Media discourse hits rock bottom

“As the monsoon session of Parliament begins today, the opposition is ready to sink its fangs into the Government over a number of issues……” Times of India (Goa edition) of 1.8.11

 

“The Prime Minister is telling lies and Kapil Sibal should be sent to mental asylum,” Anna Hazare in his press conference on 1.8.11

 

This is the quality of the current democratic discourse. It is embellished by the colourful vocabulary of our distinguished journalists employed in long established media houses and includes words and phrases such as sharpening the knives, snubbed, smashed, lashed, lambasted, slammed, pounced, shamed and ridiculed. In their lexicon it is never denial, contradiction, rebuttal and refutation, lack of consensus or disagreement. Of course, the disruptions in Parliament are grist to the mill of media`s daily dose of sensationalism and any positive development like the agreement on a discussion on inflation this week (3.8.11) in Parliament gets the customary short shrift.

 

The media is hardly interested in any positive news since only negativity serves their single minded pursuit of venality, TRPs as well as propagation of their agenda. This portrayal of negativity in an uncivil language has polluted political and social exchanges. During discussions there is invariably no space for contrary views as anchors often stifle dissent. The shrill denunciation and simulated outrage of the anchors results in disenchantment on the part of the audience. Even hard facts are adulterated and news or information distorted through efficient editing. It keeps on restrains even those imbued with the spirit of contributing to the public good from coming forward and taking active part in our democratic process.

 

The media is also contributing towards delegitimizing our democracy in other ways. It has allowed itself to beused. Take the treatment given to the latest CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report on the alleged corruption in the Commonwealth Games. The current incumbent of this Constitutional post has allowed the draft as well as final reports to be leaked to the media. The channels get these reports simultaneously and yet all of them claim that they have an exclusive. The “vigilant”, independent and professional media has never bothered to find out as why and how so called “explosive” stuff is being passed on to them.

 

Why is regular procedure being flouted and for whose gain? The draft report on CWG which was leaked in the first half of 2010 had caused a stir and for a number of days the media was pre-occupied with the alleged short-comings and irregularities in organizing the CWG in their usual shrill and apocalyptic manner. The likelihood of CAG being human and fallible never crossed the minds of the anchors. The media failed to question the leaks. The piecemeal leakage naturally resulted in the controversy that was played up on the screens for a far longer period. The suspicion that it was and is by design lingers only because no effort has been made till now to plug the leakages and investigate who was responsible for it. The CAG has also held press conferences on the days the reports were presented to Parliament. That CAG has indulged in playing to the gallery is obvious and even the press conferences had enough dramatic flourishes (see The Hindu of 6.8.11 Hubli edition).

 

That all this could be a transgression of rules and procedures is something our media does not pay any heed to. The media is happy to receive any material which will help them start vilifying the alleged culprits. In the present case, anchors like Arnab Goswami, Rahul Kanwal and their copycats at NewsX have discarded all journalistic restraints in crucifying Sheila Dixit for the perceived irregularities in managing the expenses incurred on the CWG. The tirade against the alleged wrong doers went on for three days before the presentation of final report to Parliament and it has continued thereafter.

 

The outrage at Times Now, Headlines Today, Newsx and to a little lesser extent at NDTV and CNN-IBN was astounding. Words like corruption, loot, scamsters and crooks were a dime a dozen. The Dixits and Kalmadis and their ilk were pronounced guilty and the channels unashamedly expressed their resentment on the delay in “executing” them. It is astonishing how quickly our watchdog media turns into a pack of hounds bent upon tearing apart an alleged culprit.

 

Misreporting or altering official language to sensationalise news is another ailment of the media. When the figure of Rs 1.76 lac crores was given as “presumptive” loss to the exchequer in the 2G scam, the media did not hesitate before making the figure absolute. This changed the whole paradigm of discussion on the corruption since the figure was unimaginably high. The issue became a vortex of misinformation, distortions and plain lies in the print and in the studios.

 

The “Civil Society” or Team Anna has also been quite adept in making use of the media. In fact, it is becoming obvious now that the Bennett Coleman, the biggest media house, has taken it upon itself to promote and “sponsor” Team Anna and their cause and thus is no longer an unbiased observer. The way their news channels and newspapers are serving the cause of the team has made the Team so arrogant that they are not willing to countenance anything less than their idea of a Jan Lokpal. Here again, a member of the team, Justice N Santosh Hegde has been playing to the gallery and usurping the channels` time. His report also got leaked and Mr Hegde thought it fit to confirm the authenticity of the leaked report days before it was presented to the Government. Here again, the media was used in a partisan manner.

 

In the case of Team Anna, which has been given saturation coverage, it is the case of the tyranny of the Noble Idea and despotism of those who profess to be pursuing this noble idea. It is about time the media was warned about the dangers of supporting such movements without analyzing their full import. The incessant denunciation of the present system has already resulted in paralysis of governance. The media should stop being irresponsible and should not ignore the fact that such movements have gone wrong and have caused all round misery.

 

We are fortunate that we have a media which is free. Its power is tremendous and it has a wide reach. Its role is to inform and empower the people. Its role towards the Government is and should be adversarial but not inquisitorial. The media has a role and it must discharge it in a fair yet critical and unbiased