematic practical programs to combat corruptions in their countries.
This becomes more apparent when considering that the journalists may have contributed the crux of the material that went into the GI Annual Report, whether directly as researchers and note keepers or indirectly through the provision of a considerable amount of the sources relied upon by the GI researchers and reporters. Journalists tend to be the pioneers in exposing corruption in many societies, where corruption is rampant and often risk their lives, as the machinery of corruption is so well entrenched and empowered with the instruments of government at the full disposal (including unlimited and uncontrolled access to public funds, not to mention the control of the media, law enforcement and military apparatus of the government) of this machine of social destruction and its leading icons. In fact, in such societies, one would expect that civil society organizations, even if existing, are almost powerless and constrained severely from seeking to translate any drawn up agendas, which they may have in their planned activities against corruption, into physical actions that eventually lead to concrete results. The latter would be at the minimum manifested by the dismissal of known heretofore untouchable corrupt officials and more preferably the indictment and submission of the latter to the mercy of a liberated judiciary bound by a strict equitable due process in the execution of its mandate.
In addition, even civil society would have to rely on the support of the press to reveal and publicize their activities and to harness the essential public support that advocacy and watchdog civil society organizations need to achieve any measure of success in their pursuits for real and noticeable social and government reforms. This public support would be indispensible in any effort to challenge the entwined cobwebs of corruption, which have been built up over decades of encouraged misapplication of good governance systems (including lip service to demcoratic practices, the intentional objectives of which have been diverted beyond purposeful recognition) and non-transparent and uncontrolled misuse of public funds by careless and narrow-minded selfish public officials.
Fighting corruption, especially in most developing countries, would best be backed by a robust education process that impacts a sizable element of the citizenry. The components of this process could be, but not necessarily limited to: a) increasing grass roots public awareness of the elements of the social contract between government and the governed; b) the role of the public in directing the approaches to government and the mechanisms and resources available to the people, as individuals or as groups, in exercising this civil function; c) provision of easy access to the relevant laws regulating public service and a continuous campaign to instruct the public on the yardsticks for measuring and overseeing the performance of government officials; d) public awareness of the remedial actions open to the public, as civil society organizations individuals singly or organized as citizen's groups, to challenge any observed irresponsible actions by government officials, individually or collectively, regardless of their level of seniority and authority. Thus, the role of the journalist in this effort by GI to elaborate on the current activities beyond the research and reporting process needs to be reassessed and perhaps given further continuity by some measure of involvement in the follow up field activities that are geared to lead to additional practical ramifications in the fight against corruption, albeit through the GI generated tools.

April 3, 2009 4:07 PM