The Media's Role in Curbing Corruption

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The Media’s Role in Curbing Corruption Rick Stapenhurst Abstract The role of the media is critical in promoting good governance and controlling corruption. It not only raises public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible remedies but also in- vestigates and reports incidences of corruption. The effectiveness of the media, in turn, depends on access to information and freedom of expression, as well as a professional and ethical cadre of investi- gative journalists. This paper examines how the media have exposed corrupt officials, prompted investigations by official bodies, reinforced the work and legitimacy of both parliaments and their anti-corruption bod- ies and pressured for change to laws and regulations that create a climate favorable to corruption. The paper considers, too, how the media can be strengthened, highlighting private versus public owner- ship, the need for improved protection of journalists who investigate corruption, press freedom and media accountability.

Transcript of The Media's Role in Curbing Corruption

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The Media’s Role in Curbing Corruption

Rick Stapenhurst

AbstractThe role of the media is critical in promoting good governance and controlling corruption. It not onlyraises public awareness about corruption, its causes, consequences and possible remedies but also in-vestigates and reports incidences of corruption. The effectiveness of the media, in turn, depends onaccess to information and freedom of expression, as well as a professional and ethical cadre of investi-gative journalists.

This paper examines how the media have exposed corrupt officials, prompted investigations byofficial bodies, reinforced the work and legitimacy of both parliaments and their anti-corruption bod-ies and pressured for change to laws and regulations that create a climate favorable to corruption. Thepaper considers, too, how the media can be strengthened, highlighting private versus public owner-ship, the need for improved protection of journalists who investigate corruption, press freedom andmedia accountability.

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The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this document are entirely those of the author(s)and should not be attributed in any manner to the World Bank, to its affiliated organizations, or the membersof its Board of Executive Directors or the countries they represent.

Copyright © 2000 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The World Bank enjoys copyright protection under protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Thismaterial may nonetheless be copied for research, educational, or scholarly purposes only in the membercountries of the World Bank. Material in this series is subject to revision. The views and interpretations in thisdocument are those of the author(s) and should not be attributed to WBI or the World Bank. If this isreproduced or translated, WBI would appreciate a copy.

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Corruption is a problem that all countries have to confront. Solutions, however, can onlybe home-grown. National leaders need to take a stand. Civil society plays a key role as well.

Working with our partners, the Bank Group will help any of our member countries to imple-ment national programs that discourage corrupt practices. And we will support international ef-forts to fight corruption and to establish voluntary standards of behavior for corporations andinvestors in the industrialized world.

The Bank Group cannot intervene in the political affairs of our member countries. Butwe can give advice, encouragement, and support to governments that wish to fight corrup-tion—and it is these governments that will, over time, attract the larger volume of investment.Let me emphasize that the Bank Group will not tolerate corruption in the programs that wesupport; and we are taking steps to ensure that our own activities continue to meet the higheststandards of probity.

—James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank1996 Bank-Fund Annual Meetings Speech

Civil society and the media are crucial to creating and maintaining an atmosphere in publiclife that discourages fraud and corruption. Indeed, they are arguably the two most impor-

tant factors in eliminating systemic corruption in public institutions.

—”Helping Countries Combat Corruption: The Role of the World Bank”PREM, September 1997

Afree Press is not a luxury. A free Press is at the absolute core of equitable development be-cause if you cannot enfranchise poor people, if they do not have a right to expression, if

there is no searchlight on corruption and inequitable practices, you cannot build the public con-sensus needed to bring about change.

— James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bankin a speech to the World Press Freedom Committee

Washington, D.C., November 8, 1999

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Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... vii

The Media As a Tool Against Corruption: Tangible vs. Intangible Effects .......................................... 2The tangible ways in which journalism serves as an impediment to corruption ................................. 3Intangible effects of journalism on corruption ................................................................................. 8

How Can the Media Be Strengthened? ............................................................................................. 10Private versus public ownership ................................................................................................... 10The need for improved protection of journalists who investigate corruption ..................................... 11Access to information .................................................................................................................. 12Media accountability .................................................................................................................. 14Freedom of the press .................................................................................................................... 15Press councils .............................................................................................................................. 17Self-regulation by the media ........................................................................................................ 17Investigative journalism training ................................................................................................. 19

Conclusions ..................................................................................................................................... 20

Endnotes .......................................................................................................................................... 21

Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 24

FiguresFigure 1: Correlation Between Corruption and Press Freedom .......................................................... 2

BoxesBox 1: Latin American Heads of State ........................................................................................... 3Box 2: Other Politicians ................................................................................................................ 4Box 3: Involvement of International Institutions ............................................................................. 5Box 4: The News Media As a Check on the Integrity of State Anti-corruption Bodies ........................ 6Box 5: Shaping Public Opinion ..................................................................................................... 7Box 6: Media Pressure in the United States .................................................................................... 8Box 7: Media and Pre-emptive Responses: The Cases of Minneapolis and Quebec ............................. 9Box 8: Privatization of the Media and Corruption in Mexico and Ghana ...................................... 10Box 9: The Rise of “Media Moguls” in Tanzania and Russia .......................................................... 11Box 10: Private Media in Italy .................................................................................................... 12Box 11: Actions Against Journalists .............................................................................................. 13

Contents

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Box 12: Free Access to Information in Selected Countries ............................................................... 14Box 13: Charter for a Free Press .................................................................................................. 16Box 14: The Role of the National Media Commission in Ghana ................................................... 18Box 15: WBI’s Investigative Journalism Training .......................................................................... 19

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Foreword

The importance of controlling corruption tospur sustainable development is well docu-

mented. A critical element of a country’s anti-corruption program is an effective media. Themedia has a dual role to play: it not only raisespublic awareness about corruption, its causes,consequences and possible remedies but also in-vestigates and reports incidences of corruptionaiding other oversight (and prosecutorial) bodies.

The World Bank Institute is a leader in help-ing countries design and implement anti-corrup-tion programs. For nearly five years, the Gover-nance and Finance Division (WBIGF) has facili-tated investigative journalism workshops in Africa,Central and Eastern Europe and more recently, inLatin America and South Asia (planned). Over 25workshops have been held for nearly one thou-sand journalists from more than one dozen coun-tries. Pedagogical materials have been translated inFrench, Kiswahili, Amharic, Russian (forthcom-ing) and Ukrainian (planned). Recent develop-ments include the adaptation of these materialsfor electronic media journalists; planned are fur-ther adaptation of materials for self-instruction viathe internet and the development of an investiga-tive journalism module on a CD-ROM, beingdeveloped collaboratively with the Africa MediaPartnership.

The effectiveness of the media, in turn, de-pends on access to information and freedom of

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expression, as well as a professional and ethicalcadre of investigative journalists. Additionally,such issues as private versus public ownership ofthe media, the need for improved protection ofjournalists who investigate corruption and mediaregulation are critical.

This paper, the first in a series exploring themedia’s role in curbing corruption, draws upon,and extends the analysis contained therein, aTeaching Note prepared by Alexander Norris,Reporter at the Montreal Gazette. Noting the re-lationship between Corruption and Press Free-dom, the paper examines both tangible and in-tangible ways in which journalism serves as animpediment to corruption. It also considers howthe media can be strengthened, to enhance theirrole in curbing corruption. Future papers willdevelop some of these issues further.

Rick Stapenhurst is a Public Sector Manage-ment Specialist at the World Bank. The authorwould like to acknowledge the comments of TimCarrington, Akin Fatoyinbo, Rod Macdonell andMark Nelson, and the assistance of ElsaPilichowski and James Quigley in production.The views contained herein are entirely those ofthe author and do not necessarily represent theviews of the World Bank Institute.

Daniel Kaufmann, ManagerGovernance, Regulation and Finance Division,

World Bank Institute

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The Media’s Role in Curbing Corruption

The roots of corruption are grounded in acountry’s social and cultural history, po-litical and economic development, bu-

reaucratic traditions and policies. To generalize, ittends to flourish when institutions are weak andeconomic policies distort the marketplace.1 Cor-ruption distorts economic and social development,by engendering wrong choices and by encourag-ing competition in bribery rather than in the qual-ity and price of goods and services and, all too of-ten, it means that the world’s poorest must pay forthe corruption of their own officials and of multi-nationals’ agents.2 Moreover, available evidenceshows that if corruption is not contained, it willgrow. Once a pattern of successful bribes is insti-tutionalized, corrupt officials have an incentive todemand larger bribes, engendering a “culture” ofillegality that in turn breeds market inefficiency.3

In its simplest terms, corruption can be de-fined as the abuse of public power for personal gainor for the benefit of a group to which one owes alle-giance. It occurs at the intersection of public andprivate sectors, when public office is abused by anofficial accepting, soliciting, or extorting a bribe.As a single transaction, corruption takes place wherethere is a meeting of opportunity and inclination.Klitgaard4 has developed a simple model to explainthe dynamics of corruption:

In other words, the extent of corruption de-pends on the amount of monopoly power and dis-cretionary power that an official exercises. Mo-nopoly power is large in highly regulatedeconomies, whereas discretionary power is oftenlarge in developing countries and transition econo-mies where administrative rules and regulations areoften poorly defined and which are plagued by aweak rule of law. And finally, accountability mayalso be weak, either as a result of poorly definedethical standards of public service, weak adminis-trative and financial systems and ineffective watch-dog agencies.

Successful strategies to curb corruption will haveto simultaneously seek to reduce an official’s mo-nopoly power (e.g. by market-oriented reforms), his/her discretionary power (e.g. by administrative re-forms) and enhance his/her accountability (e.g.,through watchdog agencies). Such strategies com-prise a system of checks and balances, designed tomanage conflicts of interest in the public sector andlimit situations in which conflicts of interest arise orhave a negative impact on the common good. Theyembody a comprehensive view of reform, address-ing corruption in the public sector through govern-ment processes (leadership codes, organizationalchange) and through civil society participation (thedemocratic process, private sector, media).

A complementary schema, focusing on knowl-edge and data as a prerequisite for anti-corruption

C (Corruption) = M (Monopoly Power) +D (Discretion) – A (Accountability)

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strategies, has been proposed by Kaufmann5, whostates that

In other words, successful anti-corruption pro-grams (AC) are dependent on knowledge and in-formation (KI) plus leadership (LE) plus collec-tive action (AC). Here again, the importance ofinformation and the involvement of civil society,including the media, is central.

