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The State of the State

For as long as it has existed the media and all its entities have entwined itself within the world of politics and governments across the globe. As media expands its mediums the reach that politics expands to is subsequently increased daily. With this comes a greater thirst and demand for individuals to know more up to date information regarding their government. Through the media governments have had to increase the transparency of their own goings. This has led to a freedom of access and increased recognition of political actions. Lessigs (2009) demonstrates the act of a transparency government through the example of the US governments ‘transparency projects’. This entails data being presented to the public in the form of a website that is regularly updated on policies, information and transactions.

But is this always a good thing?

As Lessig expresses, in his Against Transparency (2009) article, audiences are not necessarily capable of process the quality and quantity of information that is presented and available to them. The new age of media brings about such a range of available information that audiences are often so inundated with trivial information that the most important facts are left unnoticed.

New media, in particular, social networks has allowed for a further level of transparency between politics and the public. The personal information that the public is privy to about politicians has increased greatly with every politician having their own FaceBook and Twitter accounts. These live feeds have allowed for news to be accessed and published 24-hours a day. No longer are the 9-5 work hours an accepted time frame for news coverage.

As Bob Ellis discussed in his 2010 article Sleepless in Canberra, this 24-hour news cycle is causing a high demand for political updates. However it is also posing the threat that if one is not consistently in the media’s eye then the unit becomes irrelevant to the public. This is yet another reflection on the short attention spans that today’s audiences posses.

Lessig also expresses that there is a great sense of a lack of control due to the availability and spread of news whilst using social networks. Once a piece of information is on the internet it is forever accessible. Whether it is a grammatical error, a misconstrued idea, a poorly shot photograph or an ill-advised policy, every piece of information made available to the public can always be traced back. Politicians must now be actively conscious 24-hours a day of their public and private image, an issue that past politicians were not highly subjected too.   

Another discussion that has risen with regards to the transparency of actions within governments is the framing of conflicts. Paul Mason’s blog highlights the impact that new media forms have had on public revolutions. Mason goes on to discuss the difference in the current War on Terror vs. the Cold war, urging that the current scheme is not nearly as effective in ‘solidifying elites against change”. You just have to turn on the news to find the newest revolution against a corrupt government that’s driving force has come about through new media entities largely because the old are controlled by the government.

Governments and politicians need to display transparency in their work however they must remain careful that the public is not inundated with trivial and unimportant facts.

References


Mason, Paul (2011) ‘Twenty reasons why it’s kicking off everywhere’, Idle Scrawls BBC, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/paulmason/2011/02/twenty_reasons_why_its_kicking.html>

Lessig, Lawrence (2010) ‘Against Transparency: The perils of openness in government.’<http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/against-transparency?page=0,0>

Ellis, Bob (2010) ‘Sleepless in Canberra’ The ABC, Drum Unleashed <http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/35116.html>