Pesky Reporters

Courtesy, respect and civility are part of a two-way street.

   Journalists often defend their pestery questions to politicians as serving the public's right to know.
   Equally, politicians -- and some corporate chieftains -- resist such probing because they prefer to work in secret, or at least they cite their need for a confidential negotiating atmosphere. Meanwhile, they note that they will make a public announcement "at the appropriate time."
   And when will that time be, asks the pesky reporter.
   "We'll let you know," says the politician, hinting at being badgered.
   That's another way of saying, "I'll decide that. Meanwhile, it's none of your business."

   Actually, it is our business. It may not be the personal business of an individual reporter, but journalists don't ask for themselves alone. Rather, they ask on behalf of the general public, who don't have the time or the opportunity to attend every legislative session of every political body.
   So when a government leader talks that way to a reporter, he is really talking to all voters, telling them to butt out and don't be nosy about what he's doing.
   Wrong attitude.

   Not all government officials, elected or otherwise, have that attitude, of course. Many campaign for office proclaiming their desire to "serve the public interest."
   Once in office, however, their interests too often seem to focus on their own needs and desires, which may not match those of voters in their districts.
   Granted, there is sometimes a need for confidentiality in negotiations, but a penchant for secrecy does not always apply to all things, every day, to all people.
   The public business is just that. The business of, by and for the public. Just as we have a representative form of government, where a few are delegated to do things on behalf of the many, so also does a free nation have a free press, whose representatives gather and distribute information for the many.

   An ever vigilant press is the guardian of a free society.