8/13/2019 Journalists Joining Politics
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Is Journalists Joining Politics a Good Idea?
Journalism, H.L. Mencken said, is to politician as dog is to
lamp-post. Historically, politicians and
journalists have shared an acerbic relationship, with certain
media powerhouses who claim to be
unbiased in their opinions, acting as government propagandists
under covers. Recently, the media has
been brimming with news of various journalists in India joining
politics in general, and the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) in particular. This trend can be dated back to 2000,
when current AICC Secretary, Rajeev
Shukla, quit journalism to be elected to the Rajya Sabha. Mr.
Shukla, today an established politician,
rightly emphasizes the demarcation of journalism as a profession
from any future political ambition.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen prominent journalists like
Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi, Rakhi Birla
and Ashutosh show their support for AAP by quitting their
successful careers to join the anti-corruption
movement. The question of whether or not journalists should join
politics is quite inconsequential,
provided they do not soil the sanctity of their previous
profession to feather their nests as politicians.
While established political parties like Congress and BJP have
not focused on letting in fledgling political
leaders from the outside, AAP empowers the common man, who
aspires to clean up the Indian political
system. Let us consider the cases of these former journalists.
Manish Sisodia joined Kejriwal before he
became the CM of Delhi, as the first volunteer to sign up for
his NGO, Parivartan. Rakhi Birla andAshutosh on the other hand,
were at the forefront of the anti-corruption movement as
journalists, and
only seem to have taken up the cause full time. However, what is
to be noted is the fact that a reverse
course for these people would not be as easy as their decision
to dive into the political waters. Politics
should be a medium to establish good and transparent governance,
and this cause needs people who
have the right intentions, the will and intellectual ability and
the passion to put up an honest fight in the
rather dirty political arena. For this, people from all walks of
life should be welcomed, as this will aid in
converting Indian politics into a space where merit overpowers
nepotism. Hence, journalists joining
politics is not a bad idea. Instead, people with political
agendas remaining under the mask of journalism
would do more harm than good to their profession as well as the
nation.