Reform is initiated and supported not only bypoliticians and policy makers, but also by mem-bers of civil society and by the media. Indeed, theWorld Bank has stated that “civil society and themedia are crucial to creating and maintaining anatmosphere in public life that discourages fraudand corruption. Indeed, they are arguably the twomost important factors in eliminating systemiccorruption in public institutions.”6

Specifically, while the role that a free press canplay in investigating, reporting and thereby help-ing combat corruption is now well recognized, as-

sessments and descriptions of the precise meansby which news media can perform this functionappear to be scarce7— despite the fact that there isa strong correlation between the incidence of cor-ruption and the extent to which the media is free(see Figure 1).

This paper seeks to fill that gap by layingout a tentative typology of ways in which jour-nalism can help curb corruption. The typologydraws on examples of recent stories by contem-porary journalists that have been published overthe past decade. The paper does not constitutean integral survey on the subject, rather it fo-cuses upon the study of the role played by themedia in curbing corruption. In so doing, themedia’s tangible and intangible effects are ana-lyzed as well as ways to strengthen and safeguardits role in the society.

The Media as a Tool Against Corruption:Tangible vs. Intangible EffectsThe media can act as a force against corruptionin ways that are both tangible and intangible. Thetangible, readily identifiable, ways in which the

AC (Anti-corruption Efforts) =KI (Knowledge and Information) +

LE (Leadership) + CA (Collective Action)

0

1

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3

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5

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10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100Press Freedom World Wide Index

TI Indexon corruption

(correlation: -0.69)

Source: World Bank Institute, “Core Course in Controlling Corruption,” 1999.

The points represent different countries correlating the level of corruption, as measured by the Transparency International Index against the level of press freedom within the country.

Figure 1: Correlation Between Corruption and Press Freedom

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Box 1: Latin American Heads of State

President Bucaram in EcuadorIn Bucaram’s case, an investigative story publishedin the daily Hoy showed how the president knownas “El Loco” had diverted money he had raisedduring a Christmas telethon to help the poor.Amid a national uproar, Bucaram was later oustedby Congress for “mental incapacity.”

President Perez in VenezuelaIn Venezuela, two investigative stories in theCaracas daily El Universal have been credited withprecipitating Perez’s downfall. One, relying on con-fidential sources, reported that the president hadmisappropriated $17 million in missing discretion-ary funds. Other leaked documents from the Cen-tral Bank and Foreign Ministry, Simon reports, indi-cated that “Perez and two aides had made millionsby changing Venezuelan currency into dollars justahead of (a) devaluation.” After Venezuelan law-makers began impeachment proceedings, Perezwas forced to step down.

President Collor in BrazilIn Brazil, investigative pieces published by variousoutlets set the stage for Collor’s departure as presi-dent. In early 1991, a Jornal do Brasil reporter useda computer access code provided by a senator toexamine federal finance ministry files and discov-ered that “money distributed to the president’swife…and earmarked for charity had gone to herrelatives and family in her hometown.”10 The fol-lowing year, after months of cultivating Collor’sbrother as a source, Veja magazine published aninterview in which the brother, Pedro Collor, ac-cused the president’s campaign treasurer, PauloCesar Farias, of running a multimillion-dollarinfluence-peddling ring on Fernando Collor’s be-half. Congress set up a commission to investigatethe charges. During its hearings, a flurry of hard-hitting insert reports by various outlets—particu-larly Isto It magazine and the Folha de São Pauloand Estado de São Paulo newspapers—drew on avariety of documents including bank records, can-celled cheques, telephone records, and even pho-tographs of Collor’s lavish private residence, aswell as interviews with senior officials and theiraides to reinforce a picture of massive high-levelcorruption within the Collor administration. It ul-timately emerged that Farias had extorted morethan $55 million from firms in exchange for favor-able treatment by the government; at least $8million was passed on directly to Collor. By year’send, amid a national uproar, Collor steppeddown—one day before he was to be impeached.

Source: Simon (1998).

news media perform this function include thosein which some sort of visible outcome can be at-tributed to a particular news story or series of sto-ries—for instance, the launching of investigationby authorities, the scrapping of a law or policythat fosters a climate ripe with opportunities forcorruption, the impeachment or forced resigna-tion of a crooked politician, the firing of an offi-cial, the launching of judicial proceedings, theissuing of public recommendations by a watch-dog body, and so on.

Intangible effects, by contrast, can be charac-terized as those checks on corruption which arisefrom the broader social climate of enhanced po-litical pluralism, enlivened public debate and aheightened sense of accountability among politi-cians, public bodies and institutions that are inevi-tably the by-product of a hard-hitting, indepen-dent news media.

The tangible ways in which journalism serves as animpediment to corruptionThe tangible ways in which journalism can serveto curb corruption can take a variety of forms. Mostspectacular among them is when corrupt bureau-crats or public office-holders are impeached, pros-ecuted or forced to resign after their misdeeds areexposed to public light. However, journalism alsoacts directly to curb corruption in other, less spec-tacular but, arguably, equally important ways.

Reporting, for example, may prompt publicbodies to launch formal investigations into allega-tions of corruption. Furthermore, news accountsdisseminate the findings of public anti-corruptionbodies, thus reinforcing the legitimacy of thesebodies and reducing the ease with which interestedparties who hold power can meddle in their work.Conversely, when journalism exposes flaws andeven corruption within the various bodies of thestate (the courts, police and anti-corruption taskforces) corruption is put on check. Furthermore,if the resulting public pressure leads to a reform ofthose bodies, the long-term effectiveness and po-tential of the media to act as a counterweightagainst corruption is strengthened.

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There are cases when reporting on corruptor ethically questionable behavior does not re-sult in immediate investigations, prosecutions orresignations, but does arouse the ire of the pub-lic, which exercises another form of sanction:electoral defeat at the ballot box for a singleelected office holder or an entire government.Hard-hitting journalism can also expose flawsin policy, laws or regulation that foster a climateripe for corruption, thus creating pressure forreform. And even before anything has been pub-lished, mere inquiries by reporters about appar-ent wrongdoing can elicit preemptive responsesby authorities eager to protect the public imageof their institution before any allegations havebeen aired.

What follows is a more detailed discussion ofthese various tangible effects that journalism hasin curbing corruption. Wherever possible, contem-porary examples are provided to help illustrate howjournalism has played this function.

INVESTIGATING AND EXPOSING CORRUPT OFFICIALS

AND OFFICE-HOLDERS

The most obvious examples of journalism’s poten-tial for curbing corruption can be seen when poli-ticians or other senior public officials lose their jobsas a consequence of the public outcry or legal pro-ceedings that follow the fearless reporting on cor-ruption. Examples of this kind of outcome are nothard to find—particularly from contemporaryLatin America, where a surge in media reportingon corruption over the past decade has helped forceno fewer than three heads of state from office,namely Ecuador’s Abdala Bucaram, Venezuela’sCarlos Andres Perez and Brazil’s Fernardo Collorde Mello (see Box 1).

Heads of state have been far from the sole tar-gets of such hard-hitting investigative reporting.Cabinet Ministers, members of the United States’House of Representatives (see Box 2) ended uplosing their jobs as an indirect or direct result ofmedia reporting.

In some cases, the success of independentmedia reporting in the firing of corrupted gov-

ernment officials has needed cooperation from in-ternational institutions. This is what happenedin Kenya in 1996 where the press reporting overa plot organized by the Minister of Health hadthe effect of pressuring directly the governmentand indirectly the International Monetary Fund(IMF) to take actions (see Box 3). Jumping ahead,it needs to be stressed that an independent pressplayed an important role in this case. While theindependent Kenyan press reported on the scan-dal, the government-owned press was used as aconveyor belt by the government and the Minis-ter himself to fight back the allegations againsthim without any comment on the scandal.

Box 2: Other Politicians

Cabinet Ministers in ColombiaIn Colombia, two Colombian cabinet ministersresigned in mid-1977 after the weekly news maga-zine Semana published a surreptitiously recordedcellular phone conversation in which they dis-cussed then-President Ernesto Samper’s plan togive half of the government’s radio concessionsto his friends, according to a report in the Colum-bia Journalism Review. Other published newspieces linking Samper himself to the Cali drugcartel received more widespread internationalattention. While Samper ultimately survived an im-peachment attempt and served out his full term,the stories led to the resignation and arrest of hisdefence minister and are widely believed to havecost him much of his domestic and internationalpolitical support.

United States—The Case of Dan RostenkowksiIn the United States, for example, Dan Rostenkowski,a former member of the House of Representatives,lost his congressional seat after the ChicagoSun-Times published a series of investigative re-ports over the course of two and a half years. Theseries showed how, as head of the House’s power-ful Ways and Means Committee, Rostenkowski hadwrongfully taken hundreds of thousands of dollarsfrom his campaign funds and congressional allow-ances. This reporting “helped lead to Rostenkowski’sindictment in May 1994 and his subsequent defeatin November 1994,” according to Investigative Re-porters and Editors, a U.S. based journalists’ group,and Rostenkowski pleaded guilty to corruptioncharges on April 9, 1996.

Source: Investigative Journalism Online Resource Center.

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When public officials lose their jobs becausethey have been found guilty of corruption, a vari-ety of related deterrents to corruption—such aspublic humiliation, loss of prestige, social stand-ing and income, among others—are simultaneouslyreinforced. Furthermore, the political turbulencethat follows the ouster of high public officers helpsincrease the standards of public accountability,thereby providing another deterrent to major cor-ruption by others in the future.

