Corruption even the Fourth Estate

is prone to it
Watching the watch dog of the nation has become a mortifying
need
2015-12-11
Wednesday this week (December 09) marked the
International Anti-corruption Day with a nationwide campaign on
eradicating corruption. Interestingly all mobile phone users, too, received a
common text message incorporating a pledge I declare: I shall not pay a
bribe, I shall not take a bribe and I shall report / give info on corrupt
practices.
Sri Lanka, according to the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency
International, is still performing better compared to many of its Asian
neighbours as far as corruption is concerned. In fact both India and Sri
Lanka are the best performing countries in this index in South Asia ranked
85th among 175 countries.
When talking about corruption, the first sector of society that comes to
anyones mind is politicians. They are the most visible and noticeable
characters in the domain of corruption.
In fact Sri Lanka should be glad to reach its current
position in the global anti-corruption index when the
poor level of governance we experienced over the past
decade is considered. Corruption and nepotism became
a gigantic octopus that encroached into every segment
of society from top to bottom. This does not mean that
President Rajapaksa initiated it, rather he fully enjoyed and benefited the
maximum out of what had been initiated by his predecessors.
All four pillars of democracy were severely affected by this epidemic. There
is no need to specify the level of corruption of the executive; it was
limitless.If the stories we hear are correct, the mere number of complaints
of corruption against the top family amounts to more than 700. How many

years would it take to resolve these cases given the natural and
unavoidable tendency of the laws delays?
Then came the legislature which was predominantly guided by a corrupt
executive. There is no need for further explanations. There was a blanket
approval for Yes men to determine their own conduct, irrespective of
morality or ethical standards. When we refer to the legislature, it is not
confined to Parliament but its allied institutions as well.The high profile
cases that came to light during recent months specifically the biggest
ever bribery case at the Customs and several corruption cases of senior
police officers were significant events in the fight against the menace. No
doubt, the tough lady who heads the bribery office would leave no stone
unturned and no case unresolved. She has proved her competency and won
public trust, I believe. The hurdle she is facing is the lack of resources in the
face of mounting complaints against big wigs both former and present.
The judiciary was not left alone. The interventions of the previous regime in
the countrys judicial system not only deprived the trust among its own
population, but it extended to Geneva as well. Thus, the hybrid systems
were proposed. It went to an extent where the winning President
Maithripala Sirisena refusing to take oaths before the incumbent chief
justice of the country. Getting him out of the job was a mafia style
operation. To be fair, these allegations of judicial corruption should not be
confined to the Rajapaksa regime, . We still remember how Ravaya
reported the appointment of Sarath Silva as chief justice by President
Chandrika Kumaratunga by publishing the picture up-side-down on its front
page with a caption Adhikaranaye Malagama (the funeral of the
judiciary).
The fourth pillar of democracy is the media the watchdog of society with
no other watchdogs eyes on it. Thus, we hear less about corruption within
the media that however exposes others.

As in other sectors, corruption within the media sector spans from top to
bottom with very few exceptions. Corporate ownership either state or
private would always enjoy economic or political manoeuvring while a few
would engage in converting black money into white through media
businesses. This is not a unique feature to Sri Lanka, but a global
phenomenon where a significant portion of the media is owned by cronies.
Many owners would use their media outlets as political or economic tools,
though they continue to make financial losses. Here I must say fact that
there are a few exceptions that engage in genuine media business.
When training journalists on practising ethics, independence and
accountability are among the most cardinal issues that are discussed; but
their practicality is in question. This includes both editors and journalists.
From another perspective, eradicating corruption from a profession which is
not paid well is a tedious task, but it is not a blanket excuse to engage in
corrupt practices that could extend from a cap or a T-shirt as a gift at a
press conference to massive financial deals either to publish or not to
publish a story. Such events could take place at provincial as well as
headquarter levels.
There is an interesting advertisement by one of the Sinhala radio
channels.It starts with a dialogue where a politician is receiving a bribe and
then goes on to say that even paying cash to listeners is a direct mode of
bribing. Several radio channels offer cash not as a prize but as a gift to
their listeners in a bid to promote the respective channels and provide
extensive publicity to cash receiving events. We should ask the tough lady

at the Bribery Commission whether this could be considered a bribe, and if

so we need to take stern action against such misconduct of the Fourth
Estate.
Another grey area that needs thorough scrutiny within the broadcast sector
is the rating madness. To my mind this is an extremely vulnerable sector
that is susceptible to corruption. The monitoring system could be held
answerable to its interpretations of the results of a few hundred samples as
indicative of the collective behaviour of millions of media recipients. Such
so-called research entities dominate and probably manipulate the market
as well. A thorough academic research based on empirical evidence is a
must to spot the loopholes and possible corrupt practices within this system
and to propose alternatives to counter them.
Thus, media should not be spared from any anti-corruption campaigns. In
fact we cannot think of a dynamic democracy without cleaning the media
landscape from unethical practices. We need a system to watch the
watchdog.
Posted by Thavam