Monday, May 7, 2007

Convicted by the media

Convicted by the Media

“A mockery of justice”, “Guilty escape with minor punishment”, these were the headlines of various news articles when Alistair Pereira was given a jail sentence of 6 months.

Today’s media has taken upon itself the task of convicting the accused. I am not qualified to give judgment on whether Alistair is guilty or not, but I don’t think the media is qualified either. It had pronounced judgment even before the courts did.

In its endeavor to be the voice of the people, it has become a criminal itself. Its crime is to assassinate the responsibilities associated with journalism. Today it doesn’t showcase what the masses believe in but instead forces its opinion down the throat of the masses. I would like to highlight some of the latest breaking news showcased by various news channels, which showcase the hypocritical nature of the media houses.

Narayan Murthy dishonoring the country. Now, here is a son of India who has arguably brought more dignity to his motherland in the International arena than any other Indian. And I say this with all due respects to the Tatas, Birlas, and other great Indians like Mother Teresa etc. The media had pronounced judgment on his patriotism without any regards to the man himself. And for what? For following an international norm. Take any sport (Football, Formula 1 etc), it is always the instrumental version of the nation anthem that is played. They went on tarnishing his image and saying how he was not fit for the post for President of India. Not withstanding the fact that I believe he would be one of the best candidates for the job, they didn’t even care to showcase the fact that he didn’t want the post in the first place.

Another story making headlines in the recent past is been the state of Indian cricket. The media has done a 360 - from accusing the players of a lack of commitment, to blaming Greg Chappel for not understanding the Indian crickets’ needs and most recently calling the BCCI a bully. Nobody seems to be doing their job except the media. Maybe if the media had not been so judgmental in their approach, they could have actually helped the BCCI and the Indian masses discover what the actual problem is.

The list goes on and on. From the Gujrat “Fake” encounter case, involving IPS officer Vanzara, to blaming the government for hiding details about Naxal activities. It’s just so appalling.

Some of the people may argue that only the outcry in media resulted in the justice for Priyadarshini Matoo. That media was responsible for Subash getting aid. Lets take each of the cases individually.

Priyadarshini Matoo’s case showcased the loopholes present in our judiciary system. But is the media competent enough to plug those loopholes, I think not. The media is an important pillar of our democratic system. Even then, it should not try and interfere in the running of the other pillars. The judiciary and the executive are independent bodies, and that independence needs to be respected. The media cannot take on itself to be the monitor over both the judiciary and the executive. Otherwise we will reach a state of anarchy where there is nobody to monitor the media.

As far as the plight of 5 year old Subash is concerned. There are hundreds of Subashes that die everyday. I don’t believe that the media would have bothered highlighting his plight if they can any other “breaking” news to show. It was just because they had nothing else to fill into their airtime did they bother being so thoughtful. The day these media houses care enough to devote airtime to Subash on a packed news day is when I will bow before them in respect.

Very recently some of the responsible journalist have acknowledge that the media is becoming more and more irresponsible everyday. But sadly most of the journalists just don’t care. TRP and exclusive breaking news seems to be the order of the day. And all this hype and competition has resulted in is the death of responsible journalism.

It’s my sincere request, to the media houses running these news channels, get a life. Learn the responsibility associated with the job of a journalist and spare us from your opinions.

Note: The above passage is strictly the opinion of the author, namely me.

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