I got the shock of my life when Btv reported that one of America's presidential candidates, John McCain, was caught up in a scandal amid allegations that he was sexually involved with his female campaign manager - a woman who is not his wife. The questions that I want to ask are: Is it within Btv mandate to scrutinize the lives of prominent politicians for sex scandals? If the answer is yes, why then is the station not doing that here in Botswana? Why does Btv have to scrutinize the life of McCain for extramarital affairs when the man lives in a country that is more than 10, 000 km away from ours? Are our politicians here such saints that Btv finds no traces of scandals in their lives similar to McCain's to report on?
The media often reports on things or events, which are unusual, strange or abnormal. I think Btv reported, on McCain's sexual involvement with his campaign manager because the station finds it abnormal. That it is newsworthy. But they find the same behaviour on the part of our politicians so normal that it is not worth reporting on. This makes Btv eternally guilty of practising a type of journalism that is characterised by double standards. The manner in which Btv practices journalism (characterised by deliberate commission and selective emphasis) has the potential to expose black people to ridicule by whites. White people who live among us in this country should be forgiven if they wonder why Btv reports on inappropriate behaviour of American politicians while the same Btv turns a blind eye to the same behaviour on the part of political leaders in Botswana. Whites should also be forgiven for thinking that blacks hold their leaders to standards, which are lower than those of their white counterparts in Washington and London.
