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July 2, 2009
It is finally beginning to catch. We live not only in a world with a 24/7 news cycle and in a constant Internet space, but we also live in a world where no government or public figure should expect that anything that they do, say, or will do can ever remain private. The formal as well as the self-created informal media now are able to find out anything they want or need and publicize it all over the world, sometimes within minutes — even if the information has been distorted, engineered, or fabricated.
With the possible exception of top state secrets, openness is the call of the day.
The world watched and listened as pictures and stories from the streets of Iran were transmitted throughout the world within minutes of their having transpired. The Iranian authorities could do little to stop the free flow of images and ideas, until the Ahmadinejad government resorted to police violence and crackdowns. Even now, the demonstrations have not totally ended. We now know that in the 21st century, messages from dissenters like those in Iran can and will emerge. When the revolution comes to China, it too will be podcast, Twittered, or broadcast — via whatever the technology of that day will be — instantly to the world.
Similarly, marked by a voyeuristic and insanely self-indulgent note, the nation followed the escapades surrounding the disappearance (and reappearance) of the governor of South Carolina. As the rumors spread of his whereabouts, one wondered who Mark Sanford assumed would handle matters if a hurricane or tornado suddenly hit the state. How could Sanford have had such incredible hubris, after the antics of President Clinton, Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Sen. Larry Craig, Sen. David Vitter, and — only the week before— Sen. John Ensign? In this day and age, did Sanford actually believe that he could disappear for a week and that the state and the country would not discover — sooner rather than later — that he was visiting his mistress in Argentina?
Sanford must have known he would eventually be caught, and that his e-mail exchanges would, in the end, be reported in the press. We’re only waiting for the inevitable photos of the governor in a compromising position with his lover.
And speaking of inevitable, how long before a disgruntled White House aide posts a photo on Facebook or a video on YouTube of President Obama smoking on the Truman balcony of the White House? Obama got a bit testy during an exchange in the course of his press conference concerning his personal smoking habits. To his credit, he spoke with openness and candor, peeved as he was with a press corps that would not let the “story” go.
Nothing and no one is sacred today in public life. Ask Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Sonya Sotomayor as she prepares for her confirmation hearing. Nothing in Washington is off-limits except, perhaps, the Obama children.
The changes have a positive side. Public accountability and scrutiny of government activity are healthy, especially when they result in the revelation of the truth. Unfortunately, when lies, contrived and doctored photographs, or fallacious and vindictive material is disseminated, it frequently takes forever to get the actual truth on the table. (Israel, for example, saw this in Jenin, in the Muhammad al-Dura photos, and during the Lebanon War.) It is a challenge for democracy, and a critical test of the free press and the onus on those in public life.
Dr. Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of political science at Kean University in Union (gkahn@kean.edu).
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