QUESTION OF THE DAY
What is holding up the return of Daily News to the Newspaper Stands?
It is amazing that while the Daily Observer, Foroyaa, The Point, Standard and Voice newspapers and some of the FM stations are carrying out their own brands of reporting, the Daily News is put under foot by executive order.
It should now be very clear that many people have access to online media that this alone does not necessarily give one the power of shaping public opinion. Hence, it is meaningless to suppress the media establishment because of state approval of its reporting style or content.
People have divergent interests and views and no matter what is said they are likely to hold on to views which are in line with their interests.
The public space should be allowed to be accessed by different people with diverse interests so that all will have access to divergent views and dissenting opinions. This is how an open society functions.
Nobody can suppress access to information. It must either come through the front door or by the back door. It is therefore prudent to allow it to come through the front door so that different interests will contend in shaping the public mind.
In short, news is only news when the public has interest in accessing it. Otherwise, it is words on paper or words in thin air.