Contrast these outcomes—resignations, inves-tigations, even prosecutions of prominent officeholders, up to and including heads of state—withwhat had transpired in Indonesia, where indepen-dent news media faced persistent censorship andrepression for years—conditions that allowed grandcorruption and related unsustainable economicpractices to flourish unchecked, culminating in therecent economic crash and the nationwide politi-cal upheaval that followed. Lin Neumann, the Asiaprogram coordinator for the New York-based Com-mittee to Protect Journalists, has noted wryly that,in the aftermath of the economic meltdown, formerPresident Suharto was finally “forced by the RVIFto acknowledge the degree of involvement in theeconomy by his own family. But for decades,

Neumann noted pointedly that “such a discussioncould lead Indonesian journalists to jail. TheSuharto children thus acquired major interests ineverything from cloves…to toll roads, to a subsi-dized national car company, telecommunications,and media without having to defend themselvesin the press.”8 The “only widely trusted Indone-sian publication, Tempo magazine, was closed bySuharto in 1994,” Neumann adds, because “itsreporting on the Suharto family, economic corrup-tion, and human rights abuses in East Timor werean embarrassment to the regime.”9

Had a vigorous independent press been al-lowed to do its job properly and exposed domesticand world public opinion to the pervasive corrup-tion that so characterized the Suharto regime,checks against such corruption might have beenreinforced within civil society, the state apparatusand the international community. As a result, someof the most egregious corruption-tainted invest-ment and economic-policy decisions that helpedpropel Indonesia into its current crisis might nothave been made—or might at least have met a morecompelling challenge. The corrupt role model thatSuharto and his family were to become for someof their countrymen might likewise have been morecompellingly undermined.

PROMPTING INVESTIGATIONS BY OFFICIAL BODIES

Even if it usually does not result in the ouster of apublic office-holder or bureaucrat, hard-hitting re-porting by independent-minded reporters some-times provides the initial seed that prompts officialbodies to launch formal investigations of their own.

Such was the case after a series of Miami Her-ald stories in 1996 which “established how a promi-nent American bank may have abetted the kind ofcorruption that undermines democracy through-out Latin America.”10 The series has been describedby the IRE as instrumental in prompting a crimi-nal investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.

Likewise, stories published in 1997 by theDallas Morning News on allegations of contractfraud and mismanagement by top officials in Dal-las public schools helped precipitate an investiga-

Box 3: Involvement of InternationalInstitutions

Kenya: The 1996 scandalThe independent Kenyan press shed light on themalaria control-chemicals deal organized by theMinistry of Health, Mr. Donald Kimutai. The pressreported that non-approved malaria chemicalswere going to be bought through a foreign firm,Equip Agencies Ltd., at a price far higher than theprice necessary to buy the goods locally. Also, aside payment of 400,000,000 Kenya Shillings wasmade to Equip Agencies Ltd. by the Health Minis-try while no goods were delivered. This scandalburst out during the visit of an IMF team in Nairobi.That team put pressure on the government toclear the scandal. Mr. Kimutai was first transferredto the position of chairman of the Industry Com-merce Development Corporation (ICDC) and onlyin a second stage, under the insistence of the IMF,he was fired.

Source: Githongo (1997).

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tion by the Federal Bureau of Investigation intoschool corruption.11 In a similar case, the FBI andArkansas state police launched an investigationfollowing publication of a 1986 series in the Ar-kansas Democrat-Gazette identified corruptionthroughout a local municipal court system.12

The Brazilian Parliamentary Commission ofInquiry that ultimately led to Collor’s demise wasalso set up partly in response to the findings ofinvestigative press reports.

REINFORCING THE WORK AND LEGITIMACY OF THE

STATE’S ANTI-CORRUPTION BODIES

Sometimes, too, journalists’ stories can play a criti-cal role in reinforcing the effectiveness of publicanti-corruption bodies—even when the stories inquestion are not, strictly speaking, investigativereports that reveal wrongdoing of some kind.

Simply reporting in a regular, detailed way onthe work and findings of these bodies can rein-force public scrutiny of them and, hence, the in-dependence of such bodies from vested interestswithin the power structure that might otherwisebe tempted to interfere in their work.

Journalists and the news media, it must bestated, often have a symbiotic relationship with theofficial bodies that investigate or prosecute corruptofficials. Journalists’ immediate interests are servedby their work in that they provide reporters andtheir outlets with strong, dramatic stories to pur-sue and publish.

The interests of the anti-corruption bodies areequally served because reporting on their activitiesbuilds public support for their work—and, hence,reinforces their legitimacy—creating a climate thatmay make politicians who are the subject of theirinquiries less inclined to meddle in or underminetheir operations. Another beneficial side effect ofthe publicity that journalists bring to the work ofsuch bodies is that it may encourage witnesses towrongdoing to step forward and testify about whatthey know.

Such a symbiotic relationship was in evidencein Brazil in the months leading up to the 1992resignation of former president Collor. Likewise,

in Italy, the press played a key role in disseminat-ing the findings of anti-corruption magistrates,thereby helping to shape the widespread publicsentiment that has powered the anti-corruptionreforms still under way.

When aggressive reporting seizes upon andamplifies key findings of prosecutors, investiga-tors, legislative committees or other public bod-ies that investigate corruption, this cannot butraise public pressure for corrupt officials to be heldto account.

STRENGTHENING ANTI-CORRUPTION BODIES BY

EXPOSING THEIR FLAWS

Still, there are limits to this kind of cooperation.There is always a danger, of course, that journalists

Box 4: The News Media As a Check on theIntegrity of State Anti-corruption Bodies

City of DetroitAn example of the way in which the news mediahave acted as a check on the integrity of stateanti-corruption bodies—in this case the judi-ciary—was in evidence in 1981 in the U.S. city ofDetroit, when a radio station’s investigation ofcorruption and irregularities in the local bank-ruptcy court was credited with leading to the dis-missal and retirement of several judges, lawyersand bankruptcy trustees, as well as a change inthe way judges are assigned to cases. The report-ing also prompted investigations by the FBI and aFederal Grand Jury.

Montreal Municipal JudgesLess dramatically, a Montreal Gazette expose oflax work ethics among local municipal courtjudges, resulting undue delays in the renderingof judgments—and the undue burden thesedelays imposed on the entire justice system—prompted the provincial minister of justice tomandate the court’s new chief judge to crackdown on the magistrates with a view to ensur-ing greater swiftness in the processing of casesand the handing down of rulings. Thenewspaper’s expose reinforced the judiciary ’saccountability and hence its potential effective-ness as an instrument against corruption (as wellas other forms of wrongdoing).

Sources: Investigative Journalism Online Resource Centerand Macdonell (1993).

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may become too close to the official anti-corruptionbodies that have the potential to provide them witha steady flow of punchy, dramatic stories. The po-tentially problematic nature of such relationships isevident when one considers that these very bodiescan themselves turn out to be corrupt, or tainted bycorruption. No public body—or private entity, forthat matter—can be immune from corruption, af-ter all (see Box 4). With this in mind, it is crucial forjournalists to maintain a healthy spirit of indepen-dence with respect to police, prosecutors, the courtsand other public bodies charged with rooting out,prosecuting and issuing rulings on corruption cases.Ultimately, when journalism maintains its indepen-dence and casts its critical gaze on these bodies them-selves from time to time, it can serve to expose weak-

nesses within them and, ultimately, to reinforce theireffectiveness in curbing corruption.

HELPING TO SHAPE PUBLIC OPINION HOSTILE TO

“SLEAZE” IN GOVERNMENT

Even when reporting on outright corruption orother questionable behavior by public figures doesnot lead directly to indictments, prosecutions orimpeachments, it can still help shape public hos-tility to such activities that can ultimately lead toelectoral defeat for individual politicians or, indeed,for entire governments (see Box 5).

PRESSURE FOR CHANGES TO LAWS AND REGULATIONS

THAT CREATE A CLIMATE FAVORABLE TO CORRUPTION

Investigative journalism can also curb corruption

Box 5: Shaping Public Opinion

“Cash for Questions” in the United KingdomThe “cash for questions” scandal in the United Kingdom was a case in point. Members of Parliament in theConservative government of former prime minister John Major were caught by reporters agreeing to ac-cept cash payments from private parties in return for lobbying for their interests by asking public “ques-tions” to ministers in the House of Commons. The ensuing uproar is widely believed to have contributed topublic disgust over “sleaze” in public life that led to current Prime Minister Tony Blair’s landslide victory overMajor in the subsequent nationwide parliamentary elections, in 1997.

It was a sting-type operation by the Sunday Times newspaper in 1994 that helped set off this scandal. Thepaper reported that one of its journalists, posing as a businessman, had persuaded two Conservative MPs toexpress willingness to accept a payment of more than $1,000 (U.S.) in return for lodging parliamentary ques-tions. A parliamentary committee began investigating the two legislators, and a Gallup poll the same yearindicated that 61 per cent of those queried “agreed that the Tories are ‘sleazy and disreputable,’ as opposedto 18 per cent who feel that way about the Labour Party.”

Corruption in CanadaPress reporting of ethically and legally questionable behavior by members of former Canadian prime minis-ter Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government—a number of whom ended up before the courtson corruption charges—may also have played a role in that party’s spectacular election defeat underMulroney’s successor, Kim Campbell, in 1993. General elections that year saw Campbell preside over theparty’s loss of official status in the Canadian House of Commons, when it was reduced from a governmentwith an overwhelming majority of seats to a minor party with a mere two seats in Parliament.

ItalyA more profound reshaping of the political map in the wake of corruption allegations occurred in Italy afteranti-graft investigators and magistrates uncovered a vast web of corruption and kickbacks in 1992. The socalled “Tangentopoli” (Bribesville) scandal not only produced sweeping judicial and electoral reforms; it alsoushered in a thorough public repudiation of key mainstream political parties—particularly the ChristianDemocratic and Socialist parties—that had held sway in postwar coalition governments. Revolted by thestench of corruption, voters tossed out incumbent after incumbent in national elections. Widespread mediareporting on the interrelated scandals as they unfolded undoubtedly played a key role in hastening thishistoric repudiation of corruption in high places and the resulting reshaping of Italian political culture.

Source: Barbash (1994).

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by identifying flaws or weaknesses in laws and regu-lations that create a climate favorable to corrup-tion. In so doing authorities are prompted tochange, or consider changing, those laws and regu-lations. Such pressure for changes to laws can comein the form of specific recommendations from amedia outlet (see Box 6).

