Rationed information
I received a press release from the Environment Ministry recently informing me and other accredited journalists of an event by the Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste that had taken place a week earlier at the ministry’s amphitheater. I skimmed through the press release and tossed it in the trash.
The Environment Ministry had not seen fit to inform us about the event before it took place so I felt I had every right to ignore the announcement since the ministry did not seem to have wanted us there in the first place. Yes, there is a danger in such an attitude and that is that you may overlook what was indeed an interesting event. It was not, however, an oversight by choice.
This press release is just one example among many. Like many of its peers, the Ministry for the Environment and Energy has for the past two or three years adopted an informal tactic that comes from central government (or at least that’s what is insinuated) to hold as few press conferences as possible and to keep journalists out of the loop.
This particular ministry has also become more introverted, with its leadership only making announcements on television, at events and conferences (which we often hear about after the fact) and in press releases. It is, after all, the safest choice: Officials do not come under pressure from those who, after years of reporting on the ministry, know its business better than they do.
It would be unfair to speculate whether restricting access to information more generally is something that was decided by the present leadership at the Environment Ministry or by the present government. But such disdain for journalism is not something that is evident only from the public, as we’re often told, but is also cultivated by the state in this country. I can only assume that given how we’re heading into elections, some kind of press conference will take place presenting the ministry’s review.
