expected
to conform to those notions."
He points out that it seems to people like him that the media has changed a
great deal too. "There are different classes of media. One kind of class is
dedicated. The other is into glamour and power broking. If you are in the media
you can get straight access even to the prime minister. Their shortcoming is
that they do not want to come out of their glamour and cover village issues.
The older journalists were good."
Talking to individuals in both sectors, the following issues emerge as being
critical. Those who want to change the world need to get their message out to
the rest of society to get support of various kinds. Even more than that, those
fighting inequality, oppression and injustice want the gaze of the world to
fall upon these problem areas in society, and the media is the principal means
of achieving this. Says Aruna Roy, "We see press as an extension of struggle in
its most positive aspect. And I think if you see them and expect such a role to
be played they do play the role up to a point."
But many of the groups which work in villages come into contact with a level of
media that the urban civil society does not see, and would have trouble
recognising. These are part-time local stringers who double as shopkeepers or
circulation agents. So the agenda social workers and activists might have for
the media remains unfulfilled.
The second major area of concern is that the NGOs seem to expect a degree of
immunity from media scrutiny that the latter is not willing to grant them. The
press does not readily buy the thesis that every individual or group set up as
a saviour of society is to be treated as such. And as the inflow of foreign
funding to the voluntary sector has grown, there is a feeling that the NGO sector
should be treated with at least some of the scepticism usually reserved for
government and politicians.
At the same time they need stories to file. In a state like Rajasthan where
there is a strong voluntary sector, the latter can be a substantial source of
news. The Star News correspondent in Jaipur Rajan Mahan says that politically
this is relatively a dull state. Inner party dissensions not aired. Journalists
are starved for stories in Rajasthan. "You can do stories about atrocities on
Dalits, or police atrocities on citizens, or culture stories or human interest
stories. So social development NGOs are a good source of news." However
newspapers themselves are of very little relevance to the very poor,
preoccupied with eking out an existence. If newspapers have a clientele in the
rural areas, the marginalised are not among them.
The third aspect of the relationship is that when a grassroots movement has to
be built, mobilisation across the state needs to take place. But excessive
media localisation has worked strongly against this, as the media imposes a
narrower and narrower identity upon its readership. This is, in fact, is seen
as a major problem by those attempting social mobilisation.
The press, on its part, would want the self-appointed agents of social change
to understand its compulsions. The press is not into social service, it has a
professional job to do. It can use information, but at the same time is
suspicious of being used. Some presspersons do not mind a cosy relationship
with the NGO sector. Others see no reason why they should be expected to handle
a sector that is doing rather well for itself with kid gloves.
All of the above then, are the aspects of the media and NGO/activist
relationship that need to be put under closer scrutiny and understood.
Local Journalists
To begin with the media-activist/social worker interface in villages, the
stature and resourcefulness of the group or individual concerned determines the
level of media it encounters. Aruna Roy’s right to information movement which
brought her the Magsaysay Award has been propelled forward in no small measure
by the media support it has received—local, regional, and