"Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are
lies." Beauty outlining the spirit of life has its own compulsions. No
matter how beautiful the truth is, its bitterness always fails it, making way
for lies. Once touted as the guardian of democracy, media today has become an
illusion, pursuing you to believe in the truth which never really existed. As
the philosophical battle between the truth and the lie continues, media has its
own story of 'the ultimate truth'.
Media defines public opinion on the bylines of profit and
influence .Like an intimate extra martial affair, it hides more than it reveals.
“If it were left to me to decide whether we should have government without
newspapers or newspapers without government; I would not hesitate a moment to
prefer the later," said the Thomas Jefferson, the former President of
United states. The guardian angel's dream was deeply wounded when JP Morgan and
later the CIA infiltrated the US media for extending their control over it. The
press and the people are locked together, influenced and exploited by those in
power.
Roland E. Wolseley
defines media as "Systematic and reliable dissemination of public
information, public opinion and entertainment," While media does inform
and shape public opinion, their structuring of information is arbitrary and
rarely authentic. The movie ‘Peepli Live’ is a big slap on those aspiring to
join the profession. Its portrayal of the media and its ability to exaggerate
irrelevant news by 'creating facts'
brings into light the real face of media. The media today lives for money; emotion
for them is just an irrelevant word. Asking victims of bomb blast how they feel
about it is a pure example of their obtuseness. Hiding behind the tag of
'investigative journalism’, media personnel often create stories, provoking
people who were ‘hypothetically’ a
part of the story. Media today hires moderators to push an agenda, often
defining what news means to people.
“I would rather have a completely
free press with all the dangers involved in the wrong use of that freedom than
suppressed or regulated press”-Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
The former Prime Minister of India dreamt of Indian media as
a torch bearer of democracy. The transition of Indian media from ‘dual player’,
acting as friend and foe to those in power to becoming a part of the power
fraternity wounds the basic foundation of media. With the onset of reforms to liberalize
Indian economy, a new chapter dawned in the history of Indian media. The era of
reforms ushered in a remarkable change in the functioning of media, brining
about various policy changes and corporatization. Looking at what corporate
monopolization was doing to Indian media, the then Press Council Chairman
demanded “democratization of press through mandated diffusion of censorship”.
Since then there have been numerous demands but in vain.
“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for
themselves.” The media talks about freedom, rising to the occasion whenever its
liberty is at stake. While it talks
about rights and accountability, it fails to answer a major question, “How much
of freedom is good?” ‘The Times of India’
changed the definition of freedom of press by giving birth to the ‘private
treaty’ agreement, according to which it asked celebrities and rich people to
pay for a favourable coverage. This was
just the beginning of paid media in India, other media houses followed suit.
The case of the Jindal group accusing the Zee group of extorting money from
them brought into light the level to which the media has fallen. Sadly media
has failed in its perusal of being a hero in hearts of people, becoming the
ultimate villain.
Objectivity is another term which perished with time.
Manipulating news to influence public has now become the new agenda of media.
Distorting facts, disguising opinions as facts and omitting selective words are
few of the principles of subjective reporting. The obsession of the British
media with Israel and Palestine war is something the common man has failed to
understand. Objectivity, in case of India is perishing with an infinite speed
with only nine major conglomerates holding most of print and publishing
businesses in India – The Hindustan Times group , Indian Express Group , Times
of India group , The Malyala Manorama Group , Sahara group , Anandbazar Patrika
Group , Jagaran Group and Bhaskar Group
.
Journalists, today, wield enormous power. S.Hussain Zaidi, in
his book Dongri to Dubai says that it was the murder of Iqbal Natiq , a self
made journalist and a very close friend of Dawood Ibrahim that opened a
bloodletting spree in Bombay. Friendship of Journalist Tavleen Singh with
former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hit a rough patch after her support for him
waned following the Bofors scandal. Truth in the world media is just an
illusion. People who dare to oppose this illusion have to give up something as
part of their audacity.
It has been long since someone like Chitra Subramanim made into
the world of Journalism. Nomination of Edward Snowden, former National Security
Agency contractor and whistleblower for Nobel peace prize raised many eyebrows,
establishing the fact that media lacks the basic principle of shaping opinion –
the truth. The proposal of enhancing the
FDI limit to 100 percent in Indian media has brought waves; few supporting it
while many opposing it. With election around the corner, the menace of public
opinion polling is on the rise. Despite the embarrassment in 2004 when every
major pollster and media outlet got the numbers wrong, they continue to
experiment with the ‘scientific model’ often misleading the public with wrong
numbers and vote shares.
When late T Chandrashekhar of Deccan Chronicle joined
Politics, there were ruffles but slowly it became a trend. The media today
believes that “you have to lie to yourselves to live. Otherwise, you'd go
crazy.” With social networking sites cutting down half of their revenue, the survival
of media is surely at stake. As an organization which depends solely on
revenues coming from advertisement, chances of media losing its principles are high.
As media becomes a commodity, the being of a Rupert Murdoch in every media
conglomerate doesn’t make a difference.
“Four hostile newspapers are more
to be feared than a thousand bayonets”-Napoleon Bonaparte
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