Unspun

There are no personal views when you’re a public figure


When, oh when, will people realize that when you’re a public figure or someone senior in an organization, you cannot express your views and then disclaim it as a personal opinion?

It is a common practice though, but one which makes no sense. In today’s Jakarta Post, for instance, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono writes an opinion piece headlined “Governance, delivery and recovery are the key issues”. At the end of the article, in italics is a disclaimer: The writer is defense minister of Indonesia. The views expressed here are personal.

Like this is going to make a whole lot of difference. Juwono is a key member of the government, his personal views influence government decisions and how the government views things. When people deal with the government and Juwono they are going to factor this into account, disclaimer or no disclaimer. So it’d perhaps time to disclaim the disclainer.

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One response to “There are no personal views when you’re a public figure”

  1. treespotter Avatar
    treespotter

    i’m always impressed how this type of wiggling away from accountability always around in the local press. I personally think that the press is just as responsible as they should point out this sort of disclaimer in the first place.

    unspun: Couldn’t agree with you more treespotter. But who will hold the local Press to what they should be doing. That’s partly one of the reasons why my office (maverickid.blogspot.com) and I have set up blogs. That’s the rational for the “Gamekeepers turned poachers” tagline in the Maverick Indonesia blog.

    If we all chip away at it, something’s gotta give sooner or later.

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