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Economy & Business

Political news has historically become an important form of journalism because of its influential character to society. Political news informs, educates and persuades citizens about the exercise of power, public decision-making and governance processes. Therefore, political reporters should be experts in public policies, elections and have vast knowledge about political actors. They should know who is involved in the political minefield so that they know who to contact whenever there is a need to cover a political story. In a democratic set-up, political journalism performs a watchdog, informative, educational and deliberative function to society. However, this does not mean that political reporting should be overly prioritized over other news categories such as economic, developmental, environmental, gender development and sports and recreation. Excessive prioritization of political news creates unwarranted distortions in public discourse and societal development.