Moreover, when journalists are stymied in theirefforts to uncover questionable behavior by offi-cials—particularly their use of public funds—me-dia outlets sometimes become strong proactiveforces in favor of improved disclosure. Such dis-closure, or the potential for it, can often act as astrong disincentive to corruption. In Canada, theMontreal Gazette’s lengthy court battle—still un-der way—to gain access to the expense accounts ofelected members of the provincial legislative assem-bly can be seen in this light.13

ANTICIPATION OF ADVERSE MEDIA PUBLICITY

PROMPTING A PREEMPTIVE RESPONSE

Sometimes, mere inquiries by journalists—in theabsence of a story’s publication or of conclusiveproof of wrongdoing—can lead to a tangible re-sponse from authorities eager to protect their repu-tations and those of the institutions they represent(see Box 7).

Intangible effects of journalism on corruptionMost often, though, journalism’s effects as an im-pediment to corruption are probably less tangibleand more indirect than the preceding examplesmight lead one to believe. The craft must be seennot merely in terms of the direct impact it has hadin specific instances of “sleaze” or corruption, butalso in the context of the broader role that journal-ism plays in society.

Corruption expert Michael Johnston hasidentified a variety of factors that help to sustaincorrupt practices. In many instances, aggressive,independent journalism is one of the most effec-tive countervailing forces acting against these fac-tors. This is clearly the case when it comes toweak political competition, which, as Johnstonhas observed, generally plays a role in sustaining“most serious cases of entrenched political andbureaucratic corruption.”14 Hard-hitting, inde-pendent journalism can act as an indirect checkon the sort of corruption that would otherwiseflourish in the absence of such competition sim-ply by presenting a variety of points of view andthus informing public debate in a way that en-hances political and economic competition. It canperform a similar function by providing actorsin the marketplace with a broad variety of eco-nomic information as well. As Johnston has ob-served: “Stronger political and economic com-petition can enhance accountability, open upalternatives to dealing with corrupt networks, andcreate incentives for political leaders to moveagainst corruption.”15

Two other factors closely correlated with highlevels of corruption are “low levels of mass partici-pation in politics and weak protection of civil lib-erties.”16 Here, too, independent news media havean obvious, if indirect, counterweight role to play.This is particularly so when the news media fosterdebate of the sort that encourages members of thepublic to get involved politically, and when newsmedia outlets take the lead in pressing for enhancedcivil liberties in which they have a strong vestedinterest—like freedom of expression.

Box 6: Media Pressure in the UnitedStates

This was how WTLC Radio in Indianapolis con-cluded a series of pieces in 1984 and 1985 thatexamined past corruption in the government ofthe U.S. state of Indiana and criticized weaknessesin existing laws which it said could lead to morecorruption. The radio station offered up its ownlist of recommendations, including the establish-ment of a new public watchdog body and expand-ing the authority of the state ethics commissionand attorney general.

The effects of the Miami Herald series, men-tioned above, linking a U.S. bank with corruptionin Latin America, went beyond mere recommen-dations. The series actually prompted U.S. au-thorities to amend federal banking regulationsso as to remedy some of the flaws the stories hadidentified.

Source: Investigative Journalism Online Resource Center.

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“Shared knowledge”17 among a restricted circleof beneficiaries of corruption has been identifiedas another characteristic of corrupt environmentsagainst which independent, aggressive journalismcan serve as a most effective counterweight. Inso-far as journalism disseminates knowledge aboutpublic decisions and procedures beyond smallcliques of decision-makers, it can play a major rolein undermining this precondition to corruption.

Since beneficiaries of corruption also “have astake in…freezing out critics and holdout agentsand clients,”18 the press can, here too, serve as acheck against corruption insofar as it is an obvi-ous potential ally for those who suffer personalloss because they have refused to take part in cor-rupt exchanges or systems. Such parties often turnto journalists, who in turn use them as sources,

either for the record or on a not-for attributionbasis. The accounts they provide can, in turn, serveas leads for investigative news stories, or as alle-gations which—provided there is sufficient sub-stantiation and right-of-reply rules have been dulyobserved—can be aired publicly in the form ofnews items.

Another type of source that often providesleads for investigative stories is organized civil so-ciety: non-governmental organizations, tradeunions, pressure groups, lobbies, citizens’ groupsamong others. As Johnston has noted:

Organized, active groups in civil society canbe a check on the state and on each other, aswell as a basis for direct countervailing action.They are critical to accountability becausetransparent procedures mean little if there isno one to look in: corrupt states abound ininspectors, commissions of inquiry, andrecordkeeping requirements that create andconceal corruption rather than reveal it, be-cause no one outside the state can demand ameaningful accounting.”19

Such civil-society organizations often workhand-in-hand with news reporters, who broadcastand hence reinforce these groups’ demands, sharpentheir lines of inquiry and disseminate their find-ings to a broader public.

Moreover, since corruption often requires hori-zontal coordination among agencies, increasing theirindependence from each other, “or encouragingcompetition among them where possible in termsof appropriations, functions and location,”20 can be,a useful way of undermining one of the conditionsrequired for certain types of corruption. It is nothard to see how the news media can play a role inthis regard, particularly when they carry stories high-lighting disputes or rivalries between organizationssuch as police forces or regulatory bodies.

Johnston recommends the instituting ofchecks and balances within government, such thatits various arms are encouraged to keep a wary eyeon one another.

Box 7: Media and Pre-emptiveResponses: The Cases of Minneapolisand Quebec

Such was the case in 1996 when the MinneapolisStar-Tribune began making inquiries about therelationship between a local strip club and sev-eral vice-squad police officers. The officers werealleged to have “received special gifts and favorsfrom the…club while failing to pursue serious vio-lations that could have closed the business.” Thepolice department responded to the inquiry bylaunching an internal investigation of its own.

Likewise, Gerard Latulippe resigned from hiscabinet post as solicitor general of the Canadianprovince of Quebec in 1987 three days after be-ing confronted by two Montreal Gazette report-ers about allegations of favoritism and conflict ofinterest. One of the concerns in the Latulippe caseinvolved the minister’s hiring of a law firm whichin turn gave part of the contract to his girlfriend.Another involved three contracts his officeawarded to a consulting firm owned by his friendsand former law partners. Another issue was on aseverance agreement he signed with his formerlaw firm before entering politics in which he wasto receive a percentage of fees paid by his formerclients—which were mostly public bodies—inreturn for helping the law firm to keep them asclients. Latulippe’s resignation was tendered be-fore any story had been published.

Sources: Investigative Journalism Online Resource Centerand Marsden and Robinson (1987).

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The necessity of well-maintained publicrecords, if this is to occur, cannot be understated.If no such records are available, it is difficult to seehow the various arms of the state apparatus—orindeed anyone else, for that matter—can keep tabson how discretion is exercised and who benefitsfrom it, whether in policy decisions, procurement,hiring or any other manner of decision.

A skills-building exercise in which journalists inEthiopia, Mauritius, Tanzania, and Uganda have takenpart in recent years illustrates this principle well. Theexercise, as part of a workshop sponsored by the WorldBank (formerly Economic Development) Institute,has seen local reporters sent out to “test” various re-positories of public documents for the transparencywith which they handle those documents and makethem available to journalists. The exercise highlightsone of the ways in which journalists, through theirregular use of public documentation, can frequentlyreinforce the recordkeeping function of the state.21

Since the very notions of enhanced politicaland economic competition which underpin somany of Johnston’s observations are predicated onthe widespread accessibility of publicly availableinformation, it is not hard to see how, here too,the media have a critical role to play in reinforcingthe conditions that allow corruption to be tackledmost effectively.

How Can The Media Be Strengthened?

Private versus public ownershipSome analysts have suggested privatization ofstate-owned news media could be a means ofstrengthening their autonomy and, hence, theircapacity to curb corruption.

“In many countries,” observes Jeremy Pope,“the government itself is the largest media owner,which can undermine the independence of themedia. “Where this happens,” he suggests “effortsshould be undertaken to strengthen the indepen-dence of the media, possibly through privatizationof existing state-controlled media.”22 Undoubtedly,privatization can sometimes have beneficial con-sequences in this regard (see Box 8)

However, privatization may not always pro-duce the desired results—particularly when it takesplace in a poor nation with a small, entrenchedbusiness elite that has close ties to power-holdersin the state apparatus (see Box 9).

Publicly owned media, on the other hand, dosometimes aggressively assert their independence—even in poor countries. In Benin, for instance, thestate-owned newspaper La Nation is protected frominterference by the government of the day by a con-stitutionally-empowered oversight body composedof state- and non-government appointees.23 Like-wise, although journalists at Uganda’s state-ownedNew Vision newspaper have been known to com-plain that political considerations color the paper’snews judgment and its reporters’ assignments, ithas been known to publish hard-hitting reportingon allegations of corruption within the adminis-tration of President Yoweri Museveni, most nota-bly on business ties between Ugandan property

Box 8: Privatization of the Media andCorruption in Mexico and Ghana

Shortly after the former Mexican administration ofPresident Carlos Salinas Gortari relinquished statecontrol over all television in 1989 and eased con-trols on importation of newsprint the news mediabegan reporting more aggressively on governmentcorruption. Sergio Sarmiento, vice president ofnews for Mexico’s private TV Azteca, told an inter-national conference of broadcasters in Toronto inMay 1998 that the network’s coverage of corrup-tion and other stories its pro-government rival oncerefused to cover has helped the private networkjump from a 5 to 25 percent audience share. Thegovernment-owned network has responded bycovering more such stories itself, he said.

Yao Dzeikpor, head of news for Ghana’sgovernment-owned television network, told asimilar story, according to a report in Free! “Overthe last nine months, we have seen a new televi-sion station on (the air),” it quoted him as saying.“The sort of things that they cover were not thethings the government would have allowed usto cover two or three years ago. We have alsofound the light and are also moving in that di-rection, very gingerly.”

Sources: Simon (1998) and Powell (1998).

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magnate Sudhir Ruparelia and Brigadier JimMuhwezi, minister of state for primary education.24

Public broadcasting corporations of such coun-tries as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australiaand South Africa also have developed loyal andrespectful audiences thanks to the independenceof their journalism, whereas the private mediaempire of former Italian prime minister SilvioBerlusconi, for example, has not always enjoyedsuch a reputation (see Box 10).

The ideal solution is probably a mix of privateand public news media with a wide diversity ofownership enforced through a strong anti-trust law.

