"The better the information it has, the better democracy works. Silence and secrecy are never good for it"
About this Quote
Democracy, in Adie's framing, isn't a sacred idea that runs on vibes; it's a machine with an input problem. Information is the fuel, and the quality of the fuel determines whether the engine sputters or moves. Coming from a war correspondent and broadcaster, that pragmatism matters: she’s not romanticizing the public sphere, she’s issuing a field report from places where rumors, propaganda, and controlled narratives don’t just mislead citizens, they get people killed.
The line also smuggles in a moral hierarchy. "Better" information implies standards: verification, independence, access, and the unglamorous labor of reporting. Adie’s subtext is that democracy doesn’t fail only when people stop caring; it fails when people are deliberately starved of usable facts. That pushes responsibility outward, toward institutions that hoard knowledge, and toward media ecosystems that flood the zone with noise. In an age where "more information" can mean more manipulation, her insistence on "better" reads as a rebuke to both state secrecy and the attention economy.
"Silence and secrecy" lands as a double indictment. Silence can be coerced (censorship, intimidation) or chosen (self-censorship, disengagement). Secrecy can be justified in the language of security, competence, or "protecting the public" - precisely the phrases democratic governments use when they start acting like they don't need consent anymore. Adie is arguing that transparency isn’t a nice-to-have virtue; it’s the operational requirement that keeps power answerable, elections meaningful, and citizens more than spectators.
The line also smuggles in a moral hierarchy. "Better" information implies standards: verification, independence, access, and the unglamorous labor of reporting. Adie’s subtext is that democracy doesn’t fail only when people stop caring; it fails when people are deliberately starved of usable facts. That pushes responsibility outward, toward institutions that hoard knowledge, and toward media ecosystems that flood the zone with noise. In an age where "more information" can mean more manipulation, her insistence on "better" reads as a rebuke to both state secrecy and the attention economy.
"Silence and secrecy" lands as a double indictment. Silence can be coerced (censorship, intimidation) or chosen (self-censorship, disengagement). Secrecy can be justified in the language of security, competence, or "protecting the public" - precisely the phrases democratic governments use when they start acting like they don't need consent anymore. Adie is arguing that transparency isn’t a nice-to-have virtue; it’s the operational requirement that keeps power answerable, elections meaningful, and citizens more than spectators.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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