ABSTRACT
P olitics is about power, and information is power. Journalists are part of theinformation business and are crucial in a political process which involves theexercise of this potent force. People with power, whether Cabinet ministers, senior civil servants or chief executives of local councils, have a vested interest, not only in protecting their own power but also in obscuring the extent of their authority in the first place. The journalist occupies a pivotal position between those who make and implement important decisions and those who are often forced to comply with such decisions. Any democratic system depends on people being well informed and educated about politics by a media which give a full and accurate account of news, encompassing a wide and varied range of political opinions.
