The call by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki for a free and responsible media and trust-building between politicians and media persons has become a point of discussion in the Iraqi press.
"We do not want a media that uses bombastic words to praise the government and cover up corrupt officials to allow the emergence of new tyrants and pharaohs," Al Maliki said in a speech before journalists in Baghdad two weeks ago.
He also spoke about the importance of building trust between politicians and media personnel in a way that gives a journalist the right to uncover the truth and a politician the right to see his national achievements covered by the media.
Al Maliki's speech sparked a wide-ranging controversy about the relation between policy-makers and journalists.
It also raised a question: What was Al Maliki's message to the media community in a country that was new to a democratic experiment?
First, it is important to mention that most Arab politicians lack accuracy when they give statements or improvised speeches.
Lack of accuracy by an Arab politician may cause him problems, or lead to a political crisis, which in turn requires him or his spokesman to rephrase what he had said. The media was a hypocrite during the reigns of the former regimes, because it was a government-controlled media that praised the government and its officials while turning a blind eye to corruption.
However, the new Iraqi constitution, irrespective of its negatives, has freed the media from subordination to the government after scrapping the Information Ministry.
In fact, both politicians and journalists belong to two separate institutions whose relation is governed by the constitution and hence the talk about building trust between these two institutions may not make sense and raises many questions.
What did Al Maliki mean when he spoke about trust-building between politicians and media?
If trust means transparency, then this is an unachievable dream, because politicians in all democratic countries do not embrace absolute transparency.
They make a proud appearance before the media whenever they have news that boost their political positions, while they stall and resort to unethical means if they have news that may affect their image negatively, and may even decide to conceal such stories.
Profit and loss
Most news reports that find their way to press are subject to profit and loss calculations by politicians.
Accordingly, no one knows how many politicians were involved in corruption and sex scandals, which were never revealed.
However, the media succeeded in uncovering some of these scandals, such as the affair between British Secretary of State for War in the early 1960s, John Profumo, and showgirl Christine Keeler.
The Watergate Scandal (1972-1974), which came within the political context of the Vietnam War, and led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon, was also one of the most famous scandals uncovered by the media. Thus, if trust means reconciliation between politicians and media, more stories will be concealed and public opinion will be the loser.
Al Maliki has contradicted himself by speaking about a free and transparent media that does not cover up any offender or corrupt official no matter how high his position is, and when he called for building trust between politicians and media.
Trust is built on the grounds of national interest only and that each party should carry out its duties and enjoy its rights.
Media plays a monitoring role over the parliament, cabinet and presidential council, but it does not have the power to act, except to mobilise public opinion and this is what scares politicians most.
Regrettably, people are most interested in scandalous stories involving key politicians and celebrities, although this is not the responsibility of media.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
