Vilifying the media is not right

With great power comes great responsibility. The truth is most leaders enjoy authority, but not the accountability that comes with it. In this context, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan deserves an honourable mention for choosing to brief the media himself on the tough Covid-19 fight and answer questions daily. He has been doing that for five months now.

In the last few days, however, these sessions have descended into an ugly war of words with Vijayan, when faced with difficult questions, mostly unrelated to the pandemic, accusing journalists of conspiring to tarnish his government. He has been scathing in his attack, often singling out media groups and reporters, and the exchanges, while undermining the basic purpose of such interactions, are doing serious damage to his hard-earned image and credibility.

While his government has been facing allegations over many of its deals and actions, the recent gold smuggling case has compounded its woes. With a senior bureaucrat, until recently with the CMO, being dragged into the investigation and new facts emerging every day, the questions are only getting tougher for the CM. Moreover, the government hasn’t been entirely transparent, either about its response to the pandemic or on the aspects of the smuggling case and other contentious deals.

With the opposition coming up with new charges daily, the media naturally wants answers from the CM when he is available to answer them. The expectation that the media play fair is reasonable; what is not is it stop asking difficult questions. While cyberbullies with Leftist sympathies have made it a habit to pounce on journalists for criticising the government’s decisions, the fear is the CM’s tirade can make them bolder.

Already, some journalists have filed complaints and an investigation is on. During one heated interaction, the CM said it’s people who decide whether he should keep his job or not. No doubt about that, but while he must do what he is supposed to, the media too must be allowed to fulfil its responsibilities. Asking questions on behalf of the people is one of them. Simply put, vilifying the media for demanding answers is certainly unbecoming of a democratically elected leader.