MOST NEWSPAPERS and television stations have united in demanding the withdrawal of the circular distributed by the Chief of Police, Michalis Papageorgiou, barring officers from having contacts with reporters and warning that violators would face disciplinary action. The head of the Union of Journalists called for the immediate withdrawal of the circular, while the justice minister publicly undermined the Chief by declaring on Thursday that no officer would be in trouble for having contacts with news reporters.
As usual, there was an over-reaction to a perfectly reasonable decision by the Chief, who wants control to be exercised over information about police work that is given to the media. It was not as if the media would be deprived of information, but that only designated officers would be authorised to provide it, after consultations with the police press office. All ministries and big corporations follow this practice so why do the media expect the police to act differently?
No bank employee or ministry clerk is authorised to speak to the media, about the activity of their organisations, so why should things be any different in the case of the police force, which has even more reason to keep certain information out of the public domain. By what logic is the journalists’ union demanding that an ordinary policeman, who might not even be aware of the damage he could cause to a case under investigation, give out information whenever he pleases to friends in the media?
In his circular, Papageorgiou, quite rightly called on investigators to stop briefing reporters about cases they were working on. He was absolutely right, because information that ends up in the press or on television, could wreck an investigation, it could affect the prosecution’s case or, at worst, lead to a mistrial. This has happened in the past and journalists had the audacity to accuse the police of incompetence and lack of professionalism.
On Saturday, one newspaper published the entire statement of the main prosecution witness in the Andis Hadjicostis murder case. This was a big mistake as it could lead to the defence lawyers arguing for a mistrial in court. Nobody knows who leaked the statement, but its publication was irresponsible. The media have shown time and again that once they get their hands on information about a case they publish it, irrespective of whether it may prejudice a case. Papageorgiou, with his circular wanted to ensure against such irresponsible practices.
The claim by the journalists union’s boss that the circular “violates the right to information and deals a blow to the right of journalists to seek sources of information”, calculatingly, misses the point. Journalists would still have access to information, but only from authorised personnel. The police chief is correct in wanting to prevent information from being fed to the media.
Any police force wanting to be regarded as professional would do exactly the same.
