Do journalists know more than other people?
Earlier this week, the Czech government survived a vote of confidence in the parliament. Its continuance was eventually confirmed by the narrowest possible margin of one vote. A drama? Well, not really, because the outcome was more or less expected. The ruling coalition demonstrated its unity and the opposition showed how tough they are with the government. Nothing but a political show, many would say.
The presidential elections - or the election of Vaclav Klaus specifically - and the uncertainty around the confidence vote were events that disturbed even people otherwise too absorbed in everyday problems to care about politics.
In the ten days between the election of a new Czech president (who was elected due to the votes of some coalition MPs) and the vote of confidence, my friends and family asked me worryingly whether the government had a chance to survive or if we should expect a new general election. You work in the media, so tell us what's going to happen, they used to say, having watched the evening news on all three TV channels. Unlike most of my friends, I don't have a TV to form - or disturb - my opinion.
After explaining them the obvious, I wondered why people kept asking me. I am no better expert than the political analysts who are regularly quoted in the press and appear on the screen, nor do I have other sources of information than the other media. I always try to assure people around that, yes, journalists do obtain much more information, but most of it is junk and our only aim is to select the most interesting stuff and to pass it on to the public. There is no need for us to amass useful information without passing it on. Some say a journalist should know seven times more than he or she actually presents to the audience. Well, the principle is generally true, but only in the sense that the audience receives the best of it.
We have a new president and an old government, everything is in order. What more could we wish for, someone asked me this week? I joked: a good government and a good president.
By the way, the new Czech president was inaugurated two days after Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The period, Christians believe, should be a time of contemplation, humility and repentance. Many people I have spoken to are convinced that both the current government and president badly need all of that.
