Media

Moving on now to the more important segment of education, primary and secondary education, where the government is required to don a more active role. Since independence, this remains one area of social governance that has been grossly neglected by successive governments and, to a large extent by the media and the general public as well. At this point in time, let me depart from the issue at hand, in order to discuss the role of the media in a democratic society. It is widely claimed that the 3 pillars of a democratic system are the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. However, in my view the most important fourth pillar of democracy, which is essential for its smooth functioning, is a responsible media. If the 3 lions which are visible on the Indian national emblem represent the legislative, the judiciary and the executive, the hidden 4^th lion is mass media. The media, particularly the electronic media, in India is rapidly deteriorating into a tamasha. Freedom of the press is being blatantly misused, especially since the establishment of dedicated “24 hr news channels”.

The self regulation of media houses, which is professed and practised in the west, is absent in India. The gross undermining of the important socio-economic and political issues by the media is exemplified by the fact that on the day of the IPL auctions, most “24 hr news channels” gave close to 12 hours of coverage to the great capitalist tamasha of India namely the IPL auctions. While India is burning with issues such as communalism, terrorism, international tensions, domestic inequality, oppression, injustice and rampant corruption, the mass electronic media devotes half its time to report about a bunch of sleazy, insanely rich “Indians” indulging in an extravagant and shameless display of their wealth, paying millions to people whose only talent involves throwing a ball or wielding a willow in expectation of much greater returns on their investments, while the average Indian is burdened by poverty, hunger, unemployment and illiteracy.

This is just one of the hundreds of examples one can provide to highlight the irresponsibility of the electronic media. This is laughable. In Maharashtra, hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide and are still doing so, while one industrialist is reported to have built a 40-storey building for his residence. I can say with certainty that the electronic media probably devotes at least 5 news headlines in a single day to the works of this industrialist whereas those hundreds of thousands of farmers are remembered by the media perhaps once in 5 years, most likely before an election. “Slumdog Millionaire” gets virtually 24 hr non-stop coverage whereas the slum-dwellers of Mumbai are conveniently forgotten in all this glitz and glam. India, perhaps more than any other nation, desperately needs a responsible, efficient and accountable media. The behaviour of the print media is also slowly but surely becoming lax as they are forced to keep up with their more glamorous counterparts in the endeavour to profit at all costs.

The problem primarily stems from the fact that these “24 hr news channels” believe that they are supposed to telecast only news for 24 hrs a day. Hence, any event no matter how trivial or unimportant is sensationalized by the media and telecasted repeatedly for hours. This trend is more common with entertainment or sports or business news but not quiet the case when it comes to important national and international issues. This is not a nation which, in these perilous times, can afford to be obsessed with Kareena Kapoor’s diet or Shah Rukh Khan’s abs or Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hair style.

The media has to start diverting their attention from such petty issues and focus on the pressing socio-economic and political problems of this country and demand accountability from politicians and bureaucrats and educate the general public about India’s history, its polity, its economy, lacklustre political policies, lax implementation and rampant corruption. “24 hr news channels” can become dedicated education channels which apart from telecasting news from time to time, shifts focus onto educational documentaries, when there is nothing worth reporting in terms of news or to avoid incessant repetition of the same news story again and again. Also, it wouldn’t hurt the media to once in a while appreciate the few good policies which are drafted by politicians, rather than taking a rigid stand on all issues. To mention a few, the RTI, the NREGA and the proposal to add a fundamental right which provides “right to education” are commendable steps taken by the incumbent government, which haven’t received adequate media attention or praise.