Anatomy of a typical Manipuri Newspaper
- and its long term impact on its users -

By RK Lilapati Devi *

In this fast paced world, we have newspapers as being one of the windows to the outer world. A morning without a newspaper is a dull morning. It is like a bad weather day. It is no wonder they have become a basic food item for some of the literate few.

As by literacy figure, we the Manipuris do not lag behind much the literacy phenomenon as happenening in any developed part of the world. We are proud of having a literacy figure of 68.87% as against the Indian national figure of 64.8 % .

We find English Schools in every leikais, tution centres in every leiraks. The number is ever increasing as the number of unemployed youths are increasing. After all opening a tution centre is a lucrative venture.

Well, this is just a facet of how Manipuris are on the road to intelligentsia phenomenon, forget the National literacy campaign of India Government. The Media phenomenon also runs high in the soil of Manipur.

Manipur sees a mushrooming growth of newspapers and magazines as does in any proud country. DIPR records a volume of 19 dailies, 3 weeklies, 4 monthlies. We do not know who reads all those prints.

My friend Chaobi says she only reads Poknapham, another friend Ibosana The Sangai Express and so on. It is enjoyable we get to listen to daily news analysis from AIR bringing to light the news published in various newspapers which we actually do not subscribe to.

They are particularly appetite quenching to news hungry persons or those who are interested in involving with the country's great events or who are the real citizens of the state. A common content of the newspapers seen for the last decade is the ever non stopping Band, Blockade, Wakat Mipham, Ambush and General strike etc.

A fine morning heralding a bad weather newspaper! Open any newspaper, we will find news items and photographs of Wakat Mipham against killng of Mr Big/ Mr Micham, or against placing of bombs in the private campus of Mr Big's family.

Few women in pungou phaneks or group of people sitting along with a sanabul with heinou mana on its neck and laphoi laphang with a placard with words like?micham hatpa yaningde ../...maral karino ../...Akaiba pibiganu./.. are a real common sight in the newspapers.

Again, a warning to the public not to disturb the general strike called by this Akanba/achumba/yaiphaba Group is prevalent on and off. And the imposition of economic blockade from this auspicious day to that auspicious date. These are the real pictures found commonest in these newspapers.

We cannot say when these things will come to a halt as being a genuine content, or a perennial space in newspapers. Will it continue as being the sole content in the coming years, on and on ?

Now we can almost say even a blind man can see some of its content. It is said a newspaper is the mirror of the society. This image in Manipur is one such unbalanced, violent stricken society which no one can predict its future. And its long term effect on its users?

Everybody is now succumbed to all the happenings, good or bad or worse. People have been so conditioned that they are not affected by any news of bomb blast or Wakat Mipham unless they are the victims or the near and dear ones of the victim.

The news has become just another knowledge/data in their cognitive sphere. They are no more emotionally triggering. People's attitudes, behaviours or physiological effect for things of the kind had been just another case of information fatigue.

Things of the same kind have been going on for a considerable ages. They are no longer able to provoke human mind. The attitudes, bahaviour or physiological impact had been streamlined and conditioned to just being another simple information in their head rather than triggering an effect in their heads from these so called violent incidents.

Well, this is one of the long term impacts of these media users. Come to other pages, count how many sengdokchabas fill the pages. On a certain day we have more than six sengdokchabas in a particular newspaper. Then, how many sengdokchabas we have altogether in all the newspapers of Manipur.

We do not know how the volunteers are doing social service in the name of amotpa cleansing but we are certain the revenue is being earned by sides, the media and the organization. A perenial space in newspapers indeed! being devoted for these resurrections.

Great! Then come to other ad spaces: we have the evergreen social worker or saviour of the poor our pabung Nabakishwor shining brightly with a thanksgiving message to him. This is again a perenial space in the newspapers.

Following the footsteps of pabung Nabakishore is our young Ashok kumar doing the same. And many more redundant classified ads. Then comes the campaign of conservation of nature in the newspaper. It is said procreation is the nature's principal occupation.

And ads in this media are really doing a nice job, selling all that performance enhancing stuff. A really perenial space in the newspapers. And nobody really has the idea of the violation of the ethics of advertising set by the Advertising standard council of India.

They are selling these sexual stimulants without any risk. Or even if a few has the knowledge of ethical standards of putting these ads, is there anybody who genuinely cares? A newspaper is considered to be the image of the society.

A newspaper advertises the community to the outside world. A community is judged by its newspaper. Copies that go out each day into other parts of the nation and the world give outsiders an impression of the city in which the newspaper is published.

If the newspaper is progressive, the community is considered progressive. If the newspaper is sloppy, it is likely that the community will be considered indifferent to its general public.

A sloppy newspaper speaks of its society. What would we give a name to the newspaper having a content of similar things for years and years?

Having ads of the same kind, incidents of the same kind, be it normalcy or violence in the newspapers, there is no denying to the fact that the society is heading for a constancy where everybody in the society is succumbed already before any kind of violence triggers.

Also read Outdoor Media Industry In Manipur by the same writer.