Sunanda K Datta-Ray: Being critical, not complimentary

That should be the attitude of journalists towards those in power

It’s not every day that a retiring American president’s farewell press conference has a particular resonance for this country. It’s not every day that a new American president’s indifference to media freedom seems so dismally familiar. The common factor of court favourites is particularly pertinent at a time when the Delhi Durbar is reportedly acquiring sophisticated equipment to eavesdrop on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr and even chat application accounts like Wickr, Glyph and WhatsApp to keep tabs on the cheeky social media our political masters abhor.

I am dwelling only on Barack Obama’s comments on the media because they highlight a striking difference between Americans and Asians. Ronald Reagan compared a great newspaper to the nation talking to itself. Obama’s give-and-take press conference was far removed from Singapore’s former foreign minister, George Yeo, warning journalists of the Hokkien saying, boh tua boh suay, meaning in effect some are high, others low. Donald Trump would have loved that. So, I imagine, would Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi. Although Gandhi’s anglicised polish would have saved her from sounding abrasive, neither prime minister need have feared a boycott in sycophantic Delhi.

Despite their commitment to press freedom, American politicians can sometimes behave like medieval monarchs. Jack Kennedy invited the chosen few to his famous poolside parties. Henry Kissinger called favourites by their first names. Lyndon Johnson gave them $10 cowboy hats inscribed with the name of his ranch. Embarrassed by the gift, recipients tried to sidle out of the president’s office, holding the hat behind them to hide it from view. Delhi recipients would probably have proudly strutted about for everyone to admire the headgear and realise the sun of official approval shone on them. So many journalists preened themselves on membership of Gandhi’s shadowy kitchen cabinet that one wondered why so many cooks didn’t spoil the broth. The answer was she really did her own cooking. 

All the same, it was inconsiderate of Johnson to saddle favourites with such an unmistakable badge of favour. It’s almost as blatant as nomination to the Rajya Sabha or ministerial portfolios. A discreet corporate directorship or chairmanship of some government panel would have attracted less attention. But then the Delhi Durbar probably rewards only courtiers cast in its own image. Brashness isn’t a failing for them, it’s a virtue. Their American equivalents will now monopolise the White House briefing room. Although the earlier threat to boot out the press corps hasn’t materialised, Trump’s proviso that “some people in the press will not be able to get in” is taken to mean that the news organisations he derided as purveyors of “fake news” and the journalists whose questions he refused to take at his theatrical press conferences will be denied entry. Instead of objective reporters subjecting presidential decisions to honest scrutiny, Trump will bask in the adulation of a pool of sycophants.

Warning about precisely this last Wednesday, Obama pointedly stressed that having the media “in this building” — the White House — makes the place better. “It keeps us honest, it makes us work harder.” Not everyone in the American media agrees that the Obama years were the best of times. Some railed at the Justice Department for vigorously pursuing leaks of national security materials and for asking reporters to disclose sources. But nothing became Obama better than his affirmation that a free press is essential to democracy. “That is part of how this place, this country, this grand experiment of self-government has to work. It doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenry, and you are the conduit through which they receive the information about what’s taking place in the halls of power” he told journalists. He said he hadn’t enjoyed every story about him but accepted that was “the point of this relationship”. Public life demands the balance Reagan called the friction of freedom.

“You’re not supposed to be sycophants, you’re supposed to be sceptics, you’re supposed to ask me tough questions,” Obama told the media. “You’re not supposed to be complimentary, but you’re supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power and make sure that we are accountable to the people who sent us here, and you have done that.” I can’t imagine any Indian prime minister acknowledging that right. The comment that seemed most relevant to me was Obama telling journalists he had “enjoyed working with all of them”. It wasn’t only words. The words conveyed a sense of partnership in a situation of democratic equality.