The need for improved protection of journalists whoinvestigate corruptionIn discussing the ways in which journalism can actto curb corruption, it is important to keep in mindthat journalists who seek to expose it often have to

face moral and physical threats. In Kenya, for ex-ample, the division of society into ethnic groupscreates a sense of fear on Kenyan journalists thatwhile denouncing corrupted practices by a mem-ber of the same ethnicity, they might affect theirethnic community too.25 This creates a sense ofmoral obligation that might impede journalistsfrom presenting free and accurate reports. Althoughthis psychological threat is outweighed in impor-tance by a more physical risk, its consequencesshould not be undervalued.

Too often free journalists publish reports oncorrupted practices at risk of their own lives. Ex-amples of journalists being harassed, jailed or evenkilled, after writing about corruption are depress-ingly easy to find (see Box 11).

Outright murder, too, is all too frequentlyused as a tool to silence reporters who uncovercorruption (see Box 11). Examples of such vio-

Box 9: The Rise of “Media Moguls” in Tanzania and Russia

TanzaniaAs Lawrence Kilimwiko, chairman of Tanzania’s Association of Journalists and Media Workers, has observed,the rise of private-sector news media in that nation has been accompanied by the “emergence of mediamoguls who use their power to shield corruption.”

“Despite the facade of liberalization—with four TV stations, seven radio stations and over eight dailypapers—there is government voice everywhere,” Kilimwiko observed in a paper presented to a WBI-organizedinvestigative-journalism, workshop in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, in February 1997. “We might be boasting of (apluralistic) media,” he adds, “but in reality they are all led by one voice with journalists being turned intomegaphones (for) the views of the owners and their allies in the state at the expense of the public good.”

One means by which the Tanzanian government has retained some measure of control, Kilimwiko ex-plains, is through the issuing of licenses: “The government has been very selective in issuing of media li-censes to a few people who are known to be strongly aligned to maintaining the status quo.” Kilimwiko citesa case in which an unnamed proprietor of one of the country’s private-sector “media empires…directed hismedia executives to black out (a) story” about the son of a prominent Tanzanian killing his farm attendant.

RussiaIn the former Soviet Union, too, the dependency of private newspapers on powerful financial interests hasdiminished their potential to act as agents for change, according to journalists who addressed the Feb. 16,1998, launch of Index on Censorship’s new Russian edition at The Freedom Forum European Center. Theinternational free-speech foundation reports on its online newsletter Free! that speakers “remarked on adistinct 180-degree turn the Russian media have taken in their practice of free speech since glasnost…Atthe start of glasnost, said David Hearst, deputy foreign editor at The Guardian, newspapers were an engine ofreform, widely read in Russia. Those same newspapers today depend on rich financial groups to survive, hesaid, and therefore become pawns of competing power interests in the Kremlin.” John Lloyd, associate edi-tor of The New Statesman, reportedly said this was among factors that have weakened public faith in thenews media. It means that you can’t trust any revelation, Lloyd was quoted as saying. “It may be true. It maynot. And if true, it is usually in support of some other motive.”

Sources: Kilimwiko (1997) and Paul (1998).

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lent deaths can be found around the world. InThailand, journalist Sayomchai Vijitwittayapongof the daily newspaper Matichon was shot to deathin 1998 after investigating allegations of corrup-tion linked to a building project and reportedlyturning down a bribe offer to stop his investiga-tion.26 In Colombia, journalist Oscar GarciaCalderon, of El Espectador, was killed, colleaguessay, while investigating links between bullfight-ing and organized crime.27 In Russia, LarisaYudina, editor of Sovietskaya Kalmykia Today, wasfound dead of multiple stab wounds and a frac-tured skull after being threatened for her exposeson local corruption.28 These are but some of themost extreme examples of the dangers of report-ing on corruption.

Indeed, it appears that journalists who reporton corruption probably run a higher-than-averagechance of being slain. Of the 17 reporters killed inthe first half of 1998, according to the NewYork-based Committee to Protect Journalists, atleast seven—from Colombia, Mexico, the Philip-pines, Russia, and Thailand—had investigated ordenounced cases of corruption.29

Although little can be done to protect jour-nalists from moral threats, the protection of jour-nalists’ rights and their safety is critical to ensurethe full role of journalism in curbing corruption.Steps in this direction have been taken by SouthAfrica where proposals to the Open DemocracyBill contain provisions for the protection of gov-ernment employees against reprisals, in the casewhere they disclose information about corruptedpractices (whistleblower clause).30

Access to information31

“The ability of the citizen to obtain informationin the possession of the State” can be defined asaccess to information.32 The “right to know” islinked inextricably to accountability, a central te-net of good governance. Informed judgment, isdifficult, if not impossible, when official activi-ties and government decision-making processes arenot open to public scrutiny. In the absence of suchscrutiny, governments can make major resource

commitments without either ex-ante or ex-postreview and debate.

Generally, governments have little difficultyin providing information to the public that reflectswell on itself. The problem arises, by contrast, whenthe information reflects the opposite; here, a “vol-untary disclosure by government” approach oftendoes not work as both politicians and bureaucratsoften try to hide embarrassing information.33

Box 10: Private Media in Italy

The enormous potential for conflict of interest inBerlusconi’s former dual role as head of govern-ment and of the country ’s main private mediaempire was noted in a 1994 Columbia JournalismReview article by Antony Shugaar. “As prime min-ister,” Shugaar wrote laconically, Berlusconi “willdecide whether to respond to public pressure andpursue antitrust action against his own mediaempire. And, as prime minister, he will be greatlyaffected by the way that media empire covers hispolitical activity.”

Even when Berlusconi’s flagship newsweeklyPanorama did run an investigative piece—afterBerlusconi had left office—alleging the mediamogul had received a sizable block of Mafia votesin the March 1994 elections, the story was com-promised by questions that were immediatelyraised about the motives behind publication ofthis scoop. As Shugaar noted in a subsequent ar-ticle for the Columbia Journalism Review, journal-ists at rival outlets quickly dismissed it as a ployby the magazine’s editor to keep his job.“Berlusconi has been considering replacing (Pan-orama editor in chief Andrea Monti) for some timewith somebody closer to him politically,” hequoted Leo Sisti, an investigative journalist withthe rival newsweekly L’Espresso, as saying. “Thisscoop was actually a way for Monti to make it dif-ficult to fire him.”

In the end, posing the question strictly in termsof private-versus-public ownership may be thewrong approach. Both state and private-sectorproprietors have their own vested interests to pro-tect, and the concentration of media ownershipin the hands of one or the other of them, or evenin the hands of a small number of both—is onlylikely to heighten the opportunities for journalis-tic “gatekeeping” by editors acting on behalf ofproprietors—a control that can only ultimatelylimit journalism’s potential as a tool for curbingcorruption.

Source: Shugaar (1994).

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While governments should seek to encourageattitudinal changes which would relax restrictionson disclosures and increase the accessibility ofdecision-makers to the press and public alike, theproblem with administrative guidelines will alwaysbe that, at the end of the day, discretion remains.

Legislation guaranteeing access to informationmay be the only alternative. Hence the demandfor access to information legislation. Such legisla-tion can establish a right of review (e.g., by anOmbuds office), establish practices that should beobserved, impose time limits within which requestsfor information must be handled, and identifythose categories of information to which access isguaranteed. Arguments against such legislation in-clude those regarding cost and efficiency; howeverit is necessary to consider the costs of failing toenact such legislation, which includes a lack of ac-countability and transparency and a fertile envi-ronment for corruption.

The Johannesburg Principles, established in1995, are deeply important as their goal is to pro-vide a balance between the citizen’s right to ac-cess to information and the State’s right and dutyto protect its security. Specifically, Principle 11states that

Everyone has the right to obtain informationfrom public authorities, including informationrelating to national security. No restriction onthis right may be imposed on the ground ofnational security unless the government candemonstrate that the restriction is prescribedby law and is necessary in a democratic societyto protect legitimate national security interest.34

Defence, national security, foreign relations,national economic reasons, law enforcement andpersonal privacy, and other “official secrets” mayhave legitimate claims to protection or exemp-tion from access-to-information legislation. Butwhat those secrets can permissibly be is a matterfor debate. In the United Kingdom, the cultureof official secrecy is strong—until the late 1980sall government information, including what kind

of biscuits were served to the Prime Minister, wastechnically an official secret—and that culture hasbeen transmitted throughout the Common-wealth. In Malaysia, for example, the Internal Se-curity Act defines any reporting of military ac-tivities without permission as a breachtheoretically punishable by imprisonment; andthe “principle of national responsibility” says thatanything the government considers undesirablecannot be covered.

Martin and Feldman state that some precon-ditions are required in order to enjoy a free access

Box 11: Actions Against Journalists

Jailed Journalists in VietnamIncarceration is one method authorities some-times use to punish journalists who report on cor-ruption. In Vietnam, Nguyen Hoang Linh, formereditor of the state-run business newspaper DoangNghiep, was one of the 129 journalists around theworld who the Committee to Protect Journalistsreported as being unjustly jailed at year’s end in1997 as a result of some aspect of their work. Inthis case, reporting on corruption appears to haveprompted his arrest—on charges of revealingstate secrets—and incarceration. “The charges,”the Committee reports, “were linked to articles hewrote that explored questionable practices ofVietnam’s General Customs Department in thepurchase of coastal patrol boats. Local journalistssaid the arrest was interpreted as a warning to re-porters to stay away from stories about govern-ment corruption.”

Murders in Argentina and MexicoA particularly notorious case in Argentina wasthe 1997 murder of photojournalist José LuisCabezas, who was investigating police corrup-tion. In Mexico, where journalists have begunpushing the boundaries of reporting on corrup-tion, there have been killings of journalists aswell. Luis Mario Garcia Rodriguez of the MexicoCity daily newspaper La Tarde, for example, wasshot by assailants who ambushed him on Febru-ary 12, 1998, not long after publishing a series ofarticles which reported that members of the Fed-eral Judicial Police were collaborating with lead-ers of the Tijuana drug cartel. Garcia had also “re-ported extensively on corruption in the NationalAttorney General’s office,” the Committee to Pro-tect Journalists reports.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (1998).

