Politics as usual, or hope?

When politicians blame journalists for their woes, no one wins. Even if journalists are allied with political rivals, even if activism overshadows information, the response ought to focus on the message and not on the messenger.

We have seen the result when every “unfriendly” voice is rejected as “fake news.” When whatever we do not like is thrust aside, irrespective of whether it is true of false, then everything is debased. When we divide journalists (or judges, or soccer referees etc) according to the good ones who are on our side and those who are our enemies, we shape a society in which citizens see everything as counterfeit, where everything depends on who influences who, on who has the means to impose their will on others. This “team fanaticism” and bigotry lead to endless clashes, to the avoidance of responsible decisions, to a dead end in politics, the economy and society. 

This government’s first basic misstep was the support that it provided to news media at the start of the pandemic, which showed that some media were treated more favorably than others. Whatever gains the authors of this policy might have aspired to are negligible compared to the damage that it caused. Because from that day, the government’s rivals have portrayed any media that are not aligned with them as being in the government’s pocket.

However much responsibility the opposition bears for this, the government’s responsibility is greater, as it is the one in power. This government rightly boasts that it rejects its rivals’ populism, and so we expected it to rely on institutions when things got difficult. In other words, that it would reply to its critics with arguments (perhaps even harsh ones) and proof, not with ad hominem attacks.

On the one hand, such behavior is unjust and endangers people who are doing their job seriously and responsibly. On the other, it turns those who might have remained in the shadows into political forces in their own right. In this way, government titles, institutions and information get tangled up with exaggerations and lies. And so we all believe whatever we like – or nothing.

This government raised the hopes of many that it would change how politics are practiced here. To justify this hope, it will have to handle this crisis with transparency, humility and respect for institutions.