Manipur - State Of The Media
- Part 1 -

By:- Romeo Naorem *

Media Matrix

The fourth estate is an important arm of the democracy which plays a holistic role in ensuring social justice and contributing hugely in the task of nation building.

Now as far as the Manipur Press is concerned, despite many constraints it faces on a daily basis, it still manages to provide widespread coverage of news, local, national and international with critical thinking, insightful analysis and writing of a fairly high order.

In fact, the media in Manipur has undergone a sea change; it has come a long way from those heydays of single sheeters churned out of hand pushed treadle machines to the multi-page color dailies rolled out from offset printers.

Gone are the days when people have to wait for the evening delivery of the Calcutta based, so called "national papers" for national as well as international news; the local papers have them all. Professionalism is the catchword; the new corps of hardcore journalists, skilled in the trade, has made the Manipur Press, a force to reckon with.

Being a conflict prone zone, Manipur is every reporter's paradise, where one can smell news in every twist and turn of its narrow streets, crowded bazaars or the insurgent infested hills. The Press today is sandwiched between two parallel power centres – the legal arm controlling the stakes 'over ground', and the non-state entities calling the shots with even greater might, 'underground.'

As a matter of fact, the Manipur media is today playing the conventional role of the Fourth Estate in the governance of the state, to the hilt. However, the state of affairs of the media is not every journalist's dream. In recent times, the Press has unceremoniously come in for a big stick for unpleasant reasons, way beyond its control.

In fact the image of the media is not at its brightest, with nothing flattering to write home about. Fringe elements hitting out at the media fraternity, below the belt, with grenade wrapped in gift hampers, or SMSing a few rounds of lead, speak volumes of the hard times at hand.

The media in Manipur is yet to graduate to the Page 3 brand of journalism and journalists still don't have to pimp around for infotainment, as the corporate advertisement control is minimal or almost non-existent. So the major constraint that the media encounter generally consists of the direct variety (diktats & threats from the UGs), or the subtle type which can be clearly spelled out as budgetary issues.

To a certain extent, the Manipur media scenario is murky, as a big chunk of the news originates from Press conferences and Press releases handed out by politicians (from both ruling and the opposition), voluntary organizations, social activists, insurgent groups and other sundry elements with their own private agendas. Exclusive news stories are many times leaked by sources, which have some stake in the story, sometimes without clear cut facts.

Journalistic Orphans - Differing Media Priorities:

The people of Northeast always crib and complain about the mainstream media sidestepping and neglecting the region. Most of the so called self-acclaimed 'national papers' have a few dozens of reporters in their metro beat, but they think twice before assigning a sole reporter to cover the vital and sensitive region of Northeast.

Therefore, it is no big surprise when they miss the protest of Manipuri women against rape in Imphal, in their insidious quest for glamour and glitterati in the romping page 3 parties. At times they make last-ditch attempts to recover lost ground, but as always most of their coverage amount to little more than a `flash in the pan' and one has little idea of the ongoing ferment until there is some explosion.

Mainstream Press rarely encourages its journalists to travel, develop contacts or enhance their knowledge of the Northeast so that they can become enlightened opinion makers covering a diverse range of issues, be it political, social or health. There is a dire need for whistle blowers who can become a voice for the marginalized and the downtrodden, especially those living in the fringes.

But such is human irony that, the "mainstream Northeast Press", of all people, who makes the right noise, whenever the region is sidelined in the mainstream (Indian) media, commits the same blunder when the ball is in their court.

A fleeting glance of any of the valley (say Imphal) based newspapers would give you a clear-cut view. Many a times, deserving news and issues of the hill districts find no mention in these papers unless they are overblown. 'Inaccessibility' is the easy and oft-repeated excuse. The relevance and authenticity of the stale news is contested and questioned and as always, the helpless remain voiceless, destined to the backseat.

One doesn't need to look far back to see the ramifications of the hypocrisy and double standards followed by the "mainstream Northeast Press". From 2004 onwards, when outfits like United National Liberation Front (UNLF) set a precedent of laying Chinese-made landmines in Hmar-Kuki inhabited areas of Churachandpur, resulting in many untoward accidents and later when there were allegations of the same group indulging in the mass-rape of the same tribes' women, including some pregnant and minors, they still did not make much news, in Kangleipak (read Manipur), for a long while. That the protests ultimately reached the heart of the mainland is another story.

Well, why is this 'divide'? Is difficult connectivity to Imphal, the only place that matters to convert incidents into issues, a probable reason? In these times of mobile connectivity, reaching such affected areas in a small state like Manipur won't amount to that much of a problem.

And sadly, in Manipur, a genuine issue becomes a non issue and loses its news worthiness in the absence of bandhs, strikes or dharnas to back it up. The very few dialect newspapers, available in the hill districts that endorse the views and issues of the marginalized hill communities are of no help either, as they have a limited reach, failing to deliver anything to the larger populace.

It is high time the media fraternity does a reality check. Manipur today is pregnant with issues - communalized and ethnicized. Manipur's imposing geography, contrasting social realities, and diverse cultural identities have created a dent - a disconnect, further driving each other apart, the hills and the valley, the mainstream and the fringe.

The Manipur media needs to play a very pro-active role to bridge the divide, give a voice to the voiceless, and educate and inform the people destined to living in the absence of everything.

These are the people who don't know which state or country they belong to; their village is their world. It is the media's unbounded duty to let them know that they are living with big news and issues. Let's not keep them away from the mainstream anymore.

To be continued ....