Reporting the Maoist Insurgency in West Bengal
The paper uses first names of suspected Maoists leaders frequently as if they were household names. ABP also uses first names of the local CPIM or Trinamool leaders, and assumes the readers know whom they are referring to.
SAADIA AZIM compares coverage in the state’s leading papers, both from the same stable. Photo: The Shahid Kishenji poster.
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Comparitive Coverage: West Bengal
How much do we know about newspaper coverage in the regions, or about how regional language newspapers differ from their English language counterparts? How much contrast is there in how they prioritise news and report it? How do they report regional politics, or corruption, or the Maoist insurgency? The Hoot undertook a qualitative and quantitative study of comparative coverage in five states from mid-September to mid-November which offers some pointers. The newspapers selected are the highest circulated ones in the region. Some articles have been carried earlier on Ayodhya, the Obama visit, and the coverage of the Commonwealth games. We now begin a fresh series on the entire period under survey. This is a Hoot-Panos study, funded by Hivos.
When covering the Maoist insurgency in West Bengal, the rule seems to be, use whatever information is made available. Be it the Maoists or the police, the stories had one- sided versions and conclusions based on whatever speculation, suppositions and assertions could reach the media at the time of filing the stories. The only variant was that the Anandabazar Patrika gave more impetus to its rural base by using first names of Maoists and local politicians making them household names, much to the dismay of their readers.
There is also a very remarkable resemblance in the choices of stories in both the newspapers in the coverage attributed to the Maoists. While going through reports in both the newspapers, it appeared that most of the reports are based on one-sided versions made available from either camps to the media. From either the Maoists or the police or even from political quarters. For example, a story in The Telegraph, said in its banner headline , 'Maoist encounter ahead of CM visit' with sub captions , ' Purulia battle kills 2 rebels, ' Martyr' Kishan in poster', with no clear indication about the authenticity of the poster found during routine police activity ahead of the Chief Minister's visit. Another story on the very next day was about the ' security thrust for CM rally', Buddha pledge to 'root out ' Maoists'. ' CM urges people to unite, spilled: rebel poppy beans' on how poppy was being cultivated by the Maoists that had become their source of income. A similar kind of story in ABP on the 14th of November said ' Bikram present in Jhalda's camp' with the entire story based on a police source.
It could be termed as a general trend. Most of the stories emerging from Maoists quarters were the ones that were planted from their side through pamphlets, or telephone calls from anonymous numbers of suspected Maoists. There can be ample scope for suspicion on the authenticity of the source, but then since reports are to be made public as soon as they reach reporters, both the newspapers diligently followed the rule. ABP had a story on September 19th claiming 'Maowadira chheledhora noi, dabi vibriti te, (Maoists not child lifters, claim statement) without a word on the origin and the authenticity of the statement. Another said , 'Shilda's Ananta murdered by Maoists', again raising doubts about who were the real perpetrators of the crime in an area also infested by political rivalry. Stories like 'Policer jale char maobadi, (4 maoists in police net)', 'Jhargram shohorer adure abar maobadi hanaye, nihato school kormi,'meaning, ' Maoist extorting money in Jhargram, school workers helpless', have been stories attributed to hearsay or local rumours. A story said , 'Two women terrorist arrested with prisoned Maoist leader,'not clarifying how this happened , whereas another said 'Maobadi Prithiraje, Mayer rathe ghora', implying ' Maoist Prithviraj in Maya's Rath' campaigning in a tribal area for Mayawati in Bihar.
The Telegraph too in the similar fashion carried incidental or one sided versions of the stories that was made available to the media. Stories like 'Civilian dies in police Maoist crossfire,' another injured, 'Cops see Maoist in crackers', 'Two cops die in Maoist fight' etc were the stories that could reach the newspaper only through the police camp. It has been found that the police or suspected Maoists' statements singly make up the source for reporters, so there was always doubt about their authenticity. For example a story in ABP dealt with how Maoists pamphlets talked about 'Kishenji as a martyr'. So the same story was carried in 'The Telegraph' but neither produced any proof on the authenticity of these posters.
The paper follows a style sheet which is peculiarly its own. It uses first names of suspected Maoists leaders frequently as if they were household names. ABP also uses first names of the local CPIM or Trinamool leaders to an extent, and assumes the readers know whom they are referring to. One of the story, on the Maoists read ' Deepaker Palta Marer, Jababe Maowadi dhumki' implying 'Maoists threaten after Deepak's comments'. Deepak here is the zonal committee leader of the CPIM of West Midnapur district. Another story said ' Lalgarh theke ghure darabo, dabi Selim Shushantor', meaning, 'CPIM leader Md. Salim and Minister Sushanta Ghosh claims that they' will make a comeback from Lalgarh'. 'Maowadider hathe khoon sildar se Ananto', meaning another CPIM zonal committee leader of Silda block Ananta Mukhopadhya was murdered by Maoists. Another story read ' Aabar Deepak Subhendu ke saamne rekhe laraia dooti shibir, meaning both camps face each other with Dipak Subhendu on the front. Again 'Deepak' is the CPIM zonal committee leader Deepak Sarkar and Shubhendu is Trinamool congress M.P 'Shubhendu Adhikari'. A headline read ' Shashadharer Khoje Gulir larai', implying' gunbattle during Shashadher Mahato's search operation.
Indeed, Anandabazar Patrika with its long experience of catering to the rural Bengali readership keeps its flavor intact. So, even insignificant statements from any quarters made news in their Bengal region pages and using first names catered to local curiosity.
The Telegraph on the other hand, maintains its urbane outlook and held the Maoist menace as not so simple and widely held. Hence, carhied more of incidental area centric stories and also emphasized the Maoists menace as another separatist political movement inflicting a certain locality. The distinction was clear to an extent that Maoist related stories were more incident based, objective, and did not include too much emphasis on the other factors related to the Maoist menace. Stories like ' CPIM bigwigs in rebel zone', 'Maoists fire on villagers', Silda strike in school uniform', ' Big bang haul in Bengal', 'Jawan rebel killed in fight,' Civilian dies in police Maoist crossfire, another injured', are some of the headlines from 'The Telegraph'. But for certain stories not so local, involving central governmental policies, political observations and political bigwigs on the Maoists issue, found ample space and concern in the newspaper.
But these are just one side of the story.
The Telegraph and the ABP both covered Maoists of Lalgarh in West Midnapur but ABP gave ample space to the local politics and local issues involved meeting the demand of the local Bengali readers. Whereas though from the same publisher, The Telegraph catered to the interests of the Urban English readers and hence very few local issues related to the Maoists and the Maoists infested region in West Bengal found space in the newspaper.
Also Read:
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The Hoot's Comparitive Coverage series:
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