What's wrong with our media?

By Ranjan Yumnam *

Who is afraid of media in Manipur? This is not a rhetorical question, and I am sorry to speculate that no one who matters ever loses sleep in trepidation of the media in Manipur. I was thinking about the local media situation as the crisis in the Murdoch's empire unfolded and revealed the astonishing scope of influence that newspapers and their proprietors in other countries hold over top politicians and important personalities in public life. Flirting with media is not an indulgence but a necessity that you cannot shirk in the West and increasingly in other states of India.

This dependency on media is so deeply entrenched and institutionalised that if you are an MP in UK aspiring to be the British Prime Minister—other than announcing grandiloquent schemes and do glib talk of populist policies, which is what every politician does anywhere in the world—what you would definitely need to do is to kiss the ass of Rupert Murdoch. Even if you don't want to hobnob with him, it would be wise for you not to rub him the wrong way. Hate him or love him, but you can't ignore Rupert Murdoch and the legions of media holdings he own which spread their tentacles everywhere waiting for a chance to engulf you at the slightest hint from their boss.

One thing is clear: Murdoch doesn't grovel to Prime Minister and Presidents for favours; it's the other way round—the powerful elites and the celebrities kowtow to him either for favourable coverage in his mediadom or assurance of protection from character assassination by his infamous tabloids.

I am not Rupert Murdoch's fan nor am I hatching a plot to take over the media landscape in Manipur as his agent. By all ethical standards, Murdoch is not a paragon of virtue that we should emulate. His media empire is founded on sensationalism, polarisation of views and gossip scooped out by resorting to unethical and illegal means such as email and phone hacking and blackmailing of victim to extract exclusive interviews on threats of exposing a dark secret of that person.

I brought him up in this column because it serves a purpose, which is to show the stark contrast in the power equations that media in different societies enjoy. My question, rather observation is: why is media so weak and spineless in this part of the world? Why has media in Manipur become so conformist? Why do our newspapers carry the same headlines and dribble day after day? Why has it lost its vocal chords and become others' mouthpieces?

In any other place of India, newspapers scramble to compete against each other to unearth a scandal, crime or wrongdoing by public leaders and corporates with the commendable aim to break news before anyone else does. They do it to earn respect, gain a reputation as a newspaper of courage standing for truth and principles, and therefore, to boost readership, sales and revenues as a dividend of consumers' trust.

But most importantly, they dig out the hidden news to empower the citizens with information to help them benefit from the public services and assess the performance of the elected leaders, to help them voice dissent when the need arises—all of which are crucial to the healthy functioning of a democracy.

Here in this god forsaken State, the contrary is the truth. I can't remember any scams in the recent past which have been exposed as a result of painstaking investigation by a newspaper. No government was on the verge of collapsing because of a news report that led to a major crisis for its survival. This does not mean that no scams have occurred and all is well in Manipur and suddenly all our leaders have become highly conscientious.

If you think about it, Manipur is a haven for investigative reporters. Everywhere you set your eyes on, there are scums floating wantonly. Instead of trying to get to the bottom of this mud and taking pride in breaking the news, media in Manipur tries to scuttle what it knows for fear that such exposes may upset the elites and attract their wrath. Exclusive stories—stories that would have remained buried and never saw the light of the day had it been not for the efforts of a particular newspaper—are extinct.

In the rare case when something of that sort is brought to light by the newspapers, it is because some political parties or powers-that-be want it exposed for their own mileage. Chances are that all newspapers will carry the same news on their front page as if their own intrepid reporters broke it. The overwhelming uniformity of views and news items in our newspapers is sickening. Our media purveys news that is spoon-fed to them by handouts and speeches in public functions. Is it real journalism? My take is: There is a huge fundamental difference between issues being highlighted by the media on its own and the ones foisted upon it, handpicked by vested interests in the garb of one.

Media should set the agenda and put the ruling class on its toes. The every existence of media in a democracy is premised on this principle of media acting as the watchdog of the society. How truthfully and sincerely does the media in Manipur discharge that role?

