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The Role of Media in Improving Democratic Governance
This episode, according to
Miami Herald
columnist Andres
Oppenheimer, offers only a glimpse of the government squandering
of public resources which occurs in Latin America. According to
Oppenheimer, in 2001, purchases by the public sector in Latin
America reached $250 billion per year without taking into account
military expenses. Oppenheimer notes that up to 20 percent of that
figure represents wasteful spending: “…in other words, $50 billion a
year. That is equal to 70 times the financial aid that the United States
provides to the region.”
2
Alongside these figures, money squandering, and corruption scandals,
Toallagate
is also an example of the complex dynamics in the
relationship and responsibilities of the media and governments in Latin
America. On one hand, the journalism industry is becoming more
professional, making use of better tools and improvements in access
to information and publishing more investigations of higher quality
which expose government failures as well as acknowledge government
actions. In addition, the combination of social networks and cutting-
edge technology at fairly accessible prices has ignited what is known
as citizen journalism, introducing a new player into the relationship
between society and government. These citizen journalists, who operate
to report repression, encourage voting or demand accountability, have
a worldwide reach and audience.
On the other side of the scale is government accountability. While
some Latin America governments have become efficient, democratic
and transparent, others have failed to live up to their potential and
have squandered public resources, as was the case in Mexico with the
purchase of towels and sheets. Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-
American Dialogue, explained it as follows:
“A more pragmatist and centrist policy has been
increasingly consolidated (in Latin America). However,
in the 90s, after the end of the Cold War and the
democratic transitions of many countries, there were
high expectations to go beyond elections, and build
