A post on merinews.com, an Indian citizen journalism site, serves as a textbook example of how the Global Integrity Report can provide deep context to the news of the day.
Satish Singh, reporting for Merinews, is able to draw a quick, evidence based snapshot of governance in India from our scorecard:
India’s anti-corruption laws get 100 out of 100 but law enforcement is pathetic. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) also get credit for “being autonomous and well-staffed” but is ineffective. Free Press is still not operational. Many newspapers and the electronic media are functioning for either for business tycoons or political parties. The daring journalists too are not free from fear. Honest journalists are often assaulted by hooligans, police and administrative officials.
Here’s the full post:
Book the corrupt and earn Rs 5 lakh!
The Global Integrity Report is presented in English, but often localized in the most relevant local language. Sometimes those findings are translated back to English, with entertaining consequences.
In the original Report, our top overall rating (yet to be earned by any country) is labeled “Very Strong”. In the merinews.com version, it’s translated as “extremely brawny”. Likewise, our “Very Weak” becomes an Indian “extremely feeble”. It’s semantically interchangeable, but I have to say, the new version is much more evocative. What bureaucrat can resist a stirring call to brawn?
— Jonathan Eyler-Werve
