Full disclosure

The push by the American Chamber of Commerce to improve the public-procurement law met with positive reactions from some quarters last week but suspicion from others. Vice Chair Petr Nečas of ODS told TV Prima that it might be an effort to divert attention from all the recent corruption scandals involving U.S. companies. It's a legitimate question, and it's one journalists should ask. In general, reporters should be more demanding in requiring influential people who have easy access to the media to say whom they are representing and what their clients' interests are. When Vladimír Dlouhý and Luděk Niedermayer appeared on Czech TV yesterday, they were introduced only by their "former" positions. The same usually applies to lobbyists Pavel Bratinka and Pavel Telička. Likewise, when Karel Kříž, Jan Ondřich or Miroslav Zajíček write about energy, no one asks them who is funding them. Sometimes, whom these pundits are working for might go a long way in explaining their particular views on the topic at hand.