Central Concerns in John Thompsons Political Scandal - Book Report/Review Example

A D Paul Central Concerns in John Thompson's Political Scandal Introduction Scandals hovering around public figures have been engaging the attention of the people recently and a rich medley of articles, research papers and books are churned out on the subject. The present public engagement, discussed on all forums, on the subject might give the false impression that this is a new phenomenon. However, there always have been scandals centered on important public figures from the days man started living in organized social life. In the days of absolute power, the scandals of socially important people were hardly reported as frequently and widely as it is today. This is because there was no perception of accountability to the public in many societies in the past. Moreover the dissemination of scandals far and wide, and as frequently as is possible, is made possible by the development of a plethora of media now available. This has resulted in lots of unearthing of covert actions of people in power. There are some people who look at the media coverage of scandals as a form of entertainment available to the people. However many consider the role of media as that of vigilant watch dog that unearths the wrongs in society and brings remedial action and plugs in all loopholes that encourage public figures to circumvent regulations and act in their private interest. Many recent books have come out on this subject and Page 2 John Thompson's book, Political Scandal has made a significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the subject by an analysis of public scandals as churned out by the media and its effect on accountability of high ranking public figures, the effect of this on the erosion of credibility associated with their office and a host of other illuminating aspects of the problem. Key Concepts of Thompson Thompson considers political scandals as violations of prescribed process and transgressions of regulations, which have been incorporated, in the democratic system as a measure to avoid misuse or check the deviation to unilateral action by a person who has a public responsibility. After the media has gained such significance as tools that can form the attitudes of people and influence the way they cast the vote, there has been a conscious attempt to throw the weight of the media in competitive politics. Thomson sees the reputation of the individual politician as the key asset that will determine his edge over his opponent in the process of election. The media is on the look out for transgressions committed by an individual as a matter of priority in its reporting due to various reasons. While some media report these transgressions merely to enhance their readership or viewer ship others may be committed to their role as watchdog Page 3 in a healthy democracy. In addition to this, in competitive politics, the motive may be to tarnish the reputation of the opponent by constant bombardment of the opponent by targeting weakest points. In this tendency Thompson sees the dangers of dragging political non-issues related to the personal conduct of public figures into vortex of media reporting. In many democracies, including some of the old and celebrated ones, the narrow-minded struggle for power heavily draws on the repertoire of sex scandals real or concocted to deal a deathblow to the reputation of the other. The mud slinging campaigns and personal vituperation that appear so blatantly in the media, Thompson, warns will undermine the social trust of the democratic system (p.251). The exposure of political scandals if undertaken responsibly, Thompson believes, can strengthen the democratic institutions. What he calls power scandals are those that contravene or seek to circumvent the rules, laws and established procedures that govern the exercise of political power (P.196). In a democratic set up power is to be exercised openly and the role of the media as a watchdog makes the exercise of the power an openly done task and hence accountable. However Thompson does not think that scandals would disappear by the torrential coverage of it in the media. The media coverage should result in an institutional response to the scandal by demanding an explanation from the public figure for the reported allegation against him or her followed by, if needed, further enquiry and punitive action. This will Page 4 instill public confidence and act as a deterrent on public figures that have potential for deviation from permitted norms. Democracy is a system that has evolved over the years. In democracies, which are mature, there are always systems in place to countervail the dangers of people in power acting arbitrarily. However, democracy can function smoothly only in a civilized milieu. The role of the media as a watchman, Thompson feels, can be exercised only if the media has accepted certain self imposed standards of conduct. The constant charges that are blown up for propaganda against responsible public figures that has been the bane of the media today, has to be regulated by media's own regulatory authority, other wise the role of media as a guardian of the pillars of democracy and good governance will be a mirage. (P.267) Thompson's theory, which stated that political scandals only reaffirm "the norms, conventions and institutions, which constitute the social order", is a functionalist theory (P.235). However, he feels that the over mongering on scandals, in the media gives the scandals only the value of a vicious entertainment. This is the trivialization theory. This undermines the role of the media as a watchdog and instead of engaging the public on a healthy intellectual debate on the problem, vitiates them from the central issues (P.238). Thompson puts forward also a subversion theory in which the media is digging its own grave by people finally loosing their faith in all forms of Page 5 reporting even in genuine ones (P. 242). Finally he speaks of the no consequence theory in which he argues that media's excessive indulgence in scandals do not result in any positive action. It is full of sound and fury but signifies not much, as often, nothing happens at the end of the day (P.234). A Brief Critique of Thompson's Theories The enquiry into the role of media in unearthing scandals and remedying them, is in its infancy. Though scandals have been everywhere from time immemorial, the extensive coverage it receives in the media is a new phenomenon. Having conceded the reality of the infancy of this field of enquiry, there is no reason to hesitate the value of some of the assumptions of Thompson. However certain assertions are too sweeping in the way of their articulation, that they can be accepted only with qualifying remarks. Thompson's recognition of the personal reputation of the individual as the most valuable asset in election and the vicious campaign to malign it is a significant observation. The proliferation of scandal stories at the election time amply illustrates this tendency. The personal mud slinging and vituperation found in the lampooning tradition of Alexander Pope and Dryden has now new forms in the scandals doled out through a host of media. Similarly the yellow journalism and the paparazzi tradition that make a mountain out of a mole hill by dabbling in the private lives of public figures whose frailties often do not Page 6 call in question their integrity in office is an acceptable position of Thompson. However, the assumption that scandals do not have any serious consequence, as they do not result in any regulatory changes, is an unacceptable premise. The statistics show that many scandals and their proper media coverage have produced the introduction of many noble and healthy remedial measures to strengthen the pillars of democracy. Political scandal and their coverage in the media have been accepted as policy windows that trigger deliberation that ends up in appropriate action. The media reporting of the Watergate, Whitewater and Clinton- Lewinsky did produce regulations. When Thompson suggests that the media should bridle itself, he is proposing only a Hobson's choice. In a democracy the thought of a media, which is under surveillance and checks, is unthinkable. However Thompson expects the media to be responsible and the only way to do it is by self-imposed standards of ethical journalism. Thompson finding on the entertainment value of scandal reporting by media is in keeping with the observation that people usually like to read bad news and bad news is reported more. Media in our commercially driven world is under an invisible and unwritten contractual obligation. The contract is between the media company, the advertisers and the audience (readers). The more number of audience (readers), the more revenue from advertisement. Since bad news has more takers the media uses it as a strategy for revenue generation. As it is, scandal mongering on people in public life, Page 7 are the most wanted journalistic commodity. This, as Thompson very well argues, can be detrimental for the media. Conclusion The topicality of John Thompson's Political Scandal in the milieu of increasing media coverage of scandal, gives the book a special relevance. The book throws a flood of light on the current obsession of the media with the scandals. While the media dabbles in scandal reporting routinely, camouflaged as the duty of media in a democracy, the intentions are somewhat doubtful or at least not transparent enough to come to conclusions, which are objective. Thompson's assumptions have indeed sent a fresh wave of current thinking on the sensitive issue of our time, political scandal. ========== Read More