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to information. Those main preconditions are: po-litical stability, independent judiciary and thepresence of adequate infrastructure. First, politi-cal stability is necessary since, by making politi-cians more secure on their positions, it reducesthe fear of citizens involvement in decision-mak-ing. Second, an independent judiciary system isrequired in order to perform its role of interme-diary between the government and the people andto make the government accountable. Third, thepresence of a good set of infrastructure for com-munications is important for the actual access toinformation. These infrastructures range fromphysical (e.g., radio and television) to personalones (e.g., education).35 While the role played bythe media in spreading information has been al-ready discussed, the importance of literacy is notto be underestimated given that access-to-infor-mation legislation presumes a generally high lit-eracy rate. Fourth, data adequacy and accuracy isanother precondition for free access to informa-tion. Several studies show that too often data com-ing from developing countries are less reliable andmore subjective. It follows that monitoring andcaution should be adopted in dealing with datacoming from developing countries.

The above four preconditions are more likelyto be met by developed countries. Developingcountries, in general, are more likely to experiencepolitical instability, inadequate data and have in-adequate infrastructure. It follows, therefore, thataccess to information is more likely to be restrictedin developing countries. Nonetheless, the liberal-ization of access to information in developing coun-tries would be an important step for ensuring gov-ernment accountability and transparency as wellas for the promotion of press freedom.

The International Federation of Journalistshas agreed, at the African Regional Conferenceof July 1996, upon the importance of the right ofaccess to information and upon the need to con-stitutionally guarantee that right. They also ar-gued that “African states must accept that thecitizen’s right to know is the lifeblood of democ-racy and take urgent steps to improve the flow of

accurate, reliable and professional information toall citizens.”36

People often argue that too much opennesscan impede free and frank exchanges of opinionbetween public officials—that officials cannot op-erate efficiently in a goldfish bowl. This argumenthas some merit, but it must be weighed againstthe alternative: secrecy and a lack of accountabil-ity. Quoting former U.S. president WoodrowWilson: “everyone knows that corruption thrivesin secret places and avoids public places and webelieve it is a fair presumption that secrecy meansimpropriety.” Therefore, freely accessible infor-mation pertaining to government activities is nec-essary in order to ensure accountability of gov-ernment officials.37

Media accountabilityWhile greater accountability from public officersto the public, including through the media, is im-portant, the media themselves have to be account-able. In this regard, accountability refers to themedia “being answerable to the people and Statefor its actions.” It also involves an “awareness by

Box 12: Free Access to Information inSelected Countries

South Africa is one of the few countries in theworld that guarantees access to information at theconstitutional level (Section 16 of the 1996 Con-stitution). In Namibia, despite the absence of spe-cific legislation which guarantees access to infor-mation, a commitment exists to increaseaccountability and transparency. In Uganda theconstitution contains a clause which states theright of every citizen to access to information.However, the Ugandan Parliament has approvedlaws that have divided information into classes ofavailable and non-available information. Only afew of those classes is freely accessible, thus im-peding the access to information. Also, govern-ment officials, having made the oath of secrecy,do not release any government facts or data.

A paradox characterizes Malaysia. The Malay-sian government is committed to increase infor-mation technology even though it is not commit-ted to freedom of expression and access toinformation.

Source: International Federation of Journalists (1996).

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the journalist that whatever he/she writes, plays orscreens must promote, preserve and entrench thedemocracy for which he/she has been given a defi-nite role in the constitution.”38 Journalists aim atdefending the constitution and the validity of itsdemocratic principles must, at the same time, ad-here to its rules. The Ghanaian constitution, forexample, affirms commitments to “freedom, jus-tice, probity and accountability, the rule of law,the protection and preservation of fundamentalhuman rights and freedom and the unity and sta-bility of our nation.”39

The media must act in accordance withthese values. In Africa, for example, the mediaare empowered to lead the crusade against cor-ruption, underdevelopment, diseases as well asthe promotion of democracy and human rights;in promoting these ideals, it plays a watchdogrole. At the same time, it must ensure its ownaccountability.

Some major drawbacks to media accountabil-ity can be found.40 First, media’s primary aim is toget news published. An aim which reflects a directfinancial need of the media house itself. Some haveargued that, in order to be profitable, the mediahave to ‘sell’ their wares.41

Second, the perception of a polarization of themedia between governmental and non-governmen-tal practitioners leads to a public perception of in-sufficient accountability of the media. Programsspecifically aimed at minimizing this perceivedpolarization should therefore be implemented.

Third, the reluctance and unwillingness ofpublic officials to disclose information to mediapractitioners builds obstacles to media accountabil-ity. If the preconditions listed in the previous sec-tion are met, a freer access to information could beimplemented in accordance with the limits im-posed by national security, international relationsand personal privacy.

Fourth, a judicial system which is too oppres-sive severely limits media freedom. The fear of be-ing put in jail or of having to pay large amounts asa consequence of a libel suit may cause the medianot to risk publishing certain matters even though

they are in the public interest. An independent andliberal judicial system is thus an important com-ponent to ensure media accountability.

Finally, an important component to ensuremedia accountability is freedom of the media. Onlyif it is free, can media reporting provide reliableand responsible information. This issue is furtherdiscussed in the following section.

Freedom of the Media42

A free media, along with an effective parliamentand an independent judiciary, is one of the prereq-uisites for good governance. With regard to curb-ing corruption, the media has a dual role: to raisepublic awareness about corruption and to investi-gate and report incidences of corruption in a pro-fessional and ethical manner.

To be effective, the media has to be free. In ad-dition to having access to information, journalistsshould be able to investigate and report withoutbeing physically intimidated by governmental au-thorities; in all too many instances, however, jour-nalists have been harassed, assaulted, arrested, andeven killed in the line of duty (see Box 11). In someways even more insidious is the technique of “co-vert coercion”—that range of laws and governmentactions that is used to censure journalists, close pub-lications, hamstring finances, or simply encourage aculture of self-censorship brought on not by respon-sible prudence but by government pressure, of “safe”reporting that offends no one in office.

Many countries require the registration ofnewspapers as a matter of form; some govern-ments take away licenses at will. Section 17(1) ofTanzania’s Newspaper Regulations, for example,require that newspapers may not change their ad-dress, the provisions of their constitutions noreven their “objects,” that is, their aims and val-ues; two tabloids were banned under this regula-tion in June 1998.

Governments can, and do, put pressure on theeconomics of the newspaper business. In many de-veloping countries, the main source of advertisingis the government; in recent years Zambia, Malawi,Uganda, and Bangladesh—among others—have

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either restricted advertising to specific newspapersor have withdrawn all advertisements except thoseappearing in the state-owned press. Elsewhere, gov-ernments have restricted and controlled newsprintimports or apply punitive tax audits.

Some governments level charges of contemptor of insulting parliament, the head of state, oreven the country as a whole. In Cameroon, theoffense is “abusing and insulting” the members ofthe National Assembly. In Kenya, until the recentrepeal, sedition legislation had a similar effect: inMarch 1998 the Broadcasting Minister told themedia that they were taking “advantage” andwarned that they “did not appreciate [their] respon-sibility for protecting President Moi’s image.” Thecrimes of seditious libel and criminal defamationcan be used in a similar fashion.

Ownership, too, can limit media freedom.In a majority of developing countries, the gov-

ernment owns at least a section of the print me-dia, and in broadcasting, state ownership is evenmore prevalent. While this is not necessarily bad,some governments believe that the media is anarm of the administration and a vehicle for of-ficial propaganda.

An example of a set of principles to coun-teract these restrictions was set out in the Char-ter for a Free Press approved by journalists from34 countries at the Voices of Freedom WorldConference on Censorship Problems held inLondon, January 16–18, 1987. Boutros-Ghali,the then-United Nations secretary general, de-clared that: “They (the Charter’s principles) de-serve the support of everyone pledged to ad-vance and protect democratic institutions.” Headded that the provisions, while non-binding,express goals “to which all free nations aspire.”(See Box 13).

Box 13: Charter for a Free Press

1. Censorship, direct or indirect, is unacceptable; thus laws and practices restricting the right of the newsmedia to freely gather and distribute information must be abolished, and government authorities,national and local, must not interfere with the content of print or broadcast news, or restrict access toany news source.

2. Independent news media, both print and broadcast, must be allowed to emerge and operate freely inall countries.

3. There must be no discrimination by governments in their treatment, economic or otherwise, of thenews media within a country. In those countries where government media also exist, the indepen-dent media must have the same free access as the official media have to all material and facilitiesnecessary to their publishing or broadcasting operations.

4. States must not restrict access to newsprint, printing facilities and distribution systems, operation ofnews agencies, and availability of broadcast frequencies and facilities.

5. Legal, technical and tariff practices by communications authorities which inhibit the distribution ofnews and restrict the flow of information are condemned.

6. Government media must enjoy editorial independence and be open to a diversity of viewpoints. Thisshould be affirmed in both law and practice.

7. There should be unrestricted access by the print and broadcast media within a country to outsidenews and information services, and the public should enjoy similar freedom to receive foreign publi-cations and foreign broadcasts without interference.

8. National frontiers must be open to foreign journalists. Quotas must not apply, and applications forvisas, press credentials and other documentation requisite for their work should be approved promptly.Foreign journalists should be allowed to travel freely within a country and have access to both officialand unofficial news sources, and be allowed to import and export freely all necessary professionalmaterials and equipment.

9. Restrictions on the free entry to the field of journalism or over its practice, through licensing or othercertification procedures, must be eliminated.

10. Journalists, like all citizens, must be secure in their persons and be given full protection of law. Jour-nalists working in war zones are recognized as civilians enjoying all rights and immunities accordedto other civilians.

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“So vital is the role of the media and the free-dom of expression along with that of the press thatit has been called the first freedom. Indeed anysuccessful attack on human rights by governmentsoften starts with a suppression of freedom of thepress. Once this freedom is denied, governmentsare free to abuse basic human rights without pub-licity and frequently with impunity.”43

Freedom of expression is limited in manycountries, for a variety of reasons. In Ethiopia, forexample, freedom of expression has been almostlimited to the extreme, first by a Marxist govern-ment and even now by continuing economic un-der-development. Even today, according to theInternational Federation of Journalists, policeagents intimidate journalists who, in the worstcases, have been imprisoned with the charge of“having incited the public against the state, therebycreating a danger of public disturbances.”44 InGhana, by contrast, press freedom is limited byold colonial laws (such as the law of sedition andcriminal laws) which discriminate against journal-ists in court cases. The threat of expensive and of-ten damaging libel suits imposes a burden on jour-nalists and in turn on press freedom.

