Kathmandu, June 1: Journalists, in any country, do have an important role to play in ensuring government transparency, said Mr. David L. Pezzullo at a lecture-cum-discussion programme, “The Journalist’s Role In Ensuring Government’s Transparency”, organised by the American Center today.

Equating government transparency to, among others, the government not condoning corruption and tolerating corrupt practices in its midst, Pezzullo, a consultant of the Center for International Private Sector, further noted “Since a corruption drama takes place at an extremely personal level, it is the duty of the journalists to investigate such cases so that the civil society could come up with necessary mechanisms to put a stop to it.”

Journalists, in order to dig up such cases, need to be equipped with the right skills for which provisions should be there to impart them with necessary training, Pezzullo pointed out.

Access to information is most essential for journalists if they are to play their part in informing the civil society which, in turn, can force the government to be transparent in its dealings. To garner the required information, journalists need to maintain their own credibility by being scrupulously above board in their calling, he said.

It is unfortunate that democracy has also led to the democratisation of corruption in many developing countries, said Pezzullo, adding “Debates are going on in many countries as to how the press can play a meaningful role in exposing corruption and making the government to be transparent in its transactions”.

Corruption is inherent in any civil society which is comprised of all kinds of citizens. And corrupt practices take place when the existing rules that govern a civil society break down. Only an informed civil society can come up with measures to plug the loopholes in the existing laws so that unscrupulous persons out to gain undue advantages by circumventing the laws would be deterred and discouraged. This is where journalists’ role in building institutional behaviour in civil society, particularly among the youth, comes into sharp focus, he said.

To a query as to what should be the role of a journalist in a country where corruption control measures are minimal while corrupt practices are rampant, Pezzullo said,” In such a situation, there is the urgent need to put in place check and balance mechanisms by the civil society where such an anomaly is seen”.

Though it may take many years for such measures to counterbalance such an anomaly, by far the biggest impediment in controlling corruption is despair from the civil society, Pezzullo cautioned. Yet, when such counterbalancing measures are in place, changes are bound to take place. This, in turn, could throw up opportunities to the civil society to put is corruption control steps in order, he said.