Fourth authority: the voice of peoples and the conscience of nations
In moments of major transformation, the voices emerge, not only with ink, but by truth, and daringly the word which does not fear the sultan if it is lost, and does not hesitate to spread the light where the darkness prevails. It is the press, which was not only a profession, but rather a fourth authority dominated by the three authorities: legislative, executive and judicial.
Because the name is not arbitrary, the history of the “fourth power” dates back centuries, in particular in the 18th century, when the idea of illumination emerged in Europe, and popular conscience began to demand the responsibility of those who govern. This name was launched for the first time in Great Britain, when the Irish politician and thinker Edmund Burke was held in the British House of Commons, noting the press, saying: “There are three powers in Parliament, but in the corresponding room, the fourth authority is, which is the greatest influence of all.”
Since that time, the press has not been simply a wearer of the news, but a manufacturer, and has directed public opinion, and is able to turn on or extinguish revolutions, reveal or expose corruption, and to shed light on or absent peoples, according to sincerity or the betrayal of speech.
In the United States, the press fell as president like Richard Nixon to the Watergate scandal, after the Washington Post revealed the greatest pyramid of power to spy on its political adversaries. In France, the media played a central role in the dismantling of financial and administrative corruption networks. In our Arab world, the press was at different stages – despite the repression – awareness and resistance platforms.
Sudan: When the press speaks in the language of the fatherland
In Sudan, the press was not far from the national concern. Since the first newspapers, such as the civilization of Sudan, Nile and even recent contracts, the press has played a central role in the political and social movement. The press was standing in the face of colonialism, totalitarian regimes and the language of revolutions, and the mirror of the people when everyone is silent.
The Sudanese press provided martyrs of writers and correspondents and paid a heavy price in order to defend the freedom of the word. Today, in post-war time, the homeland rises under the rubble, and no reconstruction project can succeed if the mouths are detained or dried the sources of free thought.
The real national press does not seek a hostile power, but rather to criticize it when it is lost and to correct its path when it departs. Deliberate objective criticism is at the heart of patriotism and one of the wisdom supplies. And states do not get up, except when listening to the voices of thinkers, writers, writers and media professionals, and give them room at the heart of the scene, so as not to supervise as numbness for those who govern or the promotion of tools for decisions that are cooked in closed pieces.
The voice of the mind .. no voice of force
The homeland is not built with repression, but rather dialogue. The reconstruction of Sudan is not restored with mute and betrayal, but rather by cross fertilization of free ideas, providing platforms open for expression and disseminating a culture of respect for criticism, and not to fight it. The authorities in Sudan must relax their ear to the people of the fatherland who carries the pen, not weapons, the idea, not the insults and the project, not the plot.
The return to wisdom begins with the conviction that the press is a supervisory authority, no enemy is afraid, but rather a partner of construction and reform. And if we want to straighten the twisted oud, then we have to open the door to the word free, so as not to break its pens. Because the societies that meet the mouths of their writers, they open their doors to ruin without knowing it.
In conclusion, the free press is not well-being, but a necessity. The authority that fears criticism is an authority that does not trust. Let us give the word his right and to make the fourth authority a solid corner in the project to promote our injured homeland. The word can save a nation.