Laws declaring “freedom of expression” re-quire support and enforcement from the courts.An independent judiciary is the protector of a freepress. Without an independent judiciary, pressfreedom is likely to be illusory. A prerequisite forbuilding a free press, therefore, is a legal systemthat is independent of political influence andwhich has a firm constitutional direction support-ing the concept of a free press. This direction tothe courts may be influenced by Article 19 of theInternational Convention on Civil and PoliticalRights, which states:

Everyone shall have the right to freedom ofopinion and expression; this right shall includefreedom to seek, receive and impart informa-tion and ideas of all kinds, regardless of fron-tiers, either orally, in writing or in print, inthe form of art, or through any other mediaof his choice.

Quite often laws of defamation, in protect-ing the reputations of people, inhibit the right ofa free press. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1964, indeliberating over the case of New York Times vs.Sullivan, reviewed the common law of defama-tion and made it conform with the freedom ofexpression guarantee. The Court laid down thefollowing rule: when a public official sues for li-bel in respect of his/her conduct in office, he/shehas to prove the falsity of the defamatory matterand that the publisher published the matter in-tentionally and carelessly.45

Press councilsIn many young and fragile democracies, mediaexperiences are limited and there is a tendency forthe media to be less “responsible.”46 In this regard,there may be merit, for example, in the establish-ment of Press Councils. Although Press Councilshave not generally been very successful, they canbe constructed to provide an open forum for com-plaints against the media by the public, to chastisethe press when it is irresponsible and, through thesemeans, influence (to a degree) its behavior. PressCouncils need to be independent and directed bypeople widely respected for their non-partisanstanding and their integrity. These bodies shouldnot have powers of legal sanction which could en-able them to become powerful censors. They shouldrather have the prestige and integrity that give theirpublic reports a strong moral force.

A very fine line exists between responsibleand irresponsible journalism. As such, time andplace are important factors that should influencejudgements. Indeed, the moral force of a PressCouncil is a better way to secure a reasonablepress, rather than providing governments andcourts with wide-ranging powers to curb thepress. Manifestations of press irresponsibilityoften lead to calls for laws and systems that as-sure only a “reasonably” free press. Experienceshows that the term “reasonably” is highly sub-jective and that acceptance of it in this contextis the first step down a slippery slope towardsdiverse forms of censorship.

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Self-regulation by the mediaThe most effective system for guaranteeing free-dom of the press is one where the press itself mustbe able to make careful judgements on its own.Self-discipline, self-consciousness of media work-ers, the code of ethics that members of the profes-sion accept are critical elements of media account-ability. This self-imposed regulation is an attemptby journalists themselves to set out rules and prin-ciples that guide them to ensure a responsible andfree press.47 To provide publishers and journalistswith freedom is also to burden them with difficultdecisions regarding public responsibility. In the1960s, The New York Times received several thou-sand pages of documents from a source within theU.S. Department of Defense. These documents,which dealt with the war in Vietnam, becameknown as the Pentagon Papers. The editors of TheTimes, after assuring themselves of the authentic-ity of the documents, agonized for days overwhether or not it was responsible to publish. Theyweighed considerations of national security againstthe public’s right to know. They decided to pub-lish. Their decision was not taken lightly and itemerged that many individuals of experience, inpublic affairs, the law and the press had different

perspectives on the issue. None could claim a mo-nopoly of wisdom and furthermore, none claimedthat the judgements of journalists were necessarilyinferior to those of experts from other professions.

The decision to publish the Pentagon Paperswas carefully weighed by the courts, which con-cluded that the freedom of the press, as expressedin Amendment I of the U.S. Constitution, was ofgreater significance in this instance than nationalsecurity claims made by the U.S. Government.Consistent judgements of this kind by an inde-pendent court system can serve, over time, to builda tradition of press freedom.

Through the responsible judgements of editorsand journalists, combined with judicial support, atradition and culture of press freedom develops. Thisculture is, above all, the most important guarantorof press freedom and of the ability of the press tofully operate as a watchdog on public office holders.The tradition must provide for the press to be toughin its scrutiny of the work of those who enjoy thepublic trust. The press culture, evident in many de-mocracies today, contains a sense that it is the dutyof the press to afflict the comfortable (those holdingpublic office), in order to comfort the afflicted (thepublic as a whole).

Undoubtedly, such a culture can lead to pressirresponsibility at times. Complaints about inva-sion of privacy by the press are not new. This is aninevitable price to pay, and an independent andwise judiciary and an effective Press Council maybe able to assist in curbing excesses.

The burden of ensuring a responsible, inde-pendent media must be shouldered primarily bythe media themselves. Journalists must work hardto build public regard. They must demonstrate theirindependence, objectivity and professionalism eachand every day in order to earn public trust andconfidence. At the same time, it is imperative thatthe owners of the media ensure that journalists arepaid wages which encourage independence, ratherthan dependence, on the corrupt practices of a few,well-placed public officials.

Numerous national and multinational mediaorganizations focus on the preservation of the free-

Box 14: The Role of the National MediaCommission in Ghana

The National Media Commission (NMC),establishedin 1992, accomplishes the following functions:

1. Insulate state-owned and private media fromgovernmental control.

2. Defend and promote the freedom of themedia.

3. Protect all media practitioners from eventualabuses of their rights.

4. Protect the public and individuals fromabuses of their rights by the media.

5. Increase journalistic standards.In its division into smaller committees, the NMC

handles complaints settlements which, in the ma-jority of cases, leave the parties satisfied. This activ-ity also improves the working standards of themedia. Skepticism has been raised over the inde-pendence of the NMC from the governing elite.

Source: International Federation of Journalists (1997).

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Box 15: WBI’s Investigative JournalismTraining*

WBI has facilitated over 20 investigative journal-ism workshops for more than one thousand jour-nalists from two dozen different countries. The ob-jective of these workshops is twofold: i) to raisethe awareness of journalists of the critical impor-tance of the issue of corruption and its harmfulimpact on development; and ii) to improve theskills of journalists so that they can investigate andreport incidences of corruption in a professionaland ethical manner.

Three types of workshops have been devel-oped: an Introductory Workshop, built around thecase study of intrigue and corruption in a fictitiouscountry, Freedonia, where junior journalists aretaught basic investigative skills; an AdvancedWorkshop, for senior reporters, where the focus ison searching repositories of public information,interviewing and the use of the Internet; and anEditors’ Workshop.

Planned is the adaptation of these materialsto the electronic media, assistance to the forma-tion of regional networks of investigative journal-ists and a greater use of partner institutions in thedelivery of this program.

dom of the press (see Box 14). The Press Founda-tion of Asia Committee, the Canadian Commit-tee to Protect Journalists, the International Fed-eration of Journalists and the World Press FreedomCommittee are but a few of the organizations whichshould be supported for their efforts to help gov-ernments put in place laws and arrangements thatcorrespond with the dictates of the principles of afree press.

Investigative journalism trainingInvestigative journalism can be defined as “the col-lection and processing of facts about current eventsfor dissemination to the public through the me-dium of newspapers, magazines, radio and so on.”48

Its implementation requires journalists to have ex-cellent skills which must be mastered and learned.In particular, research, analytical and communica-tion skills have to be learned by the practitionersin an effort to make their work more effective.Furthermore, journalists have to acquire the ca-pacity to make sound and balanced political, aswell as social, judgments. Failure to do so wouldjeopardize the reliability of their work.

If journalists are expected to cover and presentnews fairly and accurately, they have to possess thetools and appropriate knowledge for it. This be-comes especially important when they are requiredto provide an easy, although truthful, explanationof the news to the public.

Media practitioners who have not acquired allthe qualities that such a job requires should receiveappropriate training. Training becomes especiallyvaluable when it aims at avoiding errors and defi-ciencies in reporting. The most common errorsoccur in the collection of thorough facts and data,in the analytical processing of the data, in the draw-ing of the logical conclusions from observed factsand, lastly, in the statement of the events. Theseerrors can be easily avoided with an appropriatetraining which would also improve the quality of

journalism and enhance media credibility.49 To-gether with providing appropriate tools, trainingmust make journalists understand the nature of cor-ruption and the need to fight corrupted practices.

Working in tandem with the Uganda Manage-ment Institute, Media Trust in Mauritius, the Asso-ciation of Journalists and Media Workers in Tanza-nia, the West Africa News Agency Developmentproject and others, the World Bank Institute (WBI)has helped journalists in developing countries honetheir skills with regard to investigative reporting aswell as to understand public accountability systemsand the operations of modern business (see Box 15).

While investigative journalism training in-creases the awareness of the existence of corruptedpractices among journalists, complementary strat-egies have been adopted by certain states in order

* Workshops have been held in Benin, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Tanzania, Uganda and Ukraine with journal-ists from these countries as well as from Albania, Burkino Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia,Latvia, Madagascar, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, and Turkey. Support for these workshops has been provided by theGovernments of Canada, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom as well as by UNDP.

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to make the public more aware of the damagescaused by corruption. In this respect, a study wascarried out in Tanzania to measure the public per-ception of corruption.50

In addition, another study titled EDI’s (nowWBI) Anticorruption Initiatives in Uganda andTanzania—A Midterm Evaluation, concluded thatthe World Bank Institute is on the right track withits journalism-training program, that its “work-shops were generally judged to have addressedjournalists’ educational needs,” and that the semi-nars raised the subsequent quality of newspaperarticles dealing with corruption; the study fur-ther observed, though, that the legal environment(in the two countries) is a continuing constraintfor a free press.51

In that regard, WBI is currently developing anddelivering in 1999 and 2000, Distance Learningcourses with simultaneous video-conferencing inUganda, Ethiopia, Ghana and Ethiopia, which fo-cus on key journalistic and legal issues. The sessionsexamine topics such as freedom of the press, accessto information and press councils. The issues arepresented by experts and then discussed and debatedby about forty to fifty journalists in the four coun-tries. Indeed, in another study on Distance Learn-ing courses offered by another group at WBI it wasfound that the Distance-Learning technology doesnot, in the view of participants who have receivedDistance Learning, diminish the quality of the learn-ing and pedagogy in comparison with the more tra-ditional on-site training. It is expected that DistanceLearning courses will be delivered in somefrancophone Africa countries in the year 2000. Inconcluding this overview of WBI’s Distance Learn-ing for journalists, it can be noted that this form oftraining will be increasingly offered by the instituteas it is cost-effective and allows for greater impactand synergy through the bringing-together of jour-nalists from several countries.52

ConclusionsThe role played by the media in curbing corrup-tion has proved to be extremely valuable. The ad-vantage of the media is that the population can be

reached easily through circulation of newspapersor radio and television. Often, reports on corruptedpractices by government officials have provided thestarting point for a series of consequences such asthe launch of investigation or judicial proceedings,resignation among others. Together with these vis-ible effects, media reporting has also had equallyimportant indirect effects thanks to the role it playsin society.

To be able to act as a vigilant watchdog overthe conduct of public officers, it is vital for themedia to be freed from political interference. Toooften, especially in developing countries, media arestate-owned or state-influenced. This leads to un-reliable reports that are of no help in curbing cor-ruption or in attempting to change the existingsituation. Aiming at reinforcing media indepen-dence, state-owned media should be treated atarm’s-length by the government, as is the case ofthe BBC and the CBC, and Benin’s government-owned newspaper, thereby averting interferenceand unreliable reporting. At the same time, mecha-nisms have to be set in place to ensure that mediaare owned by different proprietors.53

The power of the media needs to be strength-ened starting from providing forms of protectionto practitioners who are under threats or risks thatmight endanger their lives and work. The mediaalso have to be allowed to gather reliable data andinformation from government bodies within thelimits imposed by the imperatives of defence andsecurity considerations. Without reliable access toinformation, the media are severely limited in theiranti-corruptive role.

Media practitioners have to possess an exten-sive set of skills which prove necessary in the fightagainst corrupted practices. If not mastered already,these skills should be acquired through clearly-fo-cused training and seminars which should be or-ganized on a regular basis.54

The media, often referred to as the FourthEstate coming after the Executive, Legislative andthe Judiciary, play probably a more important rolethan the other Estates since “it is through the massmedia that a nation communes with itself and with

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other nations beyond. It is in that way that theauthorities within a nation […] sense the prob-lems and aspirations of the people they are estab-lished to serve. Conversely, it is through the samechannel that the people sense the capacity and poli-cies of those authorities.”55 Quoting Madison:

A popular government without popular infor-mation or the means of acquiring it is but aprologue to a farce or a tragedy; or perhapsboth. Knowledge will forever govern igno-rance; and a people who mean to be their owngovernors must arm themselves with the powerthat knowledge brings. ❧

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Endnotes

1. World Bank, 1997 World Development Report,Washington, D.C., 1997.

2. Langseth, Petter Jeremy Pope and RickStapenhurst. “The Role of a National Integ-rity System in Fighting Corruption”, Wash-ington, D.C., 1997.

3. Rose-Ackerman, Susan. “The PoliticalEconomy of Corruption: Causes and Conse-quences” Viewpoint, The World Bank No. 74,April 1996.

4. Klitgaard, Robert. “Bolivia: Healing Sick In-stitutions in La Paz” in Governance and theEconomy in Africa: Tools for Analysis and Re-form of Corruption. Edited by Patrick Meagher.College Park, MD: University of Maryland(Center for Institutional Reform and the In-formal Sector) 1996.

5. Kaufmann, Daniel. Presentation Given toWorld Bank Staff, April 1999.

6. “Helping Countries Combat Corruption: TheRole of the World Bank,” PREM Network,The World Bank, Washington, D.C., Septem-ber 1997, p. 44.

7. No mention is made of journalism or the newsmedia, for example, among the 150 entries ofan annotated bibliography prepared by theBank’s PREM network of leading academic lit-erature on the subject of corruption. Nor dothe titles of any of the books in a bibliographyprepared by political scientist Michael Johnstonof Colgate University, a U.S. authority on thesubject, make any mention of the press.

8. Investigative Reporters and Editors, investi-gative journalism online resource center, FileNo. 13876.

9. Ibid, File No. 14544.10. Ibid, File No. 4097.11. Ibid, File No. 3183.12. Ibid.13. Macdonell, Rod. “New chief judge of

Montreal Municipal Court gets mandate toimprove work ethic,” Montreal Gazette, Fri-day, November 26, 1993, p. A1.

14. Johnston, Michael. “What Can Be DoneAbout Entrenched Corruption?” Paper pre-pared for Annual World Bank Conference onDevelopment Economies, Washington, D.C.,April 30–May 1, 1997.

15. Ibid.16. Ibid.17. Ibid.18. Ibid.19. Ibid.20. Ibid.21. For a more detailed description of this exercise,

see: Rod Macdonell and Alexander Norris, “Pub-lic Documentation Exercise, 2 in “Rapport surle seminaire sur le journalisme d’investigationtenu à Port-Louis, Ile Maurice, du 29 septembreau 8 octobre 1997,” Report submitted to theEconomic Development Institute of the WorldBank, November 24, 1997, p. 6.

22. Pope, Jeremy, (ed) “TI Sourcebook 7” Trans-parency International Berlin, Germany.

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23. Conversations between Alexander Norris(Journalist/faciltator) and Beninese journalists,Introductory Investigative Journalism Work-shop, Cotonou, Benin, 1997.

24. Alfred Wasike, “Sudhir buys back Muhwezishares”, The New Vision, Kampala, Friday,February 6, 1998, p. Al.

25. Githongo, John. “The Role of Journalists inCombating Corruption in Kenya.” 1997.

26. Committee to Protect Journalists, New York,CPJ website (http://www.cpj.org/), 1998.

27. Ibid.28. Ibid.29. Ibid.30. Martin, Robert; Feldman, Estelle. “Access to

Information in Developing Countries.” Astudy Prepared for Transparency International.1998.

31. The next three sections draw upon Chapter14 “Information and Public Awareness” in“The TI Source Book”, (ed) Jeremy Pope,Berlin, Germany, Transparency Interna-tional, 1996.

32. Martin, Robert; Feldman, Estelle. Op. Cit.1998 p. 7.

33. See, for example, “Ministers to defer truth onnuclear power stations,” Guardian (UK), 21August 1995: “Sensitive financial informationabout the country’s oldest and dirtiest nuclearreactors is being kept under wraps by the Gov-ernment until it has privatized the industry’smore modern atomic power stations.”

34. Martin, Robert; Feldman, Estelle. Op. Cit.1998. p. 17.

35. International Federation of Journalists. “TheRight to Know: Access to Information in Af-rican Countries.” African Regional Confer-ence. July 25–27, 1997.

36. Ibid.37. Ibid., p. 10.38. International Federation of Journalists. “Me-

dia Accountability.” Media for DemocracyProgramme in Africa. February 27–28, 1997.

39. Ibid. p. 48.40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.42. This section draws upon Chapters 1 and 2 of

“The Independence of the CommonwealthMedia and Those Working Within It,” Lon-don: Commonwealth Press Union, 1999.

43. International Federation of Journalists. 1997Op. Cit. p. 13.

44. International Federation of Journalists. 1996.Op. Cit. p. 38.

45. International Federation of Journalists. 1997.Op. Cit.

46. Ibid.47. Ibid.48. Katorobo, James. “Investigative Journalism:

The Mutual Roles of the Media and the CivilService in Exposing Misconduct.” In “Inves-tigative Journalism in Uganda I: Final Work-shop Proceedings.” Uganda. August 14–19,1995. p. 51.

49. Ibid.50. Presidential Commission of Inquiry Against

Corruption. 1996 Commission Report on theState of Corruption in the Country. Dar es Sa-laam, Government of Tanzania.

51. Frans L. Leeuw, Ger H.C. van Gils, and CoraKreft, “EDI’s Anticorruption Initiatives inUganda and Tanzania—A Midterm Evalua-tion,” EDI Evaluation Studies, July 1998. P 71.

52. Bardini, Mark D. “Economics and BusinessJournalism: Kenya Distance Learning Course.”EDI Evaluation Study Series, 1999.

53. Jeremy Pope, 1996 op cit.54. These are some of the conclusions reached at

the workshop on Investigative Journalism heldin Uganda in August 14–19, 1995.

55. Quoted in Kilimwiko, Lawrence. “The Roleof the Media in Fighting Corruption.” In “In-vestigative Journalism in Tanzania I.” Arusha,Tanzania. 29 April–4 May 1996. p. 73.

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Barbash, Fred. 1994. “Scandal over paid questionsrocks British Tories,” Washington Post dispatchpublished in Montreal Gazette, October 21,p. A8.

Committee to Protect Journalists. 1998. CPJwebsite (http://www.cpj.org/).

Githongo, John. 1997. “The Role of Journalists inCombating Corruption in Kenya.” Unpub-lished paper presented at World Bank Insti-tute seminar. Cotonou, Benin. January.

Human Rights Watch. 1998. Human RightsWatch website (http://www.hrw.org/).

Investigative Journalism Online Resource Center.(http://www.ire.org/resources/center/).

Johnston, Michael. 1997. “What Can Be DoneAbout Entrenched Corruption?” Paper pre-pared for the Annual World Bank Conferenceon Development Economics, Washington,D.C., April 30–May 1.

Kilimwiko, Lawrence. 1997. “Corruption in theMedia.” Paper presented to the first Inves-tigative Journalism Workshop for FemaleJournalists, Bagamoyo, Tanzania, February16–22.

Klitgaard, Robert. 1996. “Bolivia: Healing Sick In-stitutions in La Paz.” In Governance and theEconomy in Africa: Tools for Analysis and Re-form of Corruption. Edited by Patrick Meagher.University of Maryland Press: College Park.

Langseth, Petter, Jeremy Pope and Rick Stapenhurst.1997. “The Role of a National Integrity Sys-tem in Fighting Corruption.” EDI WorkingPaper. The World Bank, Washington, D.C..

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