Every time we question the government, we see the same response “Why don’t you question the Opposition?”
It is a question that has always puzzled us.
The primary responsibility of a journalist is not to create artificial balance. It is to hold power accountable. In a democracy, power rests with the government. It is the government that frames policies, introduces bills, spends public money, signs agreements, enforces laws, and makes decisions that affect every citizen. That is precisely why it deserves the highest level of scrutiny.
Questioning the Opposition may make for good television. It may even help some commentators appear “neutral.” But does it serve the public interest? The Opposition does not govern. It does not decide how your taxes are spent. It does not formulate national policy. The government does.
Then comes another familiar argument.
“The Congress did it too.”
“So and so the state is doing the same thing.”
This culture of whataboutery has become a convenient escape route. If something is wrong today, how does pointing to another wrong from yesterday make it right? If another party has made a mistake, should we celebrate the government repeating it?
A criticism deserves a response on its own merits. If you believe a policy is correct, explain why. Show the facts. Point out what the critic has missed. That enriches public debate. It educates readers. It may even change the writer’s mind.
But replying to every criticism with, “What about them?” is not a defence. It is an evasion.
We recently heard a well known prime time television anchor dismiss another journalist by saying he had once supported the UPA. If that is the argument, then what exactly is being justified? That because someone may have been biased in the past, it is acceptable for someone else to be biased today?
Surely that cannot be the standard we aspire to.
Journalism is not about proving that you are equally critical of everyone. It is about being uncompromising in questioning those who exercise power at this moment.
If we stop asking questions of those who govern us, then who exactly are we holding accountable.
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