Police-public and the media : Common threads and dividing line
- Sangai Express Editorial :: July 29, 2013 -

Ungodly working hours. Lack of man power and resources. Stretched to the limits.

Working in a pressure cooker like situation, in the face of the 'unacknowledged' conflict situation and presence of numerous pressure groups.

These are some of the common threads that run through the police as an institution and the media in Manipur.

Perhaps it is in acknowledgement of these common threads that the State Police Department and the All Manipur Working Journalists' Union joined hands together to organise a one day seminar on the theme "How police and media can work in tandem to deliver justice to the people" on July 28 at the Banquet Hall of 1 MR.

A brave attempt at exploring the possibilities of how two important institutions can, by design or otherwise, work together to better serve the interest of the people.

But can the police and the media actually work together in tandem, other than the media personnel or the reporters sourcing information from the police on incidents whenever a crime occurs ?

The topics covered in the seminar were wide ranging and relevant to the present day Manipur.

Mob justice : Taking law into one's own hand; Crime Against Women; Police and Media Relationship; The Menace of Psychotropic Substances in the Society, were the topics covered during the seminar.

All very relevant and central to the idea of the seminar should be the people, the public, with the media coming in between the public and the police.

How far was this stressed or whether an idea which should have been central to the seminar was lost or not can be gauged from what was said or discussed under the different topics that were included in the seminar.

This is important, for the theme is about delivering justice to the people, via the working relationship between the media and the police.

And lest it be mistaken or overlooked, there is the need to keep in mind that a media friendly police need not necessarily translate into a public friendly police.

Stretch this observation a little more and it could well amount to saying that a good working relationship between the media and the police need not necessarily translate into delivering better justice to the people.

A one day seminar is but a one day event, nontheless an important one. How this fructifies depends on how the content and the core idea of the seminar is taken to the next level.

This is something which only time can tell, but it is a positive start.

And to make this positive start meaningful, it is all that more important to be able to come out with critical insights on how the police relate with the public. It is this which the media should keep questioning.

On the other hand, like any other institution, the media can be manipulated and The Sangai Express will not shy away from admitting this.

But in admitting and acknowledging this, the first step may be said to have been taken.

Armed with this admission then the media can and should have the moral conviction to question whether the police, as an institution, is there to serve the interest of the people or the interest of the political masters, which has nothing to do or may even run contrary to the interest of the people.

A critical, sincere and honest look within the core of one's self will go a long way in making the seminar more meaningful in the long run.

How seriously does the police take the reports and the opinions aired by the media everyday ?

How seriously does the media understand and emphatise with the situation under which the policemen have to work ?

Have the two parties, that is the media and the police ever dwelt on these questions with the seriousness they deserve ?

To take the one day seminar to the next level let these questions and points be reminders in the future.

The dividing line that runs between the media and the police should however not be lost if the two institutions are to work in tandem and yes respecting that line should be the mantra.