Power of the media

It is now a recognised fact that our media except for a few who yet preserve their principle of not sensationalising news and have reports properly investigated. most major newspapers use their freedom of expression to make news rather than analyse and give news with a proper perspective. The electronic media who are committed to give news round the clock, are forced to give news with a slant given by junior correspondents and in some instances , news given is a misreported or too premature conclusions are drawn. The incentive in these cases is to be' first with the news' whether correct or incorrect.

There has been a report by the Press Guild based on investigations by senior journalists after the 2002 riots in Gujarat who suggested that the media should exercise some self regulation or self censorship to ensure that the news reports do not appear without proper verification which could incite people to wrong conclusions and actions. Unfortunately one of the members of that team which submitted that report has gone on record that in the absence of such self censorship, there may a need for an external body to censor such instances and ensure that those channels or papers do not violate proper norms for news dissemination. THE HINDU is one of the papers which have its own ombudsman and who avoid any sensational news unless supported by adequate and credible investigation. With the Press Guild now presided over by younger news editors, the role of the Guild lacks credibility. Any attempt by the Govt to bring some order into the system is objected by the younger editors as restriction on their right of free expression. This freedom should be used with responsibility to protect others right to the same freedom.

To give a recent instance of the media's role and the power that it wields is the Anna movement on the fight against corruption. It should not be surprising that this cause would get universal support. They picked a non controversial and honest and sincere man as its leader and gave him the mantle of being another Gandhiji (which he himself declined to accept) . But the main force of the movement was provided by young, enthusiastic representatives of the Team who resorted to a confrontational approach on insisting on a draft prepared by them to be accepted in toto with no scope for discussion. This naturally invited a equally negative approach by the Govt team. Right through this stage, the media gave a fairly unconditional support and did not try to project a balanced view by giving both sides of the issue and the rule of the Constitution and the supremacy of the Parliament. With abuses and threats such as hunger fast, the movement became not a fight against corruption but against the Govt. Corruption is so rampant that it had to be fought without any distinction of political parties or persons. at the Centre or the States. And all along the media gave only the version of the Team and most electronic channels gave more than normal coverage and interviews with Team Anna members and did not give a balanced views on the matter. The movement largely drew its strength from the power of the media.

With the issue of the Lokpal Bill now rightly in the Parliament, credit must be given to Anna and his team for and raising this issue accepting the right of the Parliament to discuss all aspects of the Lokpal Bill in the Standing Committee before it is presented as a Bill to the Parliament in the winter session.

While the purpose of the movement was right and necessary and the matter was in the Parliament, some young over enthusiastic members of the Team launched an agitation without waiting for the Parliament's winter session. They resorted to taking a biased anti Govt or anti Congress stand and made the movement a political one. This raised objections from within their own ranks and many found themselves in disagreement with the new slant to the movement. The media finding this news worthy, found many other aspects about some of the members and their ethical conduct which would be contrary to their personal fight against corruption. These exposures did not come from any other source than their own colleagues or from sources which could not be attributed to the Govt. Yet the cry from Anna Hazare that there was a 'gang four' who were trying to split their group was really a gang from within and not from outside. When one gets into public eye as did some of the members of the team, they should have realised that the media will not avoid going into other personal details if that made news. So these members became the victims of the the "power of the media". This is not a new phenomena. Politicians, actors, sportsmen and other celebrities who get media attention are always subject to get the attention of the media even on adverse matters and this is the double edged sword that fame and popularity attracts.

It is high time, the Team who are self appointed and call themselves as representing 'civil society' do a rethink on their constitution and have creditworthy persons of high integrity and honest in thought and word and maybe a few other mature social activists and jurists, ex election commissioners, senior retired bureaucrats of proven ability etc. They should take up the other urgent issue especially relating to electoral reforms which should be the starting point to get the right people in the Parliament. These suggestions should not be taken to the streets but submitted to all the political parties and to organise a meeting to arrive at a consensual agreement. We should be able to get capable people to be elected to deal with complex matters such as finance, commerce, environment issues etc. Similarly, for other serious issues requiring reforms should also be taken up on a non partisan basis and based on an in depth study . In short, the movement should have wider representation of civil society including persons of varied expertise and should be a strong, apolitical body to provide the right inputs to the Govt irrespective of which party is in power. A confrontational stand is counter productive and undemocratic as adequate respect must be given to contrary views and efforts to convince or seek a consensus will result in an effective solution. In all this, it is the power of the media which can play a major role in providing the right news for all.