Devious public broadcasting

The media outlets that are financed by our taxes have never been so heavily under editorial control or influence by the government. We are being enslaved by a State-controlled media whose editorial freedom has been taken away by government influence, pressure or money. These outlets are increasingly being used to push government propaganda.

Information is being concentrated in the hands of a few elites, the few who are in political power. We are living in a society where the State has significant control over the media and where the temptation for our rulers to abuse this power for their own ends is too great to resist.

Given the chance, our politicians are using their sway over the media to manipulate information reaching the public, serving their private interests at the expense of society.

The worst social outcomes can easily be predicted where the media is more heavily controlled by the government.

Manipulation and disinformation tactics played an important role in the last general election, damaging citizens’ ability to choose their leaders based on factual news and authentic debate. The incumbent government employed armies of “opinion shapers” to spread government views, drive particular agendas and counter government critics on social media.

The government is now bolstering the false perception that most citizens stand with it, with the result that it is able to justify crackdowns on the political opposition and advance antidemocratic changes to laws and institutions without a proper debate.

Information is increasingly being seen as a common good, whose protection falls on all citizens concerned with the quality of public debate.

It is heartening to see that, in the current scenario, where the truth and facts are being suppressed, distorted or fabricated, civil society has felt it a duty to develop its own resilience.

Whereas our government should be in the lead in ensuring transparency and full disclosure of the truth by means of its national broadcasting system, it is dangerously afforded to ignore a threat that undermines the foundations of democracy and national security.

Successfully countering State-manipulated broadcast media and restoring trust in it will take time, resources and creativity. In the absence of a comprehensive campaign to deal with this threat, manipulation and disinformation techniques could enable our ruling regime to expand its power and influence while permanently eroding user confidence in our national broadcasting system as a whole.

Mark Said – Msida