I can hazard some educated guesses for the seeming timidity of the media in Manipur. First, home-grown media survives on favours doled out by the establishment, which come in the form of advertisements placements in print and broadcast media. So, management of the media houses and their proprietors can't cold-shoulder the establishment, otherwise a major source of ad revenue will be cut off in retribution. In other countries and developed industrialised States of India, this problem is avoided to a large extent by the fact that a sizeable source of income for the media is the investment by the private sector, and because of which it has no hesitation in reporting stories adverse to the State.

Second, institutional support for media freedom is lacking and as a result, media tends to play safe. There is no strong statutory redressal forum/body which can safeguard the interests of the media, one whose decisions and interventions are binding and having the force of legal authority. In the absence of such institutional cushion, the widespread feeling endemic in the media fraternity is: Why get into trouble and put oneself in the purgatory unnecessarily when you can just get by with the routine and mundane.

Third, there are no rewards to be gained by being outstanding in journalism in Manipur. Your pay is not going to be hiked, neither your status going to be raised to that of Barkha Dutt. If only, you will be hated by the establishment, the sole dispenser of patronage in Manipur.

Fourth, section of our media has become businessmen who use their association with the media platform to advance their cause of personal enrichment; these mercenaries play footsie with the people in power, eat, drink and cover up their dirt.

Fifth, editors do not have enough resources to run prolonged social campaigns in their papers without running losses. Sacrificing the precious space for ads to create room for persuasive writings is akin to suicide.

Sixth, our society is so small and tight-knit that even our professional duties are invariably bound with our social obligations of kinship. Everybody is a relative of everyone. You can't articulate your free opinions without impinging on these tribal bonds and causing resentments among your friends and relatives.

Seventh, media is not respected because the people who enter into this profession, save for the top editors, are often not qualified enough, and it seems to have become the last refuge of the unemployed—after politics and insurgency arguably. We don't have our version of foreign educated Karan Thapar or a Rajdeep Sardesai. Media faces this lack of talent because the service conditions, pay and perks are not good enough to attract people who could bring sheen to this profession, thanks to the tiny market.

Eighth, media is not an isolated system. It's a part of the society we live in and therefore it carries the genes of corruption and decadence that our society is characteristic of at this moment. If you live in mud, you will be muddied, for sure.

Because of all these reasons, media has been reduced to the status of pamphlet publishers, neither capable of challenging the status quo, nor capable of fending itself from the assault on its freedom from the gun toting thugs and the warlords who control them. The end result is: media has come to follow a herd mentality—they cover the same events, follow the same set of pseudo leaders, adopt the same enemies in the hope of collective protection. And carry the same headlines!

How will media assert its rights and reclaim its clout in shaping public opinion and influencing the policies of the government, exposing scandals, educating the masses—being a watchdog of the society? When can we see, for instance, ISTV summoning the public leaders to their studio and grilling them over important issues of the day in their own prime time Newshour? I don't know but I have the feeling they must have tried but our leaders wouldn't have cared a hoot to turn up.

Can someone put the media into its rightful place where courage, ethics and truth are the only values that matter and nothing else. Can we restore the prestige that journalists used to be entitled to, as a first drafter of history and as intellectuals? Can our media put the fear of God in our leaders' heads? Will anyone of consequence ever lose sleep because of media's activism? Where is our Rupert Murdoch?

What the heck, it's not for me to worry about. What I worry right now is whether the editor of this newspaper will stop publishing my columns from next week after reading this article. I hope he won't. At the end of the day, good journalism is all about respecting dissenting voices and giving space to diverse points of views of all shades and hue. Cheers to that.



Read a response Editorial from Sangai Express here



(Views expressed are personal and do not represent official position)

Ranjan Yumnam

* Ranjan Yumnam, presently an MCS probationer, is a frequent contributor to e-pao.net. He can be contacted at ranjanyumnam(at)gmail(dot)com. This article was posted on July 25, 2011.