Media and Governance

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.

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