Spheres of Influence
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 25, 2015 -

Spheres of Influence generally refer to the power of media to capture a public space that supposedly represents or reflects a “majoritarian view.”

The exercise of this power is retained by the media claiming to represent the spirit of the people thereby establishing a hold on its audience who have become synonymous with consumers in the market.

The patterns of Spheres of Influence have been more or less based on stances taken in concurrence with the State’s policies or the assumed primary interests of the people.

The media, in trying to exercise its singular Sphere of Influence, often declares that it is the voice of the people or that it represents the interests of the people.

In States like Manipur with numerous communities of different ethnic origins, simple and innocuous word like ‘people’ seems to imply the body that carries dominant voice of the majority in a broader sense or just the voice of the ruling class in the valley.

The possession of Spheres of Influence is possible when readers/audience acquire the habit of consumers used to just one uniquely packaged product.

It is the local peculiarity familiarised by years of operation in the region.

The hold on the readers and audience as markets, at times acts as a tough wall against the onslaught of bigger media sharks coming in to the State to capture potential markets while core issues remain far from being resolved.

Assam based media in recent times seems to be getting as close as possible to the likes and dislikes of the general audience even if the editorial content alludes to parochial and ethnocentric views of the upper middle class in the State.

This becomes even more pronounced in the cases of inter-state boundary disputes.

Take the case of Assam-Nagaland boundary dispute in recent times.

Newspapers based in Guwahati cater to their constituency much more than any of the regional editions of major national newspapers.

The newspapers in Guwahati do it by publishing a slew of reports on the dispute as it happens, stridently followed by what can be called “editorialisation” of the subsequent news including analysis backed by a well-positioned stance on the editorial pages.

The national editions of the major Indian newspapers do not make the lifespan of a news event come to such conclusive end.

There is a tendency to let the news event or issue disappear, perhaps unable to takes stances or in the excuse of non-interference by claiming to be unbiased.

Under such circumstances, it is time to reflect on how much Spheres of Influence do valley based media have and ponder over the misplaced interpretations of the questions like ‘why civilizations can’t climb hills’ with due courtesy to James C. Scott.