(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 19 July 2000 FXI press release: FXI DISTURBED BY HEATH UNIT’S ATTITUDE TO THE MEDIA FXI is disturbed by the Heath Special Investigative Unit’s recent decision to close down its contact with the media until such time as it has what it terms “a workman-like media policy” in place. […]
(FXI/IFEX) – The following is a 19 July 2000 FXI press release:
FXI DISTURBED BY HEATH UNIT’S ATTITUDE TO THE MEDIA
FXI is disturbed by the Heath Special Investigative Unit’s recent decision to close down its contact with the media until such time as it has what it terms “a workman-like media policy” in place. Although we appreciate that the Unit is well within its rights to develop a media liaison policy, we find the reasons provided for the introduction of such a policy, astounding. In addition, it needs to be noted that government departments have been evolving media policies since the inception of our new democracy, yet is has not stopped them from communicating.
No one has ever doubted that the Unit is committed to combatting corruption and that it was instituted at the behest of the current government. However, to suggest, as it does in its press statement, that because of its open policy with the media it is perceived as the enemy of the “Government” and that the media is responsible for its bad relations with government, is extremely problematic. The tone of the Unit’s press statement intimates that its current action is the Unit’s way of disciplining the media for reporting in a manner it is unhappy with.
The matters which occupy the Heath Unit are by their very nature matters of which the public needs to be aware. The matters relate to the illegal expenditure of state moneys which come from the public as taxpayers. Hence the public has a vested interest in being kept informed of matters being investigated and their outcomes.
It would be an appalling state of affairs if our media received information and merely repeated it in its columns or in its broadcasts. An independent media would become redundant if it failed in its duty to investigate all angles of a story.
If the Unit is concerned that its media relations are not what they would like them to be, there are numerous ways in which to improve them. This should not, however, include closing down the channels of communication. If the Unit persists in this approach, there may well be an assumption that the Unit has lost its independence and is kowtowing to those whose indiscretions they are investigating.
Issued 19 July 2000
