By Nick Dazang
Power wielders/seekers and the media exist in mutual antagonism. They have a love-hate relationship. In spite of this antagonism, they are kindred spirits, of sorts. They find congruence in good governance and what advances humanity. By law, and in a democratic dispensation, the media are expected to rein in the predilection of power wielders to overreach themselves and abuse their offices. They are expected to hold power holders to account. By the same token, the power wielders and politicians need the media to secure visibility and to communicate their visions and agenda.
In democracies, the media helps politicians grab the limelight. Also, the media and their owners endorse and project candidates, who, in their views, possess exalted visions and the requisite character and capacity. For instance, the media made it possible for the eloquent, svelte and sartorially elegant John F. Kennedy to trounce Richard Nixon in the first ever televised presidential debate on September 26, 